How To Use A Trim Router

6 bully uses for trim routers

Don't let a trim router's small package fool you: These ane-handed wonders have emerged from the shadows of their full-size cousins to earn their keep in your workshop.

One-handed wonders

Sometimes, David doesn't have to kill Goliath; just pushing him aside tin be good enough. Come across David, the one-handed trim router (aka: laminate trimmer). In the part of the giant, the full-size router has been dominating fine profile and joinery work for decades. Only times, they are a-changing. Hither are some examples of tasks where a trim router can assist y'all in your store past saving time or coin or doing jobs amend than a big router.
i. Task-specific trim routers

At Wood® magazine, we frequently work with iv forms of decorative edge-routing, shown: Circular-overs and chamfers are the almost common, followed by coves and chaplet. To save time irresolute and setting up these bits, nosotros like to go along a ¹⁄_viii " round-over bit ready to use in one trim router, and a 45° chamfer bit in another. Many trim routers sell for most $100, so y'all could buy iii trim routers for the same money information technology takes to purchase a three-hp router.
2. Perfect flutes

Brand quick work of routing flutes by installing a round-olfactory organ or core-box bit in your trim router. When you lot don't take a detachable border guide (standard on some small routers, optional for others), these routers' small bases let you to set a straightedge close to the cut area. Those with square subbases follow that straightedge perfectly to cut the flutes with no worries.
3. No-tip swivel mortises

Using a trim router for routing shallow swivel mortises proves a no-brainer. A total-size router can tip or wobble when yous residue it on a workpiece edge (a door, for instance). But a trim router, with its narrow base of operations, light weight, and low center of gravity, makes the job piece of cake. Use a template with a top-bearing dado cleanout bit with a small-scale cutterhead. Square up the corners, if needed, with a chisel.
4. No-fuss inlay grooves

Decorative inlays add together craftsmanlike quality to projects. Using a trim router helps yous get into tighter, narrower surfaces—such as aprons attached to table legs. Follow a straightedge or attach an edge guide to the router's base to ensure dead-straight grooves. Utilise a straight bit or downcut spiral fleck.
5. Butterfly patches

A butterfly (or similar decorative patch) is one of our favorite patches for flaws such as cruddy knots or splits. Use a trim router to remove the fabric, and to cut out the patch. A trimmer works great following a template with a tiptop-begetting bit or guide bushing. When freehand routing, the trim router, using a directly bit or downcut spiral bit, feels like an extension of your manus. Cut out the butterfly first, trace its pattern over the flaw, then cut away the recess starting in the centre and gradually routing toward the lines. Cut crisp within corners with a chisel.
half dozen. Oh, and one more thing...

Yes, trim routers still exercise an exceptional task of affluent-trimming laminate, veneer edge banding, and solid-forest edging. Bearing-guided flush-trim bits prove best for this task. Rout in a climb-cutting fashion (for edging ¹⁄₄ " thick or less) to avert grain tear-out.