First Aldel, thank you for both taking the time and expense to travel and do a wonderful job of reporting on these developments.
I do believe Chris' assessments are dead-on, though.
My own perception of the 'Rat is that it is not and cannot be forced to become a production machine. Not that one cannot be productive, but those are two seperate concepts.
In a working shop these days, if production combined with cost-effect dovetailed drawer solutions is desired, one doesn't even make their own drawers. I'm thinking kitchen cabinets and the like here. They are orderd and made by a company which does nothing but on industrial equipment.
Those shops still making their own drawers are using industrial-strength dovetailing equipment--or CNC. Mortise and tenons done with at minimum Multi-Routers or slot-morticers.
Even in low-production shops, a Leigh will earn its keep rather quickly. But in these types of shops I have seen, the Leigh was but a stop-gap until larger machinery was obtained.
None of the above equipment, though, fills the niche which the WoodRat does--one-off or low production furniture environments wherein the maker has "built-in" variability in their designs. Something canned production techniques are not flexible enough to handle [but not that they cannot].
When I made the decision to purchase my 'Rat, it was its flexibility and extensibility which help to make the decision. While I am but a customer of one, it seems to me that WoodRat ought to be focusing on who their customers are and seeking to enhance those attributes instead of seeking to satisfy a few nah-sayers by making jigs which seem to restrict and limit its use. In the search for simplicity, they are making it actually more comlicated than it is.
Tony's thread and the success of the Craftsman's Gallery doodads should help provide direction. As well, your own site ought to serve as inspiration for the makers of WoodRat.
Perhaps the real solution is as Chris suggests. Stuff this money being thrown at develoment into education--by demonstrators and teachers who actually seem to care. That was what stopped me from purchasing a 'Rat originally. The booth I attended at a woodworking show was manned by people who acted as if it was a bother for them to demonstrate the 'Rat for various things.
Their biggest untapped market is the US. Perhaps they could come up with a plan to get WoodRat US out of the office and on the road.
Well, end of my day. I apologize for the tired ramblings of a sick saw monkey...
Take care, Mike
