How To Cut A Circle On A Table Saw

Step 1: Cutting circles using table saws

Hi. I’m George Barry, the Wood Guy. Most woodworkers will tell you that it’s impossible to cut a circle on a table saw, but I’m here to tell you it’s easy and I’m gonna show you how to do it. First, remember to read, understand, and follow all the safety instructions that came with your power tools and wear safety glasses.

Step 2: Using the sliding table.

Now to cut a circle on the table saw, you need a sliding table. This is my sliding table - I’ve had this for 20 years. It has two runners on it that fit on the slots on the table, so use it for cutting true 90 degrees instead of worrying with your miter gauge all the time. To cut a circle, you draw a line the radius of the circle away from the blade, and then you’re gonna put a pivot point right here on that line. Nail it in. Then you need to cut it about a quarter of an inch or so above the surface of the table and file it to a point so that you can use it as a pivot when you’re cutting your circle. Now it’s important when you put your board on the saw that you put it on the center of the board so I’m going to have it just slightly over hanging the curve in the sliding table, and I wanna put it right down on that pivot point, right in the middle. And nail it down.

Step 3: Making a circle.

Now, I wanna cut this into an octagon. Gotta hold it down to the table to keep it from spinnin’. So you just cut the corners off and then you cut the corners off again so you’re actually making sort of a sixteen-sided figure. Just keep cutting, spinning it slowly around. Then you sort of advance, sort of advance the work and spin it. You’re just nibbling off a little bit at a time. Just nibbling off, then you move it a little forward, take a little more off. Then move it a little bit forward ‘til you’ve got the exact radius. See, I told you it was easy. If you’d like to see some more tricks visit me at my website, woodguy.com.