I've bought a Woodrat

[GrahamH]

In a moment of madness I bought a second-hand Woodrat off Ebay and I remember there used to be somebody on here who had a website with loads of tips/jigs/guides...

Does anybody know what happened, they seem to have disappeared but I remember there was some really useful stuff on their site.

cheers

Graham

 

[TheTiddles]

You might be thinking of Adel, however I think his site is long gone.

If yours has the plastic work holding fence, replace it with either the new metal one or a block of wood, the plastic ones deflect and you end up with wind in your assembly.

Use TCT bit for everything other than the final cuts on dovetails where the super skinny HSS have to be used, they break very easily

Aidan

 

[marcros]

can't remember the site, ("aigle" rings a bell), but they are great machines as a power fed router table.

https://woodrat.com/router-table-workwoodrat set-up - RouterForums.comwww.routerforums.com › attachments › general-routing

If the second link doesn't work, I googled "woodrat dovetail instruction mike humphrey" and it is a pfd file, top hit.

 

[Droogs]

may have been paddy roxburgh

 

[GrahamH]

Ah it was Adel, that a shame they've gone.

I think mine is quite an early one as the router and base plate are black rather than white, it's also got a proper wheel style handle.

So far I've been taking it apart and cleaning it up ready for use.

thanks everybody for your help.

Graham

 

[TheTiddles]

They are quite cunning, I sold mine recently as I never used it anymore, I kind of moved through “ok” dovetails to being hand cut fine ones or nothing.

You need to design to the machine (as with any tool) if you try and do half traditional and half WoodRat you lose the reference surfaces and it becomes a right pain.

Aidan

 

[Loz_S]

I made a very rough and ready copy of Aldel's website many years ago (12 it would appear!) and turned it into a pdf. Everything that was ever on his site is in this document. I also have some extras that were printed in Routing Magazine that Woodrat users may find useful.

They are a bit too big to host on UKWorkshop but you can get them for a while from zippyshare:
Woodrat Mods by Aldel.pdf
wr-corner.zip

Hope you find it useful, I could never get to grips with the Woodrat.

EDIT: For those of you in the UK or Germany look down to post #16 for a link that will work for you.

 

[recipio]

Martin Godfrey will tell you it cuts every joint known to man. It might but you will spend hours doing test cuts ! I use it mainly for dovetails and it is a very satisfying tool to use. I found suitable TCT router bits from Rockler in the US but that was a few years ago. Setting the spiral cams is the fiddly bit there is surprisingly little support online as the Yanks focus on their 'Chipsfly' version.

 

[Droogs]

@Loz_S the links come up as 403 forbidden when you click them

 

[Loz_S]

@Loz_S the links come up as 403 forbidden when you click them

Eh? That's weird. I just checked them and it works for me. Have literally only just uploaded them - maybe try again in a minute.

 

[Droogs]

still blocked, will try this afternoon

 

[Spectric]

Hi there

I brought one some time back, ideal for cutting nortises for loose tenon joints. Here is Mikes guide and if you want dovetails this calculator helps.

 

[scholar]

@GrahamH - good buy. I have had a Woodrat for years. It doesn't get used very heavily - I now have a really good router table that I use more and also I invested alot of time in a Matthias Wandel screw advance table saw finger joint jig - so I don't use the Woodrat so much for finger joints (but it is very good for these). I still wouldn't be without it - unmatched for dovetails IMO and all sorts of odd trenching/rebating jobs where it is often the quickest way to set up a few cuts.

@Loz_S - I miss the Aldel site and have searched for it once or twice - I didn't take up many of the mods he recorded, but there was alot of interesting stuff there. I would like to access a copy of your record, but I too am getting a 403 Forbidden message on both the links.

Cheers

 

[Blister]

Blimey , Woodrat , That is a name from the past , Must be 10 / 12 years ago they were all the rage if you could afford one
Nice buy

 

[Inspector]

Thanks for the downloads guys. Put them in a folder for the day when I get mine going again.

Pete

 

[Loz_S]

OK. It would appear that the UK and Germany block access to Zippyshare... they just assume everything on that site must be illegal!

The two files can be downloaded from this Wetransfer link for the next 7 days:
WeTransfer - Aldel's WoodRat website

 

[Droogs]

Many thanks Loz, that was nice and easy to do

 

[GrahamH]

Thanks for that Loz.

Just about finished getting it cleaned and set-up. First item on the list is a tool cabinet so that will test a variety of cuts and joints

 

[decas]

Seems like I have had a Woodrat for ever. Good to be reacquainted with it and the Abel information. Many thanks Loz and all.

 

[Farm Labourer]

DISREGARD!!!! I have it now.

How did you guys manage to download from Zippy - I get a 403 error?