Triming Veneer

[Gregg Feldstone]

I made some 2" wide oak veneer that's 1/32 to 1/16 in thick to edge band a small benchtop. I attached it with contact cement and now need to trim it flush. It's only protruding at most 1/8" in places. What's the best way to trim veneer without danger of tearout or splitting? I'm thinking about sanding or even using my Dozuki backsaw for the longer areas.

[Danny Hill]

I use a router with a flush trim bit. The key is to use a climb cut so it won't split the thin veneer ahead of the cut.

[Jim Tobias]

Gregg,
Probably the fastest and safest way would be with a flush trim bit in a router. Either a small laminate trim router or a regular hand held router. The flush trim bit (if you do not know) is a straight router bit that has a bearing that ride along the surface of your bench top and cuts/trims your edge so it is exactly flush with the top. If the table is small as you said, you might want to lay it on the side so you can handle the router a little better.
Picture of flush trim bit below.

Jim

[Gregg Feldstone]

I thought about that but it would involve setting the entire 5'x20"x2" benchtop on edge, than resting the router on top of it. Either that or holding the router horizontally....which seems dangerous with my 2 1/4 hp router. I also can't see running this slab vertically over my router table. Looks like a good reason to have a horizontal router table or a lightwieght trim router.

[Doug Shepard]

I'd put a bit of posterboard or something similar thickness on top of the bench edge for protection then saw most of the overhang off with a flush cut saw. Followed by a block plane set for a fine cut.

[pat warner]

Often trim is mowed down with a router, especially thicker material.
A subbase with 1/2 its surface milled (http://patwarner.com/images/vtrim_subbase3.jpg) away allows the router to operate in its normal configuration. The proud stock slides under the plate and now the cutter can get to it. Have seen plates in text books made of plywood & such.
Routers (http://patwarner.com)

[Dave Falkenstein]

Often trim is mowed down with a router, especially thicker material.
A subbase with 1/2 its surface milled (http://patwarner.com/images/vtrim_subbase3.jpg) away allows the router to operate in its normal configuration. The proud stock slides under the plate and now the cutter can get to it. Have seen plates in text books made of plywood & such.
Routers (http://patwarner.com)

I made a jig that provides the function that Pat is talking about. I found the plan in the book, "Router Magic" by Bill Hylton. This jig works so well that I leave an old laminate trim router mounted in the jig and fitted with a bottom cutting straight bit, so that I do not set up the router each time I want to use it.

[Steve Clardy]

Often trim is mowed down with a router, especially thicker material.
A subbase with 1/2 its surface milled (http://patwarner.com/images/vtrim_subbase3.jpg) away allows the router to operate in its normal configuration. The proud stock slides under the plate and now the cutter can get to it. Have seen plates in text books made of plywood & such.
Routers (http://patwarner.com)

I have a couple of those bases from Pat.
Believe me, they work:D

[glenn bradley]

I'm having a vision . . . its. . . a . . . Bosch Colt in your future.

[Gregg Feldstone]

Guess I was worried about nothing. I set my flush trim bit at 1/8" and trimmed my veneer easily. holding the router horizontally was no big deal and everything went smoothly because I was taking off so little material.
What kind of operations WOULD be dangerous to try while holding the router horizontally?

[Jim Becker]

Gregg, the hardest part of holding the router horizontally is...keeping it perfectly horizontal. Building an auxiliary base that lets you keep the router in "normal" orientation to the stock while using a surfacing cutter to trim the edges down "just a proverbial" shy of flush is likely a better way to accomplish this task long term. A very light sanding with a block finishes off the job and also lets you break the edge so you don't have any finishing issues. (You don't want a "sharp" edge)