Do you ever feel like you spend more time trying to build jigs than furniture? Or worse, do you know for a fact that you do? Do we dare talk about all the storage space that jigs and patterns require once you've made them and found them useful? Let's talk about circle.

Rosettes, badges, medallions, pedestal tops, table tops, wagon wheels, wheels for toys – how many different sizes of circles would you think a woodworker would end up creating in his life? How many different crest rails and other arcs might you cut? How many trammel arms would that leave hanging around your shop just to cut the larger ones? How many auxiliary router base plates with index pins would you have stacked around for cutting the smaller ones? Or would you get cute and try to build “fit-all" jigs out of MDF and end up blowing a bundle on all the hardware to make and secure the adjustments only to find that its adjustability (and maybe its accuracy) changed with the temperature and humidity? How many projects are you not trying because you don't want to have to deal with any of the above?

As much as we who love to craft wood hate to admit it, there are some things that are just better made out of metal, and based on our experience, we believe circle-cutting equipment to be one of them. Our N-Compass is a flexible router compass jig for plunge routers that can cut circles and arcs of radii from 7.5mm to 180mm (approximately 5/8" to 14-1/8" in diameter). That cutting range is difficult at best with traditional trammel beam compass systems or eccentrically-pegged auxiliary base plates, and the N-Compass makes it downright enjoyable. In addition, with the attachment of Mod Rod extensions and enough extension cords to keep your router powered, circles and arcs of infinite radii can be routed. With a lifetime guarantee the robust and versatile N-Compass is certainly a routing accessory no professional or enthusiast should be without.

Cut Arcs and Circles, Not Jigs to Cut Arcs and Circles!

How many different ways are there to cut a circle? Too many, and most of them are time-consuming, require quite a few steps, and the sacrifice of a substantial amount of material. Even the most obvious non-router technique (rough-cutting a circle with a jig saw and then using a jig with a belt or disk sander to true-up the edges) is surpassed by using circle template with a pattern-following or flush-trimming bit, so why not just cut the primary circle with the router and get that crisp, finished edge in one step without all the hassle? The answer before the advent of the N-Compass would have likely been “because by the time I waste the time and a piece of wood to make the trammel arm I could do it more efficiently another way," but not now. It's not uncommon to have the N-Compass installed on the router and set to length in well under a minute, and without dulling your bits and blades!

N-Compass Anatomy

The N-Compass is a simple device, made up of a low-friction, tough laser cut acrylic base plate with two pivot hole positions (Pivot A & Pivot B) and a bridge housing. The bridge housing contains two guide rods - the fixed guide rod is seated within the width-adjustment slot and the Vernier guide rod is seated within the depth micro-adjuster. The base plate has a 40mm x 150mm cutting aperture in which smaller radii are cut. In short, it's consistently accurate, easy to move smoothly with your router sitting on top of it or stretched out beside it on the guide rods, highly durable, and no matter how long a radius you want to cut, the odds are that the N-Compass and all the Mod Rod extensions you need will fit into the average cigar box instead of covering an entire wall of pegboard.

Diverse Plunge Router Compatibility

Wondering if this is for you? The N-Compass router jig has been designed to be compatible with the broadest possible range of plunge routers, so if you're router is small enough to be hand-held, it's likely you can use the N-Compass, and easy to find out – simply measure the distance between your router fence's guide rods, and if it's between 75-94mm (2-15/16"- 3-11/16"), it will work! (If necessary, the height of the guide rods can be adjusted using included shim-spacers.) Indeed, you'll find that if you frequently cut circles and arcs and your plunge router won't accommodate the N-Compass, it will be worth your while to buy one that does! Think about what you spend on time and materials to make your own jigs, and the time and materials for the occasional remilling required when wooden jigs aren't stable or accurate enough to get the job done, and see what you think.

It's all due to the N-Compass's elegantly simple design. The router is attached to the N-Compass using the jig's guide rods just like on a standard fence guide. The router sits on top with its base plate resting on the N-Compass's base plate. Once you have configured the N-Compass for your router, it can be attached and removed simply by aligning the guide rods in the router's base plate and tightening the guide rod locking pins.

7.5mm to 180mm (5/16" to 7-1/16") Radius Router Cutting

Sound impossible? Hardly, with a little creative innovation and rigid, low-friction materials for the tool! Two countersunk pivot-pin holes (Position A and B) are provided, giving the operator a large degree of flexibility with the compass jig set-up. Smaller radii are cut through a 40mm x 150mm cutting aperture in the N-Compass's base plate aligned along the guide rods axis. Larger radii over 180mm can be cut using Mod Rod extensions - the router held securely using the extended guide rods. Using pivot-pin Position A, a radius as small as 7.5mm can be cut. Using pivot-pin Position B and a single set of Mod Rods a radius of 700mm is attainable. If the fancy took you, you could use the N-Compass to create a bull's eye rosette as large as a dinner plate with the first rebate on a 5/16" radius! Not feeling silly? Then make the rosette 2" thick of end-grain maple, space the rebates 2"-3" apart, and call it a carving block with extra blood-grooves. Or for those lacking the shop space for a lathe, space them so closely that you hollow out a dinner plate with your router, which is made easy with the N-Compass's Vernier guide rod's micro-adjustment wheel.

Mod Rods 1400mm to Infinity

Want a table top to put those plates on? The N-Compass cutting arc diameter can be near-infinitely extended (at 100 feet you'll run out of extension cord and at 12 miles you'll run into a problem with the curvature of the Earth!) with modular guide rod extension packs (Mod Rods). Each pack contains four rods each with a usable length of 280mm (just over 11"). They have male-female threading and thread directly into the jigs own guide rods. Thus each set of four rods give you two pairs of extension with an additional 560mm (22") cutting radii.

Because of the modular nature of the Mod Rods system, circles of any size can be routed, only limited by the number of Mod Rods you have. You'll run out of board before the Mod Rods system runs out of reach.

Fine Tuning Micro-Adjuster

Are you serious about accurate cuts? We are! The N-Compass micro-adjuster for the Vernier guide rod enables the router cutter to be aligned with very fine measurements (One rotation equals 1.25mm) giving your work a precision finish. The micro-adjuster is knurled for ergonomic grip and has a Nylon-66 glide washer for ease of use.

Construction and Durability

Tired of “disposable" tools? This one's built to serve you a lifetime. Constructed with a 3mm thick tough laser cut acrylic base plate and billeted aluminum bridge, the guide rods are made from chemically-blackened steel and are threaded to allow for modular extension.

What else can we say? The N-Compass is rugged, accurate, easy to use, and is guaranteed for life. It is a router compass with which you can precisely cut circles and arcs, without the hassle and half-measures of existing systems. It's time to put one to work in your shop.