[panzer]

Does anyone own or know anything about the woodrat? Thinking about buying a used one.

 

[H. A. S.]

I didn't even know that machine existed, pretty cool. Wouldn't be that awful hard to fabricate something similar. Thanks for the heads up.:thumbsup:

 

[Julian the woodnut]

I have thought about buying one before too but talked myself out of it. There seems to be a lot of set up time involved for EVERY operation. I put it in the same category as a shop smith, that it looks great for a tinkerer.

 

[jacobsk]

Here's a link for everyone else who doesnt know what the woodrat is!

http://www.woodrat.com/index.html

holy cow! look at the prices!

 

[Cincinnati]

I have a Shopsmith, and a Router Boss (what I call the next generation Woodrat) and do not put the WR or the Router Boss in the same category. With almost every Jig, there is set-up time. There is set-up time for a Leigh jig too. With these two machines, you are not changing the machine from one configuration to another and back to complete a joint. Mortices and tenons are cut with a very basic set-up. Adding a table "stage" to hold the piece while cutting the mortise. But using the same bit for the mortise as the tenon. In traditional machine production, tenons are cut on a table saw with adjustments in the settings required for every face cut. Then the mortises have to be cut either by hand,or a combination of hand and drill press, or with a mortising machine. The Router Boss and WR make it easy to cut both with the same bit.

I find the repeatability with the rat or the Router Boss is excellent.

As far as whether these machines are for tinkerers or serious woodworkers, I leave that up to you.

The Multi-Router is another machine to consider. But it requires a much more serious investment.

 

[zipper]

I have a woodrat and love. There really is very little set involved. It's quick, easy, accurate and precsice. The only real downside is the learning curve. Once you've made a few joints, everything begins to
Make sense. I still use the old router table occasionally.

 

[jigs-n-fixtures]

It is as versatile as anything out there. You can make just about any traditional joint with one. Set up is less than most other jigs I have seen. It is well worth the time spent to watch the videos that are out there to get familiar with it.

There are two schools developing on it and the boss. There are folks who are outfitting them with digtal readouts and pretending they are a hand operated CNC machine. The other group use it as Martin Godfrey originally intended and are doing it by eye.

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