# Mods to Woodrat (already!!)



## Anonymous (21 Apr 2006)

Rat owners might find this rather long post of interest

Yep, as I posted earlier, I am very impressed with the Woodrat but think it is lacking an important component - graduated scales.

I really don't want to make little bits of wood to place between stops and cut bits out of plastic before the wood :roll: 

The requirements for longitudinal scale is easily solved with an old (horrible) aluminium ruler that has been in the workshop for ages and cost very little from B&Q. I cut it on the bandsaw, glued it to a piece of ply and fitted it underneath as the T-track is there but also as it allows me to use the *rear edge of the clamp black as a 'pointer'* where it overhangs the ruler.

The requirement for the crosswise scale is for it to be *easily 'zeroed' *in different places to make cuts easy to set up. 

For instance, for a tenon, I simply subtract the tenon width from the wood width, halve this, and that is the setting I need. 
I push the stationary router bit up against the rear of the wood, zero the scale, wind the wood away from the cutter, and then use the scale to set the cut to my calculated value and take the cut.
I then push the stationary router bit up against the front of the wood, zero it, wind wood out of the way, and then push the router away from me until it reaches (minus) the value I calculated and then take the cut.
This takes less time than it took to type or for you to read it. I can easily set the router to a position within 0.1mm which is more than adequate. 


*Longitudinal scale*

First, I ripped the 'orrible ruler.









Then I glued it to some ply - finally, those car boot sale clamps come in useful  








I drilled 4 holes for the 8mm bolts to fit in the T-track with wing nuts for easy adjustment.








In place - note that the clamp overlaps the scale providing a ready pointer for positioning accurately. Despite how the picture looks, the ruler face is flush with the front of the rat.








*Crosswise scale*

I considered a standard vernier but decided against it as Axminster sell a vernier for the job for a couple of quid more than the standard vernier costs and to be honest, using a standard vernier looks like a bit of a bodge to me.

However, the bracket supplied by Axminster did not fit and I had to re-drill the holes. Also, the supplied screws were too long and I had to grind them down :roll: 








I used the DW625 guide fence rail and ground a small flat on it before drilling 3.2mm and tapping 4mm








I decided against mounting it on the ali guide rails as I want space for stops etc. and so mounted it on the Phenolic plate. This is slippery, so centre punch first.








I had to cut down some 4mm bolts for mounting to the plate








Here it is mounted with the cut-off 4mm bolts. I needed to place two 4mm washers between the rod and the vernier's bracket to give nice alignment and smooth movement.








And at the other end of the travel








To cut full width trenches etc., I will simply remove the bolt holding the bracket to the rod - 10 second job :wink:


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## Mike.C (21 Apr 2006)

Nice one Tony, there's no holding you back now. On the side lines for a number of years, to a fully paid up member of the 'Rat Pack' Old Blue Eyes and co would be proud of you :wink: Well done mate.

Cheers

Mike


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## Philly (21 Apr 2006)

Nice one Tony!
Might have a go at those myself
Philly


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## Newbie_Neil (21 Apr 2006)

Hi Tony

Very impressive.

Cheers
Neil


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## dedee (21 Apr 2006)

Nice work Tony, from a non Rat owner I cannot understand why this sort of mod is not standard. It would surely only add a few bob to the price of the thing.

Andy


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## Jorden (21 Apr 2006)

Nice one Tony, and glad to see you 'back in the saddle'.

BTW - what is a woodrat? :twisted: 

Dennis


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## Alf (21 Apr 2006)

Always knew you were a natural for the 'Rat - bearly out of the box and already drilling extra holes in the poor thing. :lol: Must be an even quicker way to connect and disconnect the router with the north/south vernier though surely? :wink: 

Cheers, Alf


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## stewart (21 Apr 2006)

Very nice, Tony.
Have had mine for nearly two years and been thinking about doing what you've done for almost as long!
Stewart


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## MikeW (22 Apr 2006)

Pretty cool, Tony!

I'm glad it seems to be both working out for you--and providing a channel for creative energy.

Take care, Mike


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## judder (22 Apr 2006)

Well done, looks really good. I was looking at one of those 'orrible long rules the orther day and noticed that it was out by a full 1mm from almost the start, I checked it with a second tape too. I take it yours does not suffer from the same.


