Which laminate trimmer is your fave?

[Larry Edgerton]

The PC-310 is the perfect size and shape, but the collet can be cranky. Also, when I put a tall flush trimming bit in it the cut is slightly out of square.
If I get another it will be the Colt...

I'll send you a brand new Colt for your 310.

Larry

[Perry Underwood]

Rich, it's nice to see a fellow guitar builder on this site. I am a little concerned, however, about the power of the typical laminate trimmer for some of the jobs you may be using it for.

I attended the guitar building and repair program in Red Wing, Minnesota, and I remember a scary experience I had using a laminate trimmer. I was using it to route the bridge pickup cavity in hard maple and the bit broke. Now it could have been the bit, but I wonder if the typical laminate trimmer, in this case a PC model, has enough power for the heavier jobs. Laminate trimmers seem to have about half the amps as a 1 3/4 hp full size router.

[Rich Rice]

Rich, it's nice to see a fellow guitar builder on this site. I am a little concerned, however, about the power of the typical laminate trimmer for some of the jobs you may be using it for.

I attended the guitar building and repair program in Red Wing, Minnesota, and I remember a scary experience I had using a laminate trimmer. I was using it to route the bridge pickup cavity in hard maple and the bit broke. Now it could have been the bit, but I wonder if the typical laminate trimmer, in this case a PC model, has enough power for the heavier jobs. Laminate trimmers seem to have about half the amps as a 1 3/4 hp full size router.

Thanks for the greeting, Perry.

I have a 3hp router for the heavier jobs, a 1-3/4 hp for general use, and a laminate trimmer for the finer work. I also built a router table for the real big stuff and for binding channels. I like the laminate trimmer for pickup cavities and roundovers, due to the portable nature of the beast. I feel like I get better control with the smaller, easy to handle tool. I just never had a real good laminate trimmer, and don't like to ask questions of so-called "luthiers".. Most of my work in the early years was fixing the junk they built and correcting their mistakes. This is a much better forum, with many experienced craftsmen.

I am constantly afraid of the 1/4" shank bits, but they seem to be a necessary evil, when using 3/8" and 1/2" template bits. A pin router would be good in many instances, but I don't have the floor space nor the funds to justify one of those behemoths.

I guess my main duties for this little router will be for truss rod channels, pickup routs, and rounding over edges of the bodies. Anything beyond that warrants one of the bigger machines.

With that being said, I guess it remains to be seen how this new Colt will perform.. It is scheduled to arrive on Monday. I can hardly wait to give it a try. I'll probably get one of those fancy baseplates, too. I like the extra stability and the handle. I'm forever holding the base down with my left hand, steadying and guiding the router- and worrying it will jump and remove a finger.

[Mike Gager]

i have the ryobi one+ 18volt trimmer and love it. i use it more then my big router

[Bill Houghton]

I'll be the first to say that I have the Colt and don't use it much because I like the old style Porter Cable 310 better. It has a lower center of gravity than the Bosch and feels more stable to me. Maybe it is whatever fits your hand. I have 2 of the 310s. The older one is US made, and the newer one is hecho en Mexico. They seem to be exactly the same in performance.

+1 on the Porter-Cable 310. I believe it's now out of production, though.

[Rich Rice]

This man was helpful, knowledgeable, friendly, courteous, expedient, and sincere. Thanks for pointing me in his direction. I bought his sub base set, and can't wait to try it out. What a nice man. The world needs more folks like him.

[Rich Rice]

Nice trimmer! I cut a truss rod channel with it yesterday, and it was far superior to my old one. I need to become accustomed to the soft start- nice feature, but it feels weird. The machine seemed to have enough power, but it's quieter and smoother than what I'm used to. I can't wait for my Warner baseplates to arrive!

[Cole Dunlay]

The PC 310 was discontinued due to Underwriter's Laboratories changing their standards. The 310 no longer met the standards. That said, there are still some of them out there in distribution - you just have to look pretty hard.

Cole

[Dar Lounsbury]

I have 3 PC 310s and really like them. One has a Pat Warner base which works awesome, one is set up with offset base and just standard. It took a real idiot to stop production of this great router. I may have to buy another while I can. Collet can be sticky but is workable. Just keep clean and a little lube.

Dar

[jason lambert]

+1 for the colt I have it it is pretty good, the Riobe I have used and that is not to bad but the depth adj sucks but it does fit my hand better. I also have the Festool and that is the best but you can not see the bit It has more power and more options and total dust control.

[Rich Rice]

Well, I gave the Colt a bit of a workout yesterday. So far, so good...

[J.R. Rutter]

BEAUTIFUL!

I was just in at Grizzly today and saw that they still have the discontinued PC 310 kits for $160. I picked up another one to have around for a dedicated setup.