Woodrat for hobby woodworkers?

[Simon A Wells]

Hello!

In anther thread I have asked about woodrats for sliding dovetails.
https://www.ukworkshop.co.uk/thread...atable-method-for-cutting-male-tenons.150970/

I had one about 10 years ago, but had to take my workshop down due to selling our house and moving and rented a house for 18 months with for my young family, so sold it probably just as I was getting the hang of it.

Now the kids are older and I have spaces I am sorting out my workshop.

My current workshop is set up for a hobby woodworker, it is in our double garage with a contractor table saw 255mm, record morticer, makita trim router (240V) and rather to many hand saws and planes.

I am wondering if I should get one again for:

• sliding dovetails, especially male tenon.
• tenons
• dovetails
• box cuts ( I have lots of boxes to make!)
• rail and stiles doors frames

Current projects include:

• Large heavy bench / shoe storage from 2 inch pine that would need about 18 slidding dovetail, exposed at both ends, so not stopped.
• Book cases / office storage.

plus some bedroom furniture.

They seem to have become less popular and the USA version the Router Boss is no longer made.

Obvously I'd need to get a bigger router as well.

I know woodrats are like marmite, but reading the older threads I see a lot of people have stopped using them and wonderd why?

Jack of all trades and master....
to complicated...
faster and more efficient ways to do the same things....

I don't mind investing in good tools but would rather spend money on wood and as a hobby joiner I'd rather be doing joinary than reading an instruction book or puzzling over watching youtube videos.

I’d be interested to from those that no longer use their rat and those that still do!

Also, what do people think of the pathfinder jig? I never used one as it came out after I sold my rat?

 

[scholar]

I have had a Woodrat for years and, although I don’t use it very often, I would not get rid of it.

It is the only way I do dovetails and they come out very well (I use the slender angled hss cutters).

I have done many box-joints with it - but I mostly use my table saw Matthias Wandel jig for these, particularly the larger ones.

I have done various sliding dovetails on it.

And of course it is very adaptable for small or one-off milling jobs.

They come up on eBay and go cheap.

Cheers

PS pretty much the first thing I did with the Woodrat, donkeys’ years ago, was to make the little cabinet that hangs on the wall underneath it - it was an exercise in dovetails and sliding dovetails.

 

[Simon A Wells]

I have had a Woodrat for years and, although I don’t use it very often, I would not get rid of it.

It is the only way I do dovetails and they come out very well (I use the slender angled hss cutters).

I have done many box-joints with it - but I mostly use my table saw Matthias Wandel jig for these, particularly the larger ones.

I have done various sliding dovetails on it.

And of course it is very adaptable for small or one-off milling jobs.

They come up on eBay and go cheap.

Cheers

PS pretty much the first thing I did with the Woodrat, donkeys’ years ago, was to make the little cabinet that hangs on the wall underneath it - it was an exercise in dovetails and sliding dovetails.

View attachment 196121

thank you, very helpful and balanced

 

[Spectric]

The one thing a Woodrat excels at is making dovetails that don't look machine made, the problem is that if you don't make them regularly then it can be a bit of a leaning curve each time but then it is also a handy routing machine for so much more.

 

[BucksDad]

Is availability of spares etc a concern? I notice the guy who invented it / runs the company is 97 this month and still the sole owner / operator of the company according to Companies House

 

[Stuart Moffat]

Whenever I make shelves, and I have made a lot of book cases and the like, I always use the rat. Sure dominoes would be faster, but the sliding dove tail really resists shelves sagging. If you have 3 shelves or more, they would all have to sag. In practice none of mine sag at all although fully loaded with books etc.
And of course, the router is the right way up!

 

[Simon A Wells]

Is availability of spares etc a concern? I notice the guy who invented it / runs the company is 97 this month and still the sole owner / operator of the company according to Companies House

Yes, I’d noticed that and the decreased product range etc.

 

[pfilcek]

I picked one up last year and am starting to get to grips with it - sliding dovetails is a great shout, then I'd probably use a guide rail to cut the corresponding grooves for them.
So far I've mostly played with mortise and tenons on it, although I need to build a support jig to let me hold things horizontally for the mortises. I'm also playing at loose tenon joinery - using the rat to cut accurate mortises on the ends of pieces, then a guide rail for those in the middle of a face.

I'm a little nervous about finding plunge bars and hss bits though, as you say the company isn't super active and folk are reporting inconsistent and slow deliveries (there's a dedicated facebook group - half of the posts are people asking if the company is still around)

 

[Blister]

As with any new tool / power tool it is practice that makes perfect , Mr Woodrat has uploaded lots of videos on YouTube
Buy or find some cheap timber / offcuts and have a play , Almost nothing lost if it goes wrong, Bit like woodturning we can't all be masters on our first attempt.
Best router is the 3HP Dewalt with the plunge bar.