Woodrat ?? anyone have one ?

[Mark Valsi]

I'm thinking of getting one. Comments ?????

[Gordon Eyre]

What the heck is a woodrat?

[Mike Hollingsworth]

Returned mine in one day. Flexed way too much.

[Trevor Howard]

What the heck is a woodrat?

I thought the same then google to the rescue

http://www.woodrat.com/

[Gary Curtis]

The machine has been in my shop since 2006. You'll see ads for it in various wood magazines, but few know what it is or its capabilities.

Using a router, the WoodRat will mill: tenons, mortises, finger joints, lap joints. But especially dovetails. A few advantages over other similar equipment : no fiddly parts or templates are used, the machine mounts on wall --- thus saving valuable floor space, great safety, pretty good dust collection, you can see the cut being made at all times.

The company advises using a DeWalt 625, but about a dozen other routers will serve just as well. The dovetails are exquisite. They look hand-cut. Folks interested in it can get a demo DVD from Lee Valley. Or from Woodrat.com. Cost would be about the same as buying a Leigh M&T and Dovetail jig. You supply the router that drives the whole thing.

The features appealing to me are speed and the safety. And I like not having boxes full of little jig parts and patterns. They collect sawdust and always seem to get lost. Not needed on the WoodRat.

[Joe Cowan]

I have the smaller version of the WoodRat. It was given to me. I like it, but most of my needs seem to be with the stock in the horizontal position and this one is not big enough. The best way to work with it, is with the stock in the vertical position. The bigger one has an attachment that holds the work secure horizontally. The jigs I have built to do this, has not worked that well.