WTB: Circle/Fly cutter

[jetra2]

Hi all,

I want to buy a circle/fly cutter for my drill press that can cut up to 9" circles. I've looked on eBay and can only find them carrying cutters that cut up to about 6" diameter. If anyone can point me to where I can buy a circle/fly cutter that will cut up to 9" circles, I would be very appreciative.

Thanks,
Jason

 

[Micromeister]

Good Grief guy! the world does not revolove around e-bay!

Sear has the exact tool you are looking for, or you can order one on-line if you must from Sears, harbor-freight or any number of tool suppliers.
You'll find you'll save a lot of money staying away from e-bay...buy for the manufacturer or the tool or item your looking for.
hope this helps a little.

 

[jetra2]

Thanks Micro - I just was told by eugenefl that I could find one of these on eBay cheap - so I looked.

Eugene, yer gonna get it....j/k j/k.

Jason

 

[Micromeister]

I can't remember what I paid for mine from Sears but I don't think it was more the 10.00 bucks

 

[powderburner]

Certainly it's OK to peek at what is available on ebay.

But be aware of the limitations on that site. Especially for the past couple years, now that ebay has been 'discovered,' there are lots of reasons NOT to bother looking there.

Ebay has become just another retail space for lots of people; they simply use that website instead of creating their own. People used to list stuff on ebay one or two items at a time, and they used to start the pricing at what often was a true bargain. Now you can click on "view seller's other auctions" and see that your potential partner is also listing 4,853 additional items. Further, the items are all started pretty much at regular retail prices (occasionally higher, sometimes lower). You would do just as well to go straight to the manufacturer's website and order directly, and get a warranty with your product.

Once in a while you will see something on ebay that looks like a bargain. Have faith that, as the last days of the auction approach, some idiot will jump into the auction and bid up the price because he wants to prove to you what a man he is. He will quite often bid the price up well beyond the retail cost that is available on a half-dozen other websites. But by God, he won the auction.

I don't waste much time anymore looking at ebay. But feel free to go look around yourself.

 

[eugenefl]

Originally posted by Micromister
I can't remember what I paid for mine from Sears but I don't think it was more the 10.00 bucks

If you're talking Craftsman, it's not $10 unless it was a clearance item or on sale. It must have been a different brand because I bought a single blade circle cutter from Sears for $19.99. <a href="https://www.sears.com/sr/javasr/product.do?BV_UseBVCookie=Yes&vertical=TOOL&pid=00925293000">Craftsman Circle Cutter</a>. According the Craftsman warranty, the blade isn't covered so I don't really see an advantage there.

You can get a dual blade cutter, which in my opinion serves better for longevity, for $3.99 + $4.95 shipping on eBay. <a href="https://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2384627034&category=50384">eBay Circle Cutter</a>. These pop up all the time.

Originally posted by Micromister
You'll find you'll save a lot of money staying away from e-bay...buy for the manufacturer or the tool or item your looking for.

Overall, I can't really ever recall an instance where purchasing directly from the manufacturer has ever saved the consumer money over a 3rd party vendor. Have you ever broken a coffee maker? They want $19.99 for the carafe when you can spend the same for an entirely new unit at WalMart. I don't quite understand the logic in this statement.

Originally posted by jetra2
Hi all,

I want to buy a circle/fly cutter for my drill press that can cut up to 9" circles.

Jason, measure the distance from drill press drill chuck center to the drill press armpost. Chances are, there probably isn't more than 4" which would in turn be the radius of your circle for an 8" diameter ring. A 9" cutter, if it even existed, would probably smack right into the post. I may be wrong, but I don't think they make circle cutters attachments that cut larger than 6" diameter circles. You may have to use the RotoZip with circle cutter attachment. Or, do it the old fashioned way and use a jigsaw. Cut all rings close to the line and sand them round once rough cut. I think this is how Carl does it.

Man, you all are some eBay haters! In general, anyone with an internet connection and an interest in shopping knows where the deals are anymore.

Originally posted by jetra2
Eugene, yer gonna get it....j/k j/k.

Up until now I think I've given you pretty good advice. Right?

 

[jetra2]

Just measured the max. radius I can have on my drill press. From chuck center to armpost, it's 4.5". That means I can probably do a ring/bulkhead with a max. radius of 4.25", or a max. diameter of 8.5", safely.

It's kinda exciting to know that I can cut rings that big!

