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Mine just died, I've been using it for heavier work making bee hives recently so probably my own fault. Any reccomendations for replacement? Tempted by makita cordless as I have the batteries etc or are they no good? Im in ireland by the way so no harbour freight grizzly etc.
Thanks all.

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I really like my Makita 700 series (corded) only thing it lacks is fine depth adjustment, but I get past that with spacer strips for rosette channels.
Real good deal I found here https://www.howetools.co.uk/makita-rt0700cx4-240v-router-trimmer-14-collet?utm_source=google_shopping&gclid=Cj0KCQjw_7KXBhCoARIsAPdPTfi-554OLFfI8njnwHE45juPEdcrkWYmL5D01Z_XOOIfSchNH_5ndekaAlloEALw_wcB

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The name catgut is confusing. There are two explanations for the mix up.

Catgut is an abbreviation of the word cattle gut. Gut strings are made from sheep or goat intestines, in the past even from horse, mule or donkey intestines.

Otherwise it could be from the word kitgut or kitstring. Kit meant fiddle, not kitten.

I like the ridge laminate trimmer easy to adjust and adjustable speed

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John Hall
blues creek guitars
Authorized CF Martin Repair
Co President of ASIA
You Don't know what you don't know until you know it

You might be able to find a Virutex trimmer. They are well made, run smoothly, but are not cheap. You don't see many of them on this side of the pond because they run on 220 -240V and need a transformer when used on a 110V circuit.
The only reservation I would have about a cordless router is that routers typically are used for extended periods of time and require a fair amount of power. For guitar making, where we are generally doing small jobs (routing rosettes, bindings, etc.) they may work fine.
Any chance that replacing the brushes and cleaning the stator might breath new life into the Colt? Are the bearings trashed?
In my youth I abused a PC circular saw during a solo demolition of a two story house I once owned. By the time the house was cut up and thrown in dumpsters, the saw was weak and seemed pretty well cooked. A new set of brushes and a little TLC and I still use the saw today!

I really like the Dewalt trimmers - they’re well made and precisebits offer a precision collet for them, which is nice for rosettes etc. I presume you can get these in Europe as there are 230v/240v versions available here in Australia.

Absolutely the Dewalt. The one with fixed base plus plunge. Model D26204K-LX I think.

Using the fixed base in my binding rebate jig gives excellent depth control. It is very smooth with very low runout. The plunge base also has good depth control with a threaded end to the stick thingumy that rests on the turret giving again very good control.

I use the corded version so can't comment on the battery powered but presumably the rest of the machine is the same. I would certainly like to hear if someone is using the battery one what they think.

Cheers Dave

When we were developing the Collins Saddle Mill we bought samples of all the available trimmers trying as we would to find something as close to the PC 310 RIP that we love as we could.

The DeWalt was the best of the lot and had the least runout and other features that we liked so we went with it. These were hands on tests including run out and ease of and repeatability of the adjustments.

FYI the very worst one was the Colt and our apprentice at that time tested three of them and they all had by far more runout than any other.

Now nearly a decade later with our mill and the other ones we sold including to other busy repair shop we have not had any failures with the DeWalt.

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Ann Arbor Guitars

Also, Precise Bits on-line has after market collets for the DeWalt that reduce the minimal runout even further. We went with those too.

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Ann Arbor Guitars

I have always had multiples of the same kind of trimmer for jobs when I don't want to be messing with adjusting depths. I tried Bosches, but did not like them so I sold them. Little rattle traps they were. I did try Ridgid's too, but here in my high humidity the brushes froze in their channels. Happened 3 times. HD does have that free warrantee, but when I tried it, it took over a month to get the router back. Not very good! I threw 4 Ridgids in the trash and went to Makita. Great trimmers. I have 1 corded one and 3 of the cordless. I seldom use anything but the cordless ones. They are really good. Pretty long battery life, but as long as you have an extra battery, battery life is usually not an issue. And once you have tried the Makita cordless tools, you'll probably end up getting more. Same batteries.The Makita cordless circular saw is great tool. Looking back over my router life, Makita and Hitachi are the only routers that have been really dependable for me.--Bob

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“ The meaning of life is to find your gift and the purpose of life is to give it away” Pablo Picasso

I have the Bosch trimmer(UK version) and can't wait for it to die! I've never liked it, it's very noisy and vibrates violently. I wish I had bought the Makita in the first place. In hopeful anticipation of it expiring I did some research and discovered there is a Makita Chinese Clone , the Katsu Trimmer which is a lot cheaper and has good reviews. The accessories are interchangeable with Makita's also. It's worth investigating. Mike

The Ridgid trim routers continue to soldier on in specialty jigs, but Greenridge went to the DeWalt DWP-611 for general use. Excellent in all regards, and affordable. Also a number of aftermarket accessories in terms of bases. Even after dozen of iterations of milling semi-processed 7075-T6 forgings to fully-finished dimensions, we saw no issues re: wear or slop, and that material is very tough on both cutting tools and routers.

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If multiple Internet experts opine that something should not matter, it most assuredly will.
- Anon

Dewalt with the plunge base for me. I still use a Colt on my binding cutter, but the Dewalt for general purpose use.

Dave

I also use the Dewalt 611’s. I’ve bought 8 of them so far and they stay set up for various tasks. Two of them are the cordless, which I’ve really liked. They are especially good for rosettes in a Wells Karol jig. No cord to get twisted up. I also use the battery powered one in the LMI binding cutting jig. I had to modify the base on mine because they make them for Bosch, Makita, and Rigid. I think even the new one is still no Dewalt which is maddening.


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Wow, great responses and info thanks all! After a several year hiatus I can't wait to build/ finish a few guitars hopefully third winter. Workshop is nearly finished!

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Eight of them, Brad you might want to consider lam trimmer rehab

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Ann Arbor Guitars

Laminate trimmers are like potato chips - you can't have just one. Last count I have 19, but whose counting? They are mostly old Rockwell and PC trimmers, with an old style Bosch and a Virutex thrown in for good measure. I have an old PC 155 that is probably 60 years old and still going strong routing edges. I've used many of the other brands but prefer the Rockwell/PC trimmers for most work.

I see that Clay and we have some too. I think we have about 7 of them so Brad has us beat.

Dave Collins knows Olsen who built James Taylor's guitars and Dave said that Olsen has over 60 of them all dedicated to specific jobs. So Jim has us all beat

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Ann Arbor Guitars

I've only got 6, guess I'm on the deprived side

Edit: I've also moved to the DeWalt 611's with Precise Bits collets. Nice tools.

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

I'm using a Rigid laminate trimmer right now, with no problems. My other router is a 1960's Sears Craftsman, all metal. commercial duty. It's still running great and very accurate.

It pays to have a backup... new in the box.

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"I want to know what kind of pickups Vince Gill uses in his Tele, because if I had those, as good of a player as I am, I'm sure I could make it sound like that.
Only badly."

Show off


Steve

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

We have three but not new in box, that's cool. The last time I looked the new in box ones were fetching north of $300. Don't sell it though, you know you are already there that these were the best in class.

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Ann Arbor Guitars

I bought a Makita, it had a decent height adjustment, but it did not have a soft start like the Colt.
I had a hard time holding onto it when first turned on.
I went back to the Colt, even though the height adjustment is terrible.

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wah
Wah-wah-wah-wah
Wah

That PC 310 I bought years ago when I didn't have a clue about what I was buying sure has been a treat to use.

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Peter Havriluk

We all ours R2D2 because it looks like R2D2 .

You know too it has the low center of gravity that is great for rosettes and any free hand stuff too.

Someone would make it again and we would buy five.

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Ann Arbor Guitars