inlaid rings techniques?

[alex grams]

I have done some veneer inlays before, but have a project where I want to do an olympic ring inlay, but am having a hard time getting a perfect circle cut with good joints. With normal, straightline inlays (such as a compass rose) it is pretty easy given then edges are all straight, but with a circular setup, it is proving tedious and I can't get as good of a joint as I would like. the closest comparison I can find is rosettes on guitars, but those can use the center of the hole as a pivot point for a tool or jig since it is ultimately cut away, but I can't do that on my rings. Any techniques/videos/input would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

[mreza Salav]

Is it cutting the groove or laying the inlay banding that is the issue?
If I was doing it I'd use a template made out of 1/4" hard board to route the groove. For the inlay banding you'd do a kerf cut (like when joining two base boards or crowns), i.e. a sharp angle cut at the both ends.

[Chris Padilla]

I would do as Mreza suggested. When you can't "damage" the piece with tool marks, then you need to create the tool mark(s) on a scrap piece and then use that on your work piece to do what you need. Make it big enough to clamp or big enough to use double-stick tape or hot glue.

[John Blazy]

Like Chris said, I always used a 2" square block of wood with my 1/4" steel pivot pin glued into it, and my adjustable circle guide for the router had the 1/4" hole in it, and I either used hot melt or double stick (VHB tape is awesome) to mount the pin block, then the pin block was twisted off when done, leaving a flawless surface.

Lately, I have mounted a pin onto a pc of aluminum that slides and locks into the miter gauge slots on my tablesaw (where the router is mounted in the extension).

My first circle jig (which I still use) was a pc of 1/4" plywood screwed to the underside of my Beisemeyer fence with a fixed pin epoxied into it. Then I could slide the fence to my radius, and lock the fence down for infinite DIA cutting/grooving. Then I would raise the running bit through the plywood and fine adjust for exact radii.