Milescraft 1210 Small Circle Compass - Router Jig Cuts Circles 1.5in to 12in - Includes Turn Lock Base Plate - Compatible With Most Routers

This item, used with my Bosch router, worked perfectly. The dialed in size was exact and accurate as can be. Building speakers and in just minutes I had 2 done, perfectly, exactly as expected. I cut a 4.5” hole and a 7” hole, with 2 more holes to cut. I love it!

This is an excellent tool for routing out large holes. Simple to use and quite accurate once set. I have no idea how I could have cut out the holes as accurately without one of these.

Good value for the price.It is possible to seat the router and base-plate improperly into the circle jig, resulting in your baseplate being tilted, which ruins the cut, but it does make a clearly audible click when you've got things seated properly.The ruler on the jig is accurate with the included bit. But that bit's cutting length isn't very long, not long enough to cut all the way through a 5/4 board, which is what I was working with. So I bought a 1/4 inch spiral up-cut end-mill with a longer cutting length, but its actual diameter a tad bigger than that of the included bit, so the ruler on the jig was only an estimate.The Milescraft 1201 Base Plate is compatible with this jig.

While other template compasses can cut larger circles... I found the mini easier to use for circles up to 12"

Easy to set up and center (you don’t need a separate centering jig - one is included in the set). Makes very accurate cuts. Seems steady and durable.

there is a bit of a learning curve with this, but in the end it's super easy to use. First two things to note right off the bat, one, don't drill the pilot hole for the center screw to deep. if you do, there is not enough material for the screw to grab into and the whole thing will move on you. Two, if you are making insets where you need to clear out the rest of the material AFTER you cut the outer edge, BEWARE OF THE DEPTH. When the router is on the jig it has a different height than when it is off. ie, i cut in the outer edge of the circle, took the router off the jig and try to clear out the rest of the circle and THE BIT WENT IN DEEPER! I had NOT accounted for the thickness of the jig. Major pain, and i had to scrap two really good pieces of wood. But that's on me and my newness with the tool.

Used it for making speaker cut outs in a large speaker cabinet. The hold down centering screw is a bad idea. When working in MDF, the screw threads do not hold the screw securely. It tends to mushroom out, causing the whole device to deviate from true center. The screw is too small for proper accuracy as it does not maintain the centerline as it should. After a few passes over the circle, the whole fixture starts to wobble if you are not very careful.A better idea might be a precision locator pin that sits in a reamed hole (not just a drilled hole) in the workpiece. Then a hardened bushing could be installed in the jigs plastic mounting plate and placed over the pin. Much more accurate and less tendency for the jig to work itself into a spoiler wobble.Another thing that made me pull my hair out was that below a certain diameter circle (maybe 3" or so), you have to remove the entire fixture from the workpiece (including the hold down locator screw) if you need to measure the circle you are cutting. And, believe it or not, you have to move the circle setting gauge to the rear of the fixture to get at the hold down screw. This completely destroys the diameter setting that you just spent 10-15 minutes determining by using the jigs very same ruler. A real pain in the you know what. This is not only frustrating and time consuming by having to find the previous setting (if the circle diameter measured OK) but the constant mounting and dismountingof the fixture causes the hold down screw to distort its threads in the workpiece.The screw then works itself loose, causingeccentricity and spoiled circles, defeating the whole purpose of using a fixture in the first place. Another reason for using a precision pin for location. One should be able to lift the entire fixture up off the locating pin and workpiece and take the circle measurement.This is not rocket science. The engineers at Milescraft should be able to quickly redesign to eliminate these troublesome problems. Once done, the fixture would be an absolute "must have" for every woodworking shop.

This is an interesting gadget, and it probably doesn't work the way you think it does, so pay attention to the instructions. Part of setup is replacing the base of your router with the one supplied with this tool. This is necessary not just to attach the router to the tool, but to ensure that it is centered. Mess this up and your cuts will be off, simple as that.I was amazed at how quickly and easily I was able to cut circles. I suggest doing a test run with the router plunger up, just to make sure you're not going to run into any obstructions or odd positions. Once you're comfortable and familiar with the path, it's a lot easier to follow through with the router powered and chewing through wood.A great tool that ensures perfect round cuts. Beats trying to tie string to a nail.