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I am looking to purchase a laminate trimmer that will be hopefully used for rosette/soundhole, cutting binding channels, and saddle slots.

If you know of a make and model you would recommend (or one you would recommend against) I would appreciate you letting me know! Thanks for the help.

Peter

I always liked my Makita 3707FC. I have like 6 of them and they work great. I don;t use them for your purpose so I can't say for that but they are very nice dependable and accurate Lam trimmers.

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John Mayes
http://www.mayesluthier.com

Most any quality laminate trimmer will do the job. I use porter cable 7310 and I used a Makita , No problem with the makita I just had an opportunity to by 7310 in bulk . Stay away from brands like Harbor Freight , Grizzly and Gripe . Name brands cost more for a reason . You never complain about a tool that works but buy one that doesn't and you will remember that forever .
The best advice is to buy the best tool you can afford . Cheap is often the most expensive .

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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

I have the Ridgid and I like it a lot. The adjusting of the bit height is a bit touch and go, but the accessories that came with it made making a Wells-Karol type of jig pretty easy.

Darrin

I have a Ridgid in my Wells-Karol jig too and it works well. I have two Bosch Colts - one in my binding jig and one for general use. I like the Bosch better. A lot of folks like the PC 310 but they are quite expensive, I would buy one if I found one at a good price.

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

I've got a bosch colt and that works well for me

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Formerly JJH

I learn more from my mistakes than my successes

I have Colt, a PC 7310, PC 310 and a Dewalt. Power wise the Dewalt is the stongest but it gets hot at the alluminum base, the height control is a pain and it is very top heavy. The Bosh Colt is nice and smooth but a tad unerpowerd as compaired. the PC 7310 & 310 is smooth and powerful and the height adjustment could be better. If I had to pick my favoritte for all jobs it would be the PC 7310

I have both the Bosch Colt and the Dewalt. I like them both, but if I were to recommend one I would go with the Colt. It is not top-heavy like the Dewalt and the height adjustment is way, way easier to deal with.

Good luck,
Max

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Max Bishop
Brighton, Michigan

I too have a Bosch Colt as well as a PC 7310 and a cheap Harbor Freight job. The Bosch has the best base and easiest to finely adjust. The PC base isn't perfectly square with the shaft, but for most things, it is perfectly fine. The HF/Chicago Electric unit is the cheapest feeling of the lot, but then again, it cost considerably less.

If I could only have one, it would be the Colt.

Ken

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http://www.casperguitar.com

I just ran across this DeWalt D26670R at Rockler while looking for something else. $59.00 for this sure beats getting a Chinese junk router from Harbor freight

http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?page=22428

Fred

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Fred Tellier
http://www.fetellierguitars.com
Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/pages/FE-Tellier-Guitars/163451547003866

I have 3 bosch colts. I've had a Makita in the past and I would certianly get one again.

Don't bother with speed control on a laminate trimmer, IMO it's a waste of $$ as you won't be using larger bits with a laminate trimmer anyway.

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"There's really no wrong way, as long as the results are what's desired." Charles Fox

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I like the dewalt best. I have several of them and recently the price at lowes was dropped by 30 % so I got another one. I like the fact that my bushing set fits in them and it does not on the bosch colt that I have. The bosch colt does have a feature that is nice. it is round and it was easy to make a clamp so I can bolt it to the quill on my mill. This gives me the option of a high speed spindle to use with the adjustable table very nice for saddle work and bridge making. The common thread in these posts seem to be find a router that works for you and then get a few more.

Thanks everyone for the advice!

Peter

just thought id mention that when i bought my bosch colt, i found the best price i could find online and printed out that page. i took that into lowes and they beat that price by 10%. not bad.

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sweat the small stuff.

I use the Bosch colt with the Wells-Karol jig and it does a great job for me on rosettes.