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## Anonymous (22 Apr 2006)

judder":16d1qb8q said:


> Well done, looks really good. I was looking at one of those 'orrible long rules the orther day and noticed that it was out by a full 1mm from almost the start, I checked it with a second tape too. I take it yours does not suffer from the same.



:-k To say I had checked it would be a lie right now but a truth in 1/2 an hour :wink:


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## SketchUp Guru (22 Apr 2006)

Nice job Tony. I have a similar sort of scale on the bottom of my Rat although I used one of the extra scales from my Incra tablesaw fence. I slipped it into a shallow groove plowed into the length with a dovetail bit.

I really like your caliper modification. It looks very professional.


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## aldel (22 Apr 2006)

Wow!

From being anti-'Rat to a full member of the tweak, jig and mod a WoodRat group in such a short time. Now that is impressive!!  
Welcome Tony. I look forward to your next ideas. Don't forget to post on the WoodRat Forum too.

Looking forward to your next mods as there surely will be some, regards,

Aldel


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## Scott (22 Apr 2006)

dedee":1hdqcyz2 said:


> I cannot understand why this sort of mod is not standard. It would surely only add a few bob to the price of the thing.



I don't think they need to add any more bob to the price of the thing Andy! :wink:


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## Bean (22 Apr 2006)

I wondered how long it would take    

Bean


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## Anonymous (22 Apr 2006)

Bean":26f6amek said:


> I wondered how long it would take
> 
> Bean



Hope I didn't disappoint :wink:


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## Bean (22 Apr 2006)

Did it come with a new nail brush ????

Bean


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## Anonymous (23 Apr 2006)

Bean":1tuyvgzi said:


> Did it come with a new nail brush ????
> 
> Bean



Cleans all nine nails up a treat - Rat has not got dirty enough for me to use the brush on it yet :wink:


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## Anonymous (23 Apr 2006)

Alf":dsrgphaj said:


> Always knew you were a natural for the 'Rat - bearly out of the box and already drilling extra holes in the poor thing. :lol: Must be an even quicker way to connect and disconnect the router with the north/south vernier though surely? :wink:
> 
> Cheers, Alf



Of course 

I had considered a quicker release mechanism such as a pin mounted on the rod engaging in a slot in the vernier bracket. Simply undo the thumb screw in router base and then disengage - like this






However, the time to remove the bolt is well under a minute and I don't think I will be doing this very often as I tend to use the table or my dado jig for the kind of cuts where I might want to.
Also, it would be hard to get a perfect fit without lateral play once engaged, yet easy to engage, unless I messed a fair bit with the bracket's slot.


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## Jake (23 Apr 2006)

Will the router base take round rod, rather than hexagonal or whatever? If so, couldn't you taper just the end of the rod and just drill the bracket just right for the main rod diameter, so it kind of located itself.


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## Anonymous (24 Apr 2006)

Jake":1jq3fy1g said:


> Will the router base take round rod, rather than hexagonal or whatever? If so, couldn't you taper just the end of the rod and just drill the bracket just right for the main rod diameter, so it kind of located itself.



Nice idea Jake. The installed rod is round section.


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## SketchUp Guru (24 Apr 2006)

You could also put a chisel point on the end of the rod and a matching V-groove on the bracket. Or you could use a bolt and nut.  Great work Tony.


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## crazylilting (17 Oct 2009)

Hi Tony great idea. I have a question about the vernier modification. Which one did you use? Did you just strip it down, how did you get the arms off etc. and where did you find the little brackets to attach it to the woodrat.

Thanks a bunch


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## Bgoat (15 Jun 2022)

Anonymous said:


> Rat owners might find this rather long post of interest
> 
> Yep, as I posted earlier, I am very impressed with the Woodrat but think it is lacking an important component - graduated scales.
> 
> ...


Hi Tony, Just what I'm looking for with my WR5. Unfortunately, the images don't show up when I view your post: are they still available as I'd like to adopt your modification if I may.

Regards, Phil


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## AESamuel (15 Jun 2022)

Woah, zombie thread from 13 years ago


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## Spectric (15 Jun 2022)

Yes the pictures would be helpful, just shows how these threads are producing a legacy of information.


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## Blister (15 Jun 2022)

2006 and 2009 posts


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