router / laminate trimmer. serious talk.

[mathias]

I was wondering how to do a nicer job on pickguards and recently learned that the laminate trimmers at Home Depot (well, we have Menards here, but same kind of store) are great at that.

I've actually been thinking about getting a Bosch Colt and using it as both a traditional router and now for a pickguard trimmer. Does anyone use a Colt for routing pickguards?

Follow-up question, can anyone tell me what bits I'd need to get to do flat and angled pickguard edges?

For a proper router, I'd eventually like to get a Porter Cable (thanks again for the recommendation, ryan summit!) but Craigslist and local shopping haven't found one cheap yet.

[lordgalvar]

I was wondering how to do a nicer job on pickguards and recently learned that the laminate trimmers at Home Depot (well, we have Menards here, but same kind of store) are great at that.

I've actually been thinking about getting a Bosch Colt and using it as both a traditional router and now for a pickguard trimmer. Does anyone use a Colt for routing pickguards?

Follow-up question, can anyone tell me what bits I'd need to get to do flat and angled pickguard edges?

For a proper router, I'd eventually like to get a Porter Cable (thanks again for the recommendation, ryan summit!) but Craigslist and local shopping haven't found one cheap yet.

When I was cutting pick guards, a larger (heavier) bit at high speed was best. If the bit gets too hot, then the plastic kinda melts. Some really really fine sand paper helps smooth the edges a bit (there will be little smudges where the plastic got too hot). The laminate trimmer will work fine for that. (I used a dremmel at the time which is why the bit got too hot and melted a part of the picguard but I got it done).

I fogot what angle the angle cuts were (something like 45 or 60 degrees or soemthing, but look at StewMac...they should sell bits that are correct). Just get something with a guide bearing on the end. They also sell pickup templates. I made a copy of my picguard in thin plywood and cut it out with a coping saw. I sanded the edges until I got what I wanted. I used my old pickgaurd to copy the screw placement on the template. I clamped the picguard and moved tape around as I ran the trimmer around the template. I used straight cuts on the neck, bridge, pickup cuts. The most important thing is to keep your trimmer flush.

The real problem is cutting out the small rectangles for jazzmaster type switching.

This was for a Yamaha SGV-300 Flying Samurai.

You can pick up a porter cable for like $30 more on amazon though. I do think a laminate trimmer will be easier for pickguard though, but I wouldn't use it for heavy duty dados or doing a lot of moulding or something. Would probably work alright for cutting holes in particle board though. It will get bogged down if you push it too hard in harder materials.

[mathias]

If I wanted to use the full size Porter Cable router for pickguards would I need a router speed control or something to control the melting?

[lordgalvar]

If I wanted to use the full size Porter Cable router for pickguards would I need a router speed control or something to control the melting?

I would think you would need a table, but you can just get some plywood/particle board; Kreg makes these plates/mounting hardware that let your router mount underneath plywood. I just think it would be too cumbersome trying to use a full size router without a table. The whole thing with router could be made for around 200.

I think you would have to run it at high speed. Low speed is going to melt it because it wont move the material fast enough. I remember the faster I moved, the better the cut on plastic. At least that is my experience with pickguards. I would get a waster (like a cheaper cut of material) to test it out first. Or at least rough cut around and test the speed/cut on some scrap.

Also, make sure you get a centering guide for whatever you get. Gotta make sure that bit is actually center.