How To Cut A Circle In Wood Without A Jigsaw | Tips and Tricks

Have you ever needed to cut a circle in wood but didn’t have a jigsaw? I was in the same boat until I discovered this nifty little trick. It’s so simple, anyone can do it.

In short, to cut a perfect circle in wood without a jigsaw, start by drilling a hole in the center of your piece of wood. Then, attach your hole saw to the drill. Next, slowly start to drill into the wood. Finally, cut through the entire circumference of the circle.

With just a few easy steps, you can be on your way to cutting perfect circles in wood without a jigsaw. All you need is this guide and a basic hand saw. Here are the different ways to do this job.

Different Ways

You can use a variety of tools to cut a circle in a piece of wood. There are many methods that work well. Some require more skill than others. Use whatever works best for you.

There are many different ways to cut circles in wood. Each technique has its own advantages and disadvantages. Before starting, review each method to see what works best for your project.

How To Cut A Circle In Wood Without A Jigsaw

Cutting wood in circles without a saw is very hard work. You need a lot of patience and skill to do it well. However, if you use these tips, you’ll be able to make your cuts quickly and efficiently. A detailed explanation about cutting circles in wood without a jigsaw.

Cut Wood In Circles

There are many ways to cut wood in a circular shape. You need a saw, a hammer, nails, a drill, and a compass. All these tools are available around us. We can use them to cut wood in circles.

What You Will Need

The power drill is used to make holes in the plywood. The sandpaper is used to smooth out the surface of the wood. The wire nail is used to fasten the piece of plywood onto the wall. The strong wire nail is used to hold the piece of plywood to the wall.

Set Up Your Work Station

You need to prepare a place where you can cut wood in circles without using a jigsaw. To do this, you need to have all the necessary equipment there, and then you should collect a piece of plyboard from which you want to make a circle. But the piece of wood must measure 2 inches long. Now you can easily cut the circular shape.

Draw The Circle

First, draw an outer circle on the wood. Then, a circle is drawn inside the first circle. This second circle defines what part of the wood should be cut out. The first circle should be big enough to allow you to draw the second circle without cutting too much wood.

Drill a Pilot Hole

You can cut from the side if you want a round piece of wood that can be lifted rather than a large piece with a hole in the middle. A pilot hole is needed if the cut-out circle of wood must be fully protected.

Next, drill a hole near the outline in the piece of wood. Through this hole, the power blade will enter the circle and begin and end cutting. There is no restriction on how many holes you drill together.

How To Begin Cutting

Select any outline to start cutting from. After cutting one side, switch to the other side and continue cutting. You will meet an outline near the parallelogram if you cut from the edge of the circle. Making circles will be easier without difficulty by cutting and transferring the outline.

Cutting The Circle

You will still find that the circle is not perfect even after cutting the wood in a circle. You need an absolutely perfect circle. By rubbing the wood with a chisel, you will now be able to make the circle piece perfect.

Smoothing The Edges

Circles can be smoothed out using sanding blocks. If you want them to be more rounded, you can use sandpaper.

Cutting A Circle In Wood With A Hole saw

A hole saw is an easy tool to use to make circles in wood. It works by locking into the chuck of a drill or drill press and then starts cutting. Hole saws come in sizes ranging from 3/8″ to 7″. For projects such as cornhole boards, you would want to use a 6-inch hole saw.

Drawbacks

Hole saws are the simplest tools to use, but they also have a few drawbacks. Some of them include:

  • You must be careful when using them because you could cut yourself.
  • You should always wear gloves while using hole saws.
  • You should never use hole saws near water or other liquids.
  • When using hole saws, make sure you do not cut off your finger.

Overheating

You should use moderate pressure when using a hole saw, but if you notice scorch marks on the inside of the hole, you need to stop cutting. This means that you are overheating the hole saw. If you continue to heat it up, the hole will start to melt. When this happens, stop immediately. You may damage the hole saw.

Blow out

When making a hole in a board, make sure to clamp down on the backside of the board. The pressure from the drill can cause the back of your board to split instead of cutting cleanly, causing a lot of mess. To avoid this, clamp a piece of scrap wood under the board to prevent blowout.

Limited Depth

A trick to cutting through material double the thickness of your hole saw is to use a normal drill bit instead of a hole saw bit. This allows you to make a deeper hole.

Now flip the board over and make another hole in the center. Line up the center bit of your hole saw with this new hole. Your saw will meet the cut halfway down the board, resulting in 2 clean sides!

Other Ways To Cut Wood Without A Jigsaw

There are other ways to cut wood without a jigsaw, but none are better than the ones mentioned above. You can also use a circular saw to make a circle out of wood but you’ll need an extra set of blades. Circular saws are very useful tools when making circles. But if you want to do it fast, you’ll need a jigsaw. 

Using Sandpaper And Coping Saw

A coping saw, sandpaper, and compass will allow you to cut wood as if you were using a jigsaw. Find the center of the circle on your piece of wood. Trace the circle. The diameter of your circle will be determined by the radius you use in your compass. Using a pencil, you must draw the outline of your circle.

Slice around the circle using your coping saw. Even though the circle’s exterior will not be smooth from the coping saw, that is okay. The sandpaper will fix that. It will save you time and manual effort to use a sandpaper machine, but if all you have are sandpaper rolls to rub around the wood, that works too.

Pinning And Drilling

In the second case, you will need to cut a circle out of rectangular or square wood. Make sure the wood is about two inches wide. Pin the wood and use a drill to make holes where you drilled the pins. Simple as that!

Conclusion

You can cut wood in circles without a jigsaw if you follow the methods we told above. These are the simplest and most effective methods out of many. Now you can also cut wood in circles without a jigsaw.

You must now know how to cut a circle in wood without a jigsaw. You can definitely follow our guide if you want to cut wood round without a jigsaw and avoid waste of time and energy.

FAQs

Q: What Tool Cuts Circles In Wood

A: Circle Cutter, Jigsaw, Circular Saw, Woodworking Tools, etc.

Circle Cutter

The best tool for cutting circles in wood is a circle cutter. They are made specifically for this purpose. There are several types available at different prices. Some even come with multiple sizes so you can choose what size you need.

Circular Saw

Circle cutting is one of the most popular woodworking projects. But it’s also one of the hardest. To create a perfect circle, first mark out the center point of the circle using a compass.

Then measure out 2 inches from the center point. This is where you’ll begin your cut. Next, set up your circular saw. You’ll want to place the blade right over the line you drew in step 1.

Then, carefully guide the blade through the wood, making sure to hold the board firmly against the fence. Once you’ve made the first cut, remove the board from the fence and repeat steps 1 and 2 until you’ve completed the entire circle.

Tip: To ensure a smooth finish, sand down the edges after you’re done cutting.

Woodworking Tools

If you want to cut circles out of wood, you might already have some basic tools like a drill, saw, hammer, screwdriver, etc. You may also need a few specialty tools such as a compass, a coping saw, a router, and a table saw.