Official Luthiers Forum!

As I said in one of my recent posts, I'm much more of a "hand tool guy" than a "power tool guy". I guess I fall into that "Neanderthal" category. Can't get enough hand tools, old or new.

A few days ago I received my first-ever laminate trimmer. It's a Bosch Colt. I was delighted to see the glowing remarks about this particular trimmer here. I bought it basically for it's specs and because I was on a tight budget. After the drill press and bandsaw, this will be my third power tool.

So here are my questions.... First off, I barely see any info regarding the laminate trimmer being used for certain procedures. It's always a router being used. Now I know there's a difference, but in some cases can I just use those articles or tutorials that include the router and just replace "router" with "laminate trimmer"? Or would that not work? Point is I don't see a lot of articles or tutorials where the lam trimmer is used, but a lot where the router is.

Second question.... Can I use this trimmer to rout the truss rod channel in my neck when the time comes? I know there will probably be a lot of jigs involved but I just wanted to get an idea what else I can do with this thing. To be totally honest about it I only bought it to go along with the Stew Mac TrueChannel Routing Jig and I needed something that wouldn't break the bank. Everything else I planned doing all by hand. But now, after reading what a great tool it is I think I might be catching the power tool bug!!
-John

You can view your laminate trimmer as a lower powered, lighter router. So yes, you can do anything a router does with a laminate trimmer, unless it's not powerfull enough. Many , if not most builders essentially use laminate trimmers and not routers.

With it you can (amongst otehr things):
- route binding chanels
- route your trussrod chanel
- shape your peghead (using a template)
- route your neck joint
- and so on, and so on...


All this to say that you should not have any problems finding good use with your new toy!

_________________
Alain Moisan
Former full time builder of Acoustics, Classicals and Flamencos.
(Now building just for fun!)

Alain, thanks! I wasn't quite sure about the scope of this tool, but I'm learning. And I'm certainly glad it can do most things routers are capable of. Both tools seem to offer a lot of versatility!
-John

I have large routers, but don't use them for guitar building.All i use for building guitars is a colt and many dremel tools and other laminate routers.I just feel the large routers are too big for my guitar building needs.Just don't take too big of a bite at a time, which shouldn't be done with large ones either and you will be fine.

did your new colt come with an edge guide? mine did and it will definitely help in routing the truss rod channel. the only thing i would say is to add a longer fence to the guide. otherwise, it might be a bit short to get a straight cut at the heel end of the neck. the guide starts to tip because of lack of contact with the side of the neck shaft.

_________________
sweat the small stuff.