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Thread: Woodrat vs Dovetail jig
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28th October 2005, 03:46 PM #1
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Woodrat vs Dovetail jig
I am contemplating my next toy purchase, something to handle dovetailing for the builtins in the bedrooms and kitchen and a few freestanding items. something that can speed up manufacture of little boxes would also be useful.
At this stage the frontrunners are the woodrat and the leigh dovetail jig, but that may change as i learn more about them.
as i see it, the woodrat is more versatile, but fixing it to a wall isnt my style, i like a portable workshop. the leigh jig is more portable but apparrently cant do all that the woodrat can.
It seems that while dovetailing jigs are cheaper than the 'rat, they are a bit like triton, you keep having to add on extra bits to increase the capability, and the overaqll cost by the time it does all you want may be far above teh 'rat.
anyway, thats what im thinking about, any comments or opinions would be much appreciated
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28th October 2005, 07:07 PM #2
Old Phart
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You could build a stand for the Woodrat
Another toy, oops tool, to consider is the Incra jig, not just for joints also for very accurate repeatable positioning
Growing old is much better than the alternative!
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28th October 2005, 07:34 PM #3
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Yup I had much the same thoughts!!!
FWIW I went with the WoodRat.........Once I work out how to use it I'll do an In depth Review & How to!!!
REgards louJust Do The Best You Can With What You HAve At The Time
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28th October 2005, 07:39 PM #4
Old Phart
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Isn't there a "how to" video available for the woodrat?
Originally Posted by NewLou
Growing old is much better than the alternative!
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28th October 2005, 07:40 PM #5
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Yep, a video or DVD - but it's really more of a demo that a true tutorial. It does help, though.
Cheers!
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28th October 2005, 07:42 PM #6
Old Phart
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Ah, OK.
Growing old is much better than the alternative!
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28th October 2005, 09:30 PM #7
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the pdf brochure i downloaded actually suggests mounting it on a substantial board and clamping it in supa-jaws as an option for portability but you would probably need 2 x supajaws so theres another $400 on the tool budget Originally Posted by Sprog
You could build a stand for the Woodrat
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29th October 2005, 06:10 PM #8
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Hi Doug.
Someone in this forum put me onto a site that gives a full evaluation of the wood rat, including assembly etc.
Worth a look www.woodshopdemos.com/wr-1.htm
paddy
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29th October 2005, 07:02 PM #9
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Doug
The Woodrat seems much more versatile and the one I'd purchase (if I were inclined). The demo I attended the other day used a frame made from 2x4's and this was just clamped to a benchtop. Clearly designed to be portable.
Hated the noise and dust.
Regards from Perth
Derek
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31st October 2005, 09:51 PM #10
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Givkins
Doug,
I have a full set of the Givkins Dovetail Jig and am pretty pleased with it. The video that came with it and the manual are both excellent. Roger is an exceptionally gifted woodworker, and a fairly nice bloke to boot.
Enough of that though.
I bought the Givkins as it seems to work well with the Triton.
It is very portable.
Once you set it up, it is easy to use. The setting revolves around adjusting the number of packing shims behind one of the fences. Once this is done, it is similar to the finger jointer in the sense that the height of the router bits is not critical, just effects how much the tails and pins stick out. Once set, you don't need to set it again. Some dovetail jigs rely on the height of the bits for the tightness of their fit. I have heard that this can be a tad tricky.
You can end up spending a bit of money if you buy all of the templates and bits. I did, and though have not used many of them I like having them there anyway.
The Givkins jig does not do half blind dovetails, though Roger has some good examples of where he has glued a front onto carcases made with through dovetails.
My 2 cents worth.
Steve
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31st October 2005, 10:03 PM #11
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Gifkins
It's actually Gifkins http://www.gifkins.com.au/ I have 2 of them with a 3rd template. It works really well, and as pointed out it doesn't do blind dovetails but that's not the end of the world.
Woody
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31st October 2005, 10:05 PM #12
The typo kign
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I can't work out the advantage of having two. Please explain :confused:
If at first you don't succeed, give something else a go. Life is far too short to waste time trying.
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31st October 2005, 10:11 PM #13
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Maybe he doesn't have to swap the template over ? One of my concerns is that if you swap and change between a and b template maybe you could ruin the grip . Why does it not have thread inserts to prevent this . Seems a simple solution but I've only just started to explore mine .
Regards Rick
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31st October 2005, 11:24 PM #14
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Advantage of having 2
Same reason a dog licks where it does. Because he can!
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1st November 2005, 12:28 AM #15
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looks like a woodrat for me then cos i just arent that flexible Originally Posted by TritonJapan
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