Aragorn":zk7dwguk said:
It's a strange comparison anyway isn't it? The Leigh D4 or the Rat?.
In what way? The rat 8) produces superb dovetails, finger joints, sliding dovetails butt dovetails, haunch joints, stopped housings, wooden hinges, blind dovetails M&T and we haven't even got into decroative versions of the above! I think the comparisons are very valid.
Aragorn":zk7dwguk said:
The Leigh is a dedicated dovetail jig that's top of the class.
"dedicated" is a dangerous word in my workshop!, what happens if you find a different joint you want to do? Or use with really thick wood? I have to admit to using my woodrat to cut some joints in 3x2 inch recently
Not really precision WW - but it saved me plenty of time
. On that specific occasion, I was pleased the woodrat the ability to do something unusual - for lots of people, they have the space and money to buy something dedicated to every task. In an ideal world, perhaps I wouldn't have a woodrat - but a variety of other machines - dovetailer, RAS with dado-blade, spindle moutlder, dedicated morticer and a dedicated tenoner - but I seen a tenoner and it was about £3k :shock:. So for some people a Leigh would be "top of the class" - but for someone like me working in a limited size workshop - it could never be "top-of-the-class" as it only does a couple of joints. I need something with more flexibility.
Aragorn":zk7dwguk said:
The Rat is a multi purpose device - but so is a table saw! You can cut dovetails on all three.
You just said it's a "strange comparison" above - and now you're saying you can cut dovetails on all three? So it's clearly not a strange comparison. :wink: The woodrat is designed to cut dovetails - at least it's the #1 reason I bought it. I knew I would utilise it's other functionality, but I didn't want to buy something that couldn't produce "perfect" dovetails! I bought the table saw to cross cut, and rip wood. The supports, jigs and additional danger mean I would never consider using a table saw to make dovetails.
Aragorn":zk7dwguk said:
Why the comparisons!? The Leigh is just a superb jig in every way..
Aragorn, I don't think anyone is questioning the quality, or ability of the Leigh to make superb joints. I just think we are rightly pointing out the quality and ability of the Woodrat to make superb joints. They are after all, in direct competition with each other - so I think comparisons are valid.
Neil - you've made an excellent choice.
I agree, anything that assists in WW, and helps you along with projects is a bonus.
I think this turned into a bit of a rant - it wasn't really how I meant it to be.
Adam
