What Is a Laminate Trimmer Used For?

Designed initially to trim laminate material, laminate trimmers were not the most versatile of the tools when they first hit the market. Nowadays, they pack a big punch and can be used for multiple purposes. Also known as trim routers, laminate trimmers are an indispensable power tool for many woodworkers, and for good reasons. They can be used for a wide range of options including edging, rounding over edges, and a whole lot more.

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These tools not only can they be moved around, giving you greater freedom for working, but can also be used to work from beneath. You can work on surfaces below as they are highly portable. This versatility makes them favorite among woodworkers.

What A Laminate Trimmer Can Do For You

• Making Cabinets

Cabinetmaking requires fine trimming, making this tool efficient for this job. In the past, this task was executed by hand with chisels, but a laminate trimmer can do the job quickly as it is simple to set the depth of the trimmer. You can easily guide it around the laminated material to make the necessary cuts for a fine trim. Although it does take skills to do it properly, practice makes perfect and with time, you can make beautiful streamlined cabinets.

• Drilling

Besides working freehand, a laminate trimmer can also be clamped to the laminated material to allow one work more precisely. When a project calls for exact measurement, this tool can help you achieve utmost precision thanks to the variety of bits the trimmer opens. You will have a lot of possibilities to work with when using this handy tool. As the laminate trimmer, it can extend to a depth of up to 3.5 inches, meaning that you can work with a thickened material. Similarly, it prevents you from removing too much wood when drilling.

• Molding

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For many routers, making moldings is one of the most common tasks, and a laminate trimmer can do that task well. This is because it can be moved along a piece of laminated wood to make the cuts, which gives you more control over the action, and the chance for a making a fancier design. Alternately, the trimmer can be turned upside down to work on the area beneath for a more complete and smoother molding.

• For Decorating

If you want to create something like a woody pod bowl, you can use a router to create a bowl itself as well as its stand. From there, you can use a laminate trimmer to work around the inside circle to create desired depth and streamlined finishing.

• Edging and Adjusting the Edges

The portability of a laminate trimmer makes it an ideal tool for edging, especially when used along the side fence to prevent mistakes. With a side fence, you can minutely adjust it to ensure that the edging is done properly with the first trial. When edging, you need to use both your hands so as to control the tool as you work. This will ensure that you don’t fumble as that will mess up your edgings.

Do I Need a Laminate Trimmer?

If you have some routine trimming and edging chores, then a laminate trimmer will come in handy. For small-cut jobs, this prized tool will come in handy as it was initially meant for that.

A laminate trimmer is not designed to make heavy cuts like heavier models, but there are other places where it excels. Because of its lightweight nature as well as maneuverability, you will find yourself choosing this tool over other bigger routers for small and more moderate routine chores such as making edges, small carvings, and much more. Because of their built-in size restriction, most of the trimmers are designed to run faster than larger, general purposes wood trimmers.

Wrap Up

To get the most out of a laminate trimmer, you need to choose the best one for your needs. Therefore, make sure you go for one with variable speed control to help you control the speed you need to work with and also go for one with spindle lock as well as soft start.

To wind this up, it is important to have this trimmer in your workshop as it will make simple and moderate tasks such as cutting laminated surfaces and making smoother edges easier.