A laminate trimmer (or trimming router) is a small version of a

wood router The router is a power tool with a flat base and a rotating blade extending past the base. The spindle (tool), spindle may be driven by an electric motor or by a pneumatic motor. It routs (hollows out) an area in hard material, such as wood or pl ...

, normally used to trim

laminate Simulated flight (using image stack created by μCT scanning) through the length of a knitting needle that consists of laminated wooden layers: the layers can be differentiated by the change of direction of the wood's vessels Shattered windshi ...

such as

Formica ''Formica'' is a genus of ants of the subfamily Formicinae, including species commonly known as wood ants, mound ants, thatching ants, and field ants. ''Formica'' is the type genus of the Formicidae, and of the subfamily Formicinae. The type ...

. It generally has a 1/4-inch

collet A collet is a segmented sleeve, band or ''collar''. One of the two radial surfaces of a collet is usually tapered (i.e a truncated cone) and the other is cylindrical. The term ''collet'' commonly refers to a type of chuck that uses collets ...

. Typical laminate trimmers spin their bits at up to 30,000 RPM. Some models provide variable speed control. Manufacturers of note include

DeWalt The DeWalt Industrial Tool Company is an American worldwide manufacturer of power tools and hand tools for the construction, manufacturing and woodworking industries, as well as home craftspeople. DeWalt is a registered trademark of Black & Dec ...

Ryobi Ryobi Limited ( ; , ) is a Japanese manufacturer of components for automobiles, electronics, and telecommunications industries. It also sells printing equipment, power tools, and builders' hardware. Ryobi Power Tools and Ryobi Outdoor Powe ...

, Porter Cable,

Ridgid The Ridge Tool Company is an American manufacturing company that makes and distributes tools under the Ridgid brand name. The company was founded in 1923 in North Ridgeville, Ohio. In 1943, it relocated to its current location in Elyria, Ohio, a ...

Makita () is a Japanese manufacturer of power tools. Founded on March 21, 1915, it is based in Anjō, Japan and operates factories in Brazil, China, Japan, Mexico, Romania, the United Kingdom, Germany, United Arab Emirates, Thailand, Indonesia, Mala ...

and RotoZip ( Bosch). Laminate trimmers evolved, as their name suggests, as a specialized tool for that particular trade.

Veneer Veneer may refer to: Materials * Masonry veneer, a thin facing layer of brick * Stone veneer, a thin facing layer of stone * Veneer (dentistry), a cosmetic treatment for teeth * Wood veneer, a thin facing layer of wood Arts and entertainment * ' ...

s are typically cut oversize before being laminated to their wooden substrates. A laminate trimmer equipped with a bearing-guided flush trimming bit can be used to cut the veneer to its final size. The bearing guides the bit around the outside edge of the wood substrate, making a clean cut exactly along the edge. Laminate trimmers excel at this task due to their light weight and one-handed operation. Laminate trimmers have evolved to the point where they are essentially fully functional miniature routers. Apart from trimming and flushing, they can be used for jointing, rounding edges,

chamfer A chamfer ( ) is a transitional edge between two faces of an object. Sometimes defined as a form of bevel, it is often created at a 45° angle between two adjoining right-angled faces. Chamfers are frequently used in machining, carpentry, fur ...

ing, routing grooves and dados,

dovetail A dovetail joint or simply dovetail is a joinery technique most commonly used in woodworking joinery (carpentry), including furniture, cabinets, log buildings, and traditional timber framing. Noted for its resistance to being pulled apart, a ...

s, even

mortise and tenon A mortise and tenon (occasionally mortice and tenon) is a Woodworking joints, joint that connects two pieces of wood or other material. Woodworking, Woodworkers around the world have used it for thousands of years to join pieces of wood, mainly ...

s. A modern laminate trimmer can perform almost any task that a larger handheld router can do, with the caveat that the smaller machine may be limited in the size of bit that can physically fit within its collet and the base plate. Larger bits, e.g. those that fit a 1/2-inch collet or those with larger blade diameters than the laminate trimmer's smaller baseplate hole, cannot be used at all. The reduced power of a laminate trimmer (3/4 to 1 hp, as opposed to a typical router's 1-3 hp) may also make it unsuitable for heavy-duty router work. Some laminate trimmers are equipped with multiple bases for different types of routing work, and most support the use of an edge guide. Some woodworkers keep a chamfer or roundover bit permanently installed in a small laminate trimmer, since these operations are so frequently performed on many projects. This frees their main router (or router table) to do other types of work without having to constantly change between bits.

References

{{Tool-stub zh:修邊機 (木工)

See also

References