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Rattrap
21st May 2008, 06:30 PM
Hey guys,
I was doing some simple lap joints with a 1/2 straight bit on the woodrat at the shed today & i noticed that my cuts weren't quite flat. it appears that the router is leaning slightly to 1 side. I get a slight under cut on the left with every pass thru. I'm using a dewalt 625 router on the rat.
Has anybody else seen this?
I'm guessing that i'll have to find a way to shim it back to true.

HandyAndrea
22nd July 2008, 11:24 PM
exactly how is a router fixed to the Woodrat?

I've been watching your progress with it with interest. I sent away for the DVD and booklet. It arrived yesterday all the way from the UK. I'm not steeped in the finer points of woodworking, tend to find my own solutions, and this machine looks perfectly logical to me. The Woodrat looks great in the hands of the fella on the DVD, but how is it, really?

I have a problem with it because I can't really see one in the flesh, so to speak, until I buy one. It seems they only get them to order in my neck of the woods (Waipukurau, NZ). All and any frank comments on the Woodrat are welcome, please.

Rattrap
23rd July 2008, 10:10 AM
Hey Andrea,
The router is screwed to a sliding deck with just 2 countersunk screws into the alumuminum base of the router. I love using the machine but over the last month i've been tied up with helping on other community shed projects but they were all finished yesterday woot woot! I've got some blackwood & tas oak pieces that i started work on yesterday, i'll take some pics as i go & post them here in a new thread.
The woodrat is an exellent machine & works damn near as well as it does in the video.
So far i've only had a chance to play with dovetails & similar joints but as soon as i get done with this box i've started i'm going to make up a mortice n tennon jig as well as a jig to hold a piece of timber horizontal under the cutter.

I'm currently trying to talk myself into (or out of) buying a router boss when they are released next month The Craftsman Gallery, chipsfly.com - Features (http://www.thecraftsmangallery.com/thewoodrat/wr_intro.html)
They are taking pre-orders now & tho i REALLY want 1 NOW, i don't like to be a gunniepig on a new device thats not made here in Aus. I think i'll probably end up giving in anyways tho. lol.

HandyAndrea
23rd July 2008, 05:03 PM
OK, so what makes the Router Boss more desirable than the WoodRat?
Is it the Laser Crosshairs to centre the thing, the bright colour - or am I missing something? (In other words - would the extras completely confound me without adding anything useful to the experience of using it, and/or are you the sort of person that likes blinking lights and bells and whistles - and the latest new gadget? :D)

Rattrap
23rd July 2008, 09:04 PM
OK, so what makes the Router Boss more desirable than the WoodRat?:D)
I'm only going by what i've read in a few forums & from what i can see the Router Boss removes things like locating the correct button position which gives u the angle & width of the pins. It also fixes a number of minor problems with the rat.
I like the idea of the red laser provided u can accruately callibrate them. I'm pretty sure that are an addon to the router rather than the Boss.
The Router Boss also brings in digital east west & north south accuracy rather than relying on pencil lines.

skytten
19th August 2008, 12:26 PM
I have not yet seen the routerboss, just check the webpage and understand its not available yet.

I do not think its anything which make it better than the rat, they add som electronic stuff to it which may make it easyer to operate.
But more stuff, more can break down.

To use a pen to mark is the way we have used long time before the rat and the routerboss, without less quality of the work.

I would not like to "operate" bullitproof automatic equipment, I like to have some responsibillity for the outcome, and use methods wich need some thinking and care.

The woodrat has whats needed to do the work, and I think its just on the egde to not pass the limit to be a machine which not produce sort of handmade things, drive the things too far change the situation to industrial production and in such case the routerboss is not enought.

I do write the best english I got, and do not use computer spellcheck.

Rattrap
19th August 2008, 05:09 PM
I love playing with the woodrat but it does have some problems with squareness & drift. Also the fenolic deck sags under the weight of the router if the aluminum runners aren't in place like when you are using the spirals & pivot button. from what i can garner from the router boss write up, it has no pivot button or spirals & the rattle in the fence has been removed. I seem to spend more time checking the rat for squareness & alignment than i spend actually cutting.
Just on a side note, if you are using the HSS dovetail bits, make sure you keep them razor sharp at ALL times. I snapped my 3/8 dovetail bit today after cutting dovetails in some really tough blackwood. Boo freakin Hoo!

HandyAndrea
19th August 2008, 08:21 PM
My problem is partly that my eyesight is getting a bit past it, and I can't see the wee lines on the rule...... or anything much, really! So simpler is better, as far as I'm concerned. I'll wait til you get your WoodBoss and see what you think of it, Rattrap.

However, could they fix the "sag problem" by building a slightly heavier deck? Is it something that could be fixed by a workshop solution? I haven't seen one of these beasts apart from on the DVD. In the hands of the Master it looks like you could darn near do anything with it! But then, that's the function of the DVD....


Skytten, don't worry about your English. I understood you perfectly! I admire the fact that you can speak and write in more than one language, because I can't.:)

skytten
25th August 2008, 09:48 PM
Until yesterday I have just seen computer generated realistic pictures of Router Boss.

I found a video showing it at Atlanta Fair, they did not made a big impression as they never set the equipment in the video, they just cut some and show a perfect result.

It never gave a picture of how its really is to line things up before the cut, which is the thing you like to see.

The real equipment looks a bit different from the CAD- pictures.

So the video told nothing more than it is some real machines around.

The link:
http://popularwoodworking.com/iwf08

HandyAndrea
2nd October 2008, 09:04 AM
And they're STILL only taking orders for the RouterBoss.........!!!! When is the thing going to be able to be properly reviewed????

Rattrap
2nd October 2008, 09:18 AM
LOL tell me about it! They've been silent since the Atlanta show. I've sent emails & posted on their forum but no response from them at all. I've already spent some of the $$ i put aside for the Boss on a bandsaw.

skytten
2nd October 2008, 05:56 PM
I find silence from woodrat as well, I have not seen many posts and answers in the woodrat forum. I have posted presales question to Woodrat several times, and get no answers.

I was going to order a Woodrat, as soon they could advice which model of the plunge bar should fit my router. It must be over a month since I posted my query for the second time.

Rattrap
3rd October 2008, 09:00 AM
I saw your post, didn't have an answer for u tho, i use the dewalt router in the woodrat at the community shed. I bought a plunge bar for the router - really good, well worth the $. The quick change collet for the router is an definate must too, makes swapping bits a breaze.
The woodrat site is pretty dead, has been for a long time. I pop into both sites every couple of days hoping for a little titbit of info on the RB but so far no luck

Milty
30th December 2008, 04:57 AM
Hi Rattrap

I am sold lock stock and Barrel on the Woodrat, I do Power Tool and Woodwork training in Roodepoort South Africa, and if there is one thing thing I do know the woodrat is the best thing since the invention of the wheel.

I have people traveling quite far for me to do work for them on the rat, espacially Dovetail joints for an explosive manufacturing company.

I have also found the rat the best in doing oblique tenons,as i had a production run of 400 chairs that I have produced and she is is still going strong!

I might not be the best out there, but you are welcome to contact mr if you need further info

Kind regards

Milty

Rattrap
30th December 2008, 09:11 AM
Hi Milty, thanks for the words.
I've gotten myself the Router Boss now & its a dream to use. both machines are pretty similar in their basic operation so if i run into any problems i'll keep you in mind.
I'm the same with my RB, totally sold on it, worth its weight in gold for sure.
What sort of horizontal work area do u use under the woodrat? ie supporting a piece of timber in a horizontal position.