Legacy

[MikeW]

Hi JFC,

A URL link is simple at its most basic.

To get to the UK Workshop, one would copy the url from the address bar of the desired site and then paste the url like this:

https://www.ukworkshop.co.uk

and save the message and it is a clickable link. There are other "things" you can do inside the tag, but this should get you started.

Mike

 

[Adam]

I am interested in the rat but i think i can do what ever it can do plus what a Lathe can do on the Legacy .

The 'rat can do mortice and tenons, finger joints, dovetails, it can do all the above in batches - e.g. you can cut all the fingers of all the sides of a drawer simultaneously. It can cut housings(dados) in the sides of book shelves etc. Its basically a jointing machine.

I thought the legacy was for turning fluted cylinders... that type of thing. The rat is basically a milling machine. I have turned on the rat once, and its not something I'd recommend as being particularly suited for. Much better to get a lathe or a legacy if you were doing it in any quantity. At the time however, I didn't have anything else I could use - it worked, but as is always the case of trying to push a tool a bit further than its sphere of optimum expertise it wasn't fast or easy or fun.

Adam

 

[JFC]

The Legacy is also a milling machine , the carriage that holds the router can be used free hand or used with cogs and gears for pin point accuracy . You can also lower and raise both ends of the work bed and both sides , its like a 3d router table ..... sort off. Depending on what model you have you can also do circle turning i.e table tops , mine can do one around 1.2m . Also there is a linier moulding attachment so it acts like a router table . It also does turning . Oh and it can copy route too .

 

[JFC]

For anyone interested the guy that invented the Legacy is in the country this weekend and will be showing what it can do at Stoneleigh park , Leeds collage of arts & design and Harbourne windows and joinery .
I just had a letter today telling me about it im nothing to do with the legacy apart from owning one :lol:
More info at woodworkers workshop . co . uk :wink:

 

[WoodPecker]

Hi JFC,


Looking for something to do barley twists, which Legacy model do you have?

 

[JFC]

I have the 800 but getting the conversion kit soon to make it a 900 , it can hold 1200mm + a bit and can take stock over 150mm2. It mills stock round very quickly and once you've sussed the start points etc it does barley twists and rope moulds in a few minutes .

 

[ChippyChap]

I will be up front here as I have a vested interest as I import the Legacy into the UK!

It is not a good idea to compare the Legacy with the "Rat" because their capabilities are very different and in my time I have owned a Rat but no longer do.

The Rat is good for dovetails and milling joints, the Legacy can cut dovetails but would not be my first choice of tool for that operation, either an Incra, Keller or Leigh would be more appropriate.

To help you better appreciate its features and benefits I have taken the liberty of enclosing the following paragraph as it is the best description, I have seen, describing what a Legacy Ornamental Mill is capable of achieving.

“ Imagine a machine that allows you to shape a piece of wood, turning it to the round for example, and then add other details that would normally require a shop full of machines, power tools and hand tools to achieve such as beads and coves, flutes or reeds, spirals or precision joinery. Now take that same machine and plane a 10" wide board flat and then add shapes i.e. mouldings or patterns i.e. dentil moulding or parallel flutes and then machine mortise or tenons or finger joints or any number of other details. Now take that same machine and turn round table tops or arches. Basically any form of woodworking can be accomplished on a Legacy Ornamental Mill. There are a few exceptions of course, but very few. This is the woodworking system that allows the freedom and versatility to add features such as: reeds & flutes, tapers, spirals, turned beads & coves, mortises, rosettes, contoured profiles, and so much more, all in one workstation.”

In passing the cost of a Legacy 900 is £1,150.00 and a typical system costs £1,400.00 which includes cutters but excludes the ½" Router which is about 3½ times the cost of a big "Rat", another reason for not comparing them because they are not in the same price range.

If any one wants more information then feel free to email me and I will, with the agreement of the moderators of this web site, send you a DVD and the Legacy News.

 

[JFC]

Ive just seen the Rats promo dvd as lent to me by Ed ( cheers Ed) And as chippychap said above you cant compare the Rat to the Legacy . The Legacy wipes the floor with the Rat IMHO . Whats with the scrubbing brushes for linier moulding ?Dont you get cutter marks when the timber passes the first brush , or do you span the rest of the distance with a broom :lol: and fingers passing under the cutter ?
I will admit its a good bit of kit for smaller work and dovetails , mainly dovetails , but i dont think its a good bit of kit for bigger work where as the Legacy can handle both ( at 2-3 times + the cost ) But IMHO from what i saw on the Rats promo dvd the legacy can do all that and so much more . I will add that i earn my living from joinery so im looking at the Rat and thinking will it earn me money , i dont think it will because i have the legacy but yes the Rat for the price is a good concept .
I lent Ed my legacy promo dvd so look forward to hearing his reply as hes a bit of a Rat fan i think .

 

[Ed]

A Rat fan? I am totally unbiased - honest guv.

It has to be said that I don't own either machine - but I like watching the videos! Having seