# I've just bought a Woodrat - cutters?



## MickCheese (8 May 2013)

Could do with some advice. 

I have just bought a used Woodrat from eBay and need some advice re cutters. 

Should I shell out on genuine Woodrat HSS bits or should I try the Axminster ones made for the Leigh jig. 

I know there are a few users on here so hoping for some hands on advice. 

Mick


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## Dodge (8 May 2013)

I use both with mine, the genuine HSS ones are excellent as you can easily sharpen them yourself


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## Harbo (8 May 2013)

You can use any good cutter - the Woodrat ones pride themselves as being the "prefered" 1 in 7 profile.

Rod


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## marcros (8 May 2013)

I have only cut a few dovetails on mine as a play around. The Woodrat has ones leave a great finish. The Leigh cutters seem good too when I used them on my Leigh jig.


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## MickCheese (9 May 2013)

Thanks all for the heads up. 

The genuine ones are not too expensive so will order a few together with a plunge bar. 

Mick


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## custard (14 May 2013)

In my view the chief selling point of a Woodrat is that it can cut dovetails with far finer pins than a Leigh or other jigs, not quite as fine as you can with a handsaw, but fine enough that I've known a few experienced woodworkers assume Woodrat cut dovetails were superb examples of hand cut craftsmanship! To take advantage of this you'll need the Woodrat specialist cutters, and buy some spares as unfortunately they do break unless you're very careful!


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## MickCheese (14 May 2013)

Custard

I have some ordered and just await delivery. 

Thanks for the response. 

Mick


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## custard (14 May 2013)

Reading this thread has got me thinking about buying another Woodrat.

I had a Woodrat, but sold it as I thought I was getting out of practise at hand cutting dovetails. So I moved to a Leigh Jig for big dovetailing jobs, and hand cutting for special projects. But the truth is dovetails from the Leigh just aren't a patch on the Woodrat versions, so even though a Woodrat is slower than the Leigh I'm sorely tempted to move back!


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## dm65 (14 May 2013)

custard":2hcof3uq said:


> Reading this thread has got me thinking about buying another Woodrat.
> 
> I had a Woodrat, but sold it as I thought I was getting out of practise at hand cutting dovetails. So I moved to a Leigh Jig for big dovetailing jobs, and hand cutting for special projects. But the truth is dovetails from the Leigh just aren't a patch on the Woodrat versions, so even though a Woodrat is slower than the Leigh I'm sorely tempted to move back!



That's very interesting as I am trying to decide between the two

The Leigh looks very easy to use (seen used by Norm on NYW) but the Woodrat looks so flexible in comparison because of the different types of joints it can do

Can't see how you would do away with a table though if you have the Woodrat

Even contemplating the training day


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## marcros (14 May 2013)

dm65":1j17kw8y said:


> custard":1j17kw8y said:
> 
> 
> > Reading this thread has got me thinking about buying another Woodrat.
> ...



You can't quite do away with a table with the Woodrat. Almost, but not quite. If you do go to the course I may be interested if you want to split the travelling. 

I actually have the Leigh as well. I haven't used the Woodrat for dovetailing yet, although I will get around to doing so and maybe sell the Leigh. I have held on to the Leigh for when I get the time to play- it looks quick and easy on the videos and I have the MMT attachment for it, which has the potential to be handy for some tasks. One of these days I will probably sell one or the other- if the Woodrat broke, I would definitely replace that. It is so good at things other than dovetailing- that is why I am a fn, without even using that feature.


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## dm65 (14 May 2013)

I'll let you know then if I do decide on training, but I do tend to mull over things for a long time when spending this sort of money on a hobby

If you haven't used the woodrat for dovetailing yet, what have you used it for ?


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## marcros (14 May 2013)

I particularly like the manual power feed on it, so I have used it for a variety of rebates and tenons, grooving, housing joints etc. I have ran some beading on it, a few raised panels and have cut mitres and sliding dovetails. In effect I have used it as a router table with a feed handle on it. I did partially cut some dovetails using the very fine cutter and did the other part by hand. It's limitation for me is on running small mouldings, or parts. Such as trays on a jewellery box. You could probably make some form of jig to do it, instead I bought a little Elu table and router. There are so many things that it can do besides dovetailing, it really doesn't bother me that I haven't got around to it yet. 

With regards to training, I would probably recommend that you see what it should be able to do and see how you get on. Most of it is pretty simple. The dovetailing may be a bit more of a learning curve, I don't know.


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## dm65 (14 May 2013)

Thanks for that Marcros - you just added fuel to the fire as I've only really been looking at dovetailing for drawers etc

And sorry to MickCheese - kind of highjacked your post a bit there


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## custard (14 May 2013)

dm65":1e728hnt said:


> custard":1e728hnt said:
> 
> 
> > Reading this thread has got me thinking about buying another Woodrat.
> ...



The Leigh is pretty easy...the second time you use it! There's still a fair bit of set up and learning, and for really consistent and tight fitting dovetails you do need to calibrate each individual cutter, not a big job but an important one. The main differences I found between the Leigh and the Woodrat were,

1. Woodrat dovetails are much, much finer. If you're picky, or if your customers are picky, then it's the best choice. Honestly, it's the only dovetailing jig that comes anywhere close to producing a hand cut look.
2. Once you've got the hang of it the Leigh is quite a bit faster to operate, although you need to keep your hand in with both to use them efficiently.
3. The Leigh can be packed away and stored, where as the Woodrat really needs a metre or so of dedicated wall space.
4. The Woodrat is less prone to spelching because it's easier to climb cut. With practise you can do some climb cutting on the Leigh, but it's not as easy, thorough, or risk free.
5. The Woodrat is obviously much more versatile, although I used it for dovetailing about 80% of the time. I did occasionally use the Woodrat as a giant flexible jig for some jobs, such as angled tenons on chairs, but it's never as straightforward as you'd hope! The Woodrat is more versatile than the Leigh even for dovetailing, handling secret mitred dovetails and mitred corner dovetails (albeit with some fiddly set up), although the Leigh has been pretty good for angled/slplayed corner dovetailing.
6. I found the Leigh better for really long runs of dovetailing, say 18"-24" for blanket boxes or other carcass work.
7. The Woodrat suffers as a tenoning jig because like most tenoning jigs, it can only handle a component that reaches as far as the floor, so no good for long table aprons for example. I still prefer the Festool Domino for speed or traditional mortice and tenons for flexibility. The Woodrat's only real M&T advantage is for angled components like you frequently find with chairs.
8. Like any jig, you'll find both the Woodrat and the Leigh are only as accurate as the wood you use. I've known a few people who were unhappy with the results, but the real problem was that they didn't have the skills or equipment to reliably produce absolutely flat and dead square components.


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## dm65 (15 May 2013)

Custard - many thanks for spending the time on your response

Such a tough call, I like the thought of doing progressively larger dovetails down a joint and this looks like it would be fiddly with the Woodrat - wish I could justify buying both to myself & SWMBO 

And again, sorry to MickCheese for stealing the thread - let us know what you think of the cutters when you've used them


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## RogerBoyle (15 May 2013)

I personally will never be without a Woodrat
I use it for trenching, Rebating,Profiling Dovetailing etc etc that in conjunction with my Small Spindle moulder can cover virtually all of my needs 
But I still have a small router table for the times when it is just more convenient than the Rat.

Roger


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## marcros (15 May 2013)

it could be worth starting a new thread, but since Mick has got an answer on the cutters, and this is relevant to the tool he has purchased, I hope that he doesnt mind.

It is well worth downloading the manual from the woodrat site, and seeing the various things that it shows you how to do. There are also numerous sites on making various jigs or devices. I have yet to make one, but a horizontal table of some form looks very useful- there are designs from very simple to complicated, so a matter of seeing which suits you best.


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## MickCheese (15 May 2013)

I think starting a new thread sounds like a good idea. 

Mick


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## MickCheese (15 May 2013)

It seems there is enough interest to start a woodrat thread for general help and stuff. 

I will start one in the jigs and tips section so we can swap good ideas and questions. 

I know there are some very keen rat users so they may give me a good head start with my new toy. 

Mick


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