Customer Reviews

RotoZip CRCT2 Circle Cutter Attachment

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

The reviews stating that the RotoZip CRCT2 circle cutter slips out of adjustment very easy, are true. And because it slips, it makes this tool useless. HOWEVER if you take about 5 minutes of your time and about 10 cents worth of material you can absolutely fix the problem. The problem is caused by the internal plastic parts slipping and subsequently moving, even though you have tightened the adjustment knob as tight as it will go. Here is the fix: take a sheet of sandpaper (I used 180 grit wet or dry sand paper) and using a compass, mark out two - 2 1/4 inch circles. Cut the two circles out of the sandpaper and using glue (I used super glue) adhere the two pieces of sandpaper together, back to back, that is to say, glue the back sides (the non sandpaper side) of each piece to the backside of the other piece. When dry use a punch and punch a 5/8 inch size hole in the exact center of the circle (use the compass again to get this a perfect size of 5/8 inch). Remove the adjustment knob and separate the two pieces of the tool, remove the rubber o-ring you no longer need it, insert the sandpaper washer over the "hub" on the bottom half of the tool, and reassemble the tool. Guess what, you are all done and now have a useful WORKING circle cutter, that will hold its adjustment every time. I have cut many circles with mine and the homemade sandpaper "friction washer" is still functioning perfectly. Why in the world the BOSCH (RotoZip) people could not come up with this I will never know. Maybe if they read this posting they will update their tool.

You can cut circles with this. You could cut nicer circles with a bit more confidence if the plastic arms were replaced with metal arms. Making the center of the arms, where the cut diameter markings are, larger would give better accuracy with less 'test settings on scrap piece first'.

As with the CRCT1, this attachment was made as cheaply as possible (and that's different than 'inexpensively'). Kudos to the Rotozip engineer in charge of 'How cheap can we make it and still charge people too much for it without it actually being useless and ending up in the 'returns' bin all the time?'.

Yes, it works. Use both hands. Cut slowly after first checking on a piece of scrap material. And make sure you fire off an email to Rotozip telling the how impressed you are with the 'quality' of construction of this attachment. The quality of the actual Rotozip tools is okay - but the quality of their attachments is consistently and disappointingly poor.

Whenever I can, I cut circles with a router and circle jig - the Jasper jigs are okay - even when cutting lighter materials the Rotozip and attachment(s) should be better suited for.

I tried cutting over 20 circles in 1/4", 3/8, 1/2" plywood and in 1/2" pine stock - just won't cut a clean hole - always tends to spiral towards the end of the cut.
The attachment is made plastic and is not designed to do anything near 'precision work. Maybe its OK for drywall.
The instruction say to rotate the gizmo clockwise but the accompanying picture shows the a arrow going counterclockwise - either way the cut drifts outward as the cut goes to completion. The attachment fits nicely in the Rotozip carring case - I hope the whole thing sells well on eBay.

First, think about the fact that there are tips on the web about how to "fix" this attachment. That should be your first clue.

Faults:
1. It's plastic, and not a rigid plastic either. You need rigidity to cut decent circles.

2. It slips. The plastic is very smooth allowing the guide to change diameters no matter how much you tighten the knob. Most "fixes" deal with this issue.

3. Poorly designed "peg". Rotozip videos tell you to Make a hole for the pivot peg. What the don't tell you is the size of the pivot peg is bigger than any of their standard bits! So you either have to try and round out the hole with the RZ to get the peg to fit (good luck), or you need to use a drill to make the hole the correct diameter.

Pro's:
None I can think of.

Basically, this attachment is a piece of junk.

I used the circle cutter to cut a few ragged 10 1/2 inch holes in 1/4 inch plywood. Despite tightening the bolt to the point I was afraid it would break, the guide still slipped a little and made ragged holes. I'm pretty skilled with power tools / guides etc. but couldn't get this one to work well. Feed rate was critical for a clean consistent cut. Too much pressure and the plastic arms flex which makes for a crooked cut. Cord was constantly tangling with guide. When bits ran slightly crooked they bound up and broke. Pivot point kept trying to rise up out of the guide hole. Too many things to watch and hold onto to make the thing work. I'm returning this one and looking for a simpler solution.

I needed to cut a circle for to make a jig. Code for stairs requires that a 6 in. sphere cannot pass under the deck rail in the stair step. I wanted a 5 7/8 circle cut from plywood.

The product kept slipping the dimension. I have strong hands and tightened it to the point I thought it might break. I am so frustrated with this toy. I don't mind paying double for a product that works. It may work on drywall since there isn't as much resistance as wood.

I really wish I would have checked the reviews first before expecting it would cut an accurate circle.

I hoped to use this circle cutter to cut some 8 inch circles in hardboard. I found that the tension screw would not hold the angle securely and the device would open or close while making the cut. It may work well on drywall, but on harder materials, this thing is useless.

I was installing an Armstrong drop ceiling & the old utility razer knife was taking time to cut circles for heating ducts 7 Lighting. The CRCT2 was "GRATE" for cutting circles in the ceiling panels. I am completing 5 panels in the time that it was taking me to do one with a utility knife,& with a nice clean edge, not all frayed out,that you get with a sharp razer knife. A GOOD $20.00 INVESTMENT .

I'm not sure if other people have gotten bad tools or what, because i've had great luck with my circle cutter! it flys through drywall, and i use it to cut out circles in 3/8" plywood for my daughter's room. I had no problems with it at all!

As noted by others, the Bosch RotoZip circle cutter has a major flaw -- it tends to change the diameter setting as you cut - no matter how tight we twist the knob. This will definitely ruin your plan for making a perfect hole. I tried putting a round piece of self-adhesive sandpaper (cut to fit) between the two parts of the unit, but it didn't work. The 'sand' side held but the adhesive side still allowed the setting to slip (oh, so slowly but steadily). Next I'm going to try sticking two pieces of this sandpaper to each other (adhesive side to adhesive side) leaving two 'sand' sides out. Hopefully the adhesive won't slip. If it does I'm going to try to glue two non-adhesive pieces of sandpaper (cut to fit) together -- with glue that won't slip.
It's a shame that Bosch didn't do 'real world' testing before they released this unit. If they had, they'd have discovered the problem quickly. Some complain about it's plastic makeup but I didn't find that any problem.