Eugene,

The only problem with the circle cutter on eBay that you listed is that it will only cut 1" to 5" circles. This is OK for what you're doing right now, and will be OK for me also, but I need a circle cutter that can cut said big circle because I am going to be building my 6" Big Daddy and my 8" Quiktube rocket soon, and I'm going to need some BIG centering rings (shut up Carl ). I'll likely end up going the Rotozip way, using the CRCT1 attachment, since it can cut 1" to 12" circles, I believe.

Oh...I just figured something out...I feel kinda silly though.

I now know what the box means by 9" Drill Press...that's the amount of workspace you have from the center of the drill chuck to the armpost....

Jason

 

[eugenefl]

Originally posted by jetra2
Eugene,

The only problem with the circle cutter on eBay that you listed is that it will only cut 1" to 5" circles.

I know it's too small for what you are looking for. I was just making a point to Micromister and using it as a comparison vs. the Craftsman bit. I still don't think there is a circle cutter (for drillpresses) made to cut circles larger than 6". You've got me curious though.

 

[Zippy]

Slightly off topic but I could probably make some monster sized rings on the lathe I accidentally won on Ebay yesterday. Of course I don't have it yet, don't really know how to use it and have nowhere to put it. I was only looking you know and sniped a bid on the thing on a whim, sure enough it was the winning bid and now I have a 3/4 hp 14" x 39 1/4" monster comming that I'll have to rearange the garage for. It was only a $115.99 including shipping so I guess it's a good deal and I'm sure I'll get plenty of use out of it once I learn how to actually use it! But for the time being I hate Ebay.

 

[sandman]

Zippy,

A lathe is a close to perfect tool for making really big centering rings.

Anything bigger than 5". and you can easily make 8 or 10 at a time!

sandman

 

[Zippy]

Sandman,

8 -10 at a time? wow I had no idea. I suppose that makes sense. How do you set up for that? So far I've ordered a 4 jaw chuck, I wanted a 3 jaw but didn't find one at Harbor Frieght for a wood lathe. Of course the lathe comes with a face plate and a live center. Both the head and tail use No. 1 Morse tapers. I want to get a drill chuck with No. 1 taper but haven't found that at Harbor Frieght either. They seem to have a lot of stuff for No. 2 taper though. Anyway all I really know so far is from a short tutorial on the web made apparently for a British trade school.

 

[rocketkid88]

Originally posted by eugenefl
Or, do it the old fashioned way and use a jigsaw. Cut all rings close to the line and sand them round once rough cut. I think this is how Carl does it.

hey, thats what i do works fine to.. the only thing is if you want to make something small (say 1" dia and smaller) you may have a hard time getting the cut to curve enugh because of the blade. it also depends on what blade your using tho...

 

[sandman]

I drill a hole and glue them into a wood dowel and use a chuck in my lathe.

I got my #1 Morse taper chuck at Sears.

sandman

 

[wwattles]

As I'm fairly limited on space and don't have room for a lathe, I'm probably going to be going with the router/jig approach. Jasper makes a good router jig that allows you to cut a wide variety of circles. I can sand them down a little as needed with my dremel after that.

WW

 

[Zippy]

Sandman,

I don't want to highjack this thread but thanks for pointing me towards SEARS for the chuck. I'd never have thunk it but I found a No. 1 taper 1/2" chuck on only my second search on the online store. It was a bit pricey at $24.99 but I also picked up a No. 1 taper screw thread for $7.99 to even it out. I'm thinking the screw thread will be simple and quick setup for smaller turnings?
Any way thanks again.

 

[Rocketmaniac]

For those of you that have a Rotozip...... Here's the attachment that I plan to buy.........

https://www.rotozip.com/attachmentsdetail.aspx?p_intAttachID=13

 

[jetra2]

Rocketmaniac,

That's the attachment that I'm going to be getting also! Hopefully it is easy to use! I would think it would be, since all you'd likely be doing is setting the radius of the circle and the center, then start cutting! I sent Rotozip an e-mail about if this attachment will fit on the Rotozip Rebel, which is the tool that I have! Man! I can't wait!

Jason

 

[pdooley]

Sear has the exact tool you are looking for, or you can order one on-line if you must from Sears, harbor-freight or any number of tool suppliers.

I went to Sears tonight, they did not have an adjustable hole saw.
I assume this what you are talking about.
The store had internet access, I went to Ebay and showed the kid who worked there a picture of an adjustable hole saw. He had never heard of it.

I'm not trying to take sides here, just very dissapointed in Sear's selection.