quite easy if you have a router....
(1) if you have a router.....
make a circle-cutting jig - a what??? - easy!
I got a strip of perspex about 130mm wide and as long as you like, depending on the radius of your cut. I picked up a scrap out of a shopfitters acrylic bin.
my router has a plastic base plate, held by 5 little bolts - removed this.... use this as a template and transfer these holes to perspex (and coutersink them) - make sure you have cut a hole in the centre of the perspex for the cutting bit to hang through.
Attach this to the router with the bolts - you now basically have a long baseplate.... by drilling holes in the long part of the plate, you can form a kind of compass
ie use a nail in the centre of your proposed circle as a pivot point through a hole in the long end of circle jig, plunge router to required depth and simply guide it around the circular path..... done.
just get a roughish measurement from the outside edge of the cutting bit to your centre hole, cut a rough hole on scrap, then adjust the position of the hole.....
I rout an 18mm square trough to about 5mm depth, then jigsaw out a roughish hole for the driver to sit in..... nicely flush mounted, obviously you can't see the crappy jigsaw hole! You could also rout a deeper trough at the inside diameter instead of jigsawing, but jigsawing is quicker, easier and cleaner!
(2) if you dont have a router....
good luck! any suggestions (you could surface mount by jigsawing, don't know how you would neatly flush mount.)
lee
(1) if you have a router.....
make a circle-cutting jig - a what??? - easy!
I got a strip of perspex about 130mm wide and as long as you like, depending on the radius of your cut. I picked up a scrap out of a shopfitters acrylic bin.
my router has a plastic base plate, held by 5 little bolts - removed this.... use this as a template and transfer these holes to perspex (and coutersink them) - make sure you have cut a hole in the centre of the perspex for the cutting bit to hang through.
Attach this to the router with the bolts - you now basically have a long baseplate.... by drilling holes in the long part of the plate, you can form a kind of compass
ie use a nail in the centre of your proposed circle as a pivot point through a hole in the long end of circle jig, plunge router to required depth and simply guide it around the circular path..... done.
just get a roughish measurement from the outside edge of the cutting bit to your centre hole, cut a rough hole on scrap, then adjust the position of the hole.....
I rout an 18mm square trough to about 5mm depth, then jigsaw out a roughish hole for the driver to sit in..... nicely flush mounted, obviously you can't see the crappy jigsaw hole! You could also rout a deeper trough at the inside diameter instead of jigsawing, but jigsawing is quicker, easier and cleaner!
(2) if you dont have a router....
good luck! any suggestions (you could surface mount by jigsawing, don't know how you would neatly flush mount.)
lee
A picture is worth a thousand words!
5 countersunk holes for router....
big chunked out hole for cutting bit....
two round holes for small circles - drill small hole in actual router base and pivot on this....
One I saw in a book was about a metre long, for table tops...... the circles come out perfectly, my first example one is shown.
5 countersunk holes for router....
big chunked out hole for cutting bit....
two round holes for small circles - drill small hole in actual router base and pivot on this....
One I saw in a book was about a metre long, for table tops...... the circles come out perfectly, my first example one is shown.
Attachments
You should use a router
The task you wish to accomplish can be done most ideally with a router. If there is a way to get ahold of one, then that would be the best way to do it.
It can also be done with a jig saw or sabre saw. These are more commonly available than routers, however they are difficult to use to cut circles since they want to cut straight. So likely your circle will end up a bit less than round.
You could concievably do this cut with a drill. You would need to turn the drill into a router. You would have to mount is on a steady little platform that would keep the bit straight up and down. You would need a saw - bit and then you will need to make a circle jig like you would for the router. You will end up with the slowest flimsyest router in your part of the world. But it could be done.
Your best options are to borrow, rent or buy a router.
One more thing.
You need to know how to operate power tools safely. Each one is dangerous in their own way. And anything that can slice through MDF will not slow down upon hitting flesh and bone.
Good luck,
James
The task you wish to accomplish can be done most ideally with a router. If there is a way to get ahold of one, then that would be the best way to do it.
It can also be done with a jig saw or sabre saw. These are more commonly available than routers, however they are difficult to use to cut circles since they want to cut straight. So likely your circle will end up a bit less than round.
You could concievably do this cut with a drill. You would need to turn the drill into a router. You would have to mount is on a steady little platform that would keep the bit straight up and down. You would need a saw - bit and then you will need to make a circle jig like you would for the router. You will end up with the slowest flimsyest router in your part of the world. But it could be done.
Your best options are to borrow, rent or buy a router.
One more thing.
You need to know how to operate power tools safely. Each one is dangerous in their own way. And anything that can slice through MDF will not slow down upon hitting flesh and bone.
Good luck,
James
I have cut many speaker holes in my lifetime and have used drills, files, jig saws and here is what I find to work the best. By far the easiest was with a plunge router and a circle jig from Parts Express Part Number 365-250. A plunge router is different than a normal router in that it allows you to set the depth and "plunge" your router down into the wood to the preset depth and then start the router moving. The router bit you would use is a "flute" bit or called a straight bit, which will cut a perfectly vertical cut. Clamp your speaker front to a wood work table and drill the center pivot hole all the way through your front into the wood work table. You cut the wood about 2/3's of the way through, turn the wood over and recut the rest of the way through. The reason you need the face pivot hole into the work table is that when you are just about through the completion of the circle cut, the wood inside the circle will want to shift and make your circle slightly out of round. This method will allow you to create a perfectly round hold and give you a perfect fit for your woofer. It will also give you the maximum amount of wood for your woofer to seal and provide the most amount of room for however you choose to mount your speakers.
Attachments
another template, less than parts express
$19.50
http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.asp?page=40968&category=1,43000,43001&ccurrency=2&SID=
$19.50
http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.asp?page=40968&category=1,43000,43001&ccurrency=2&SID=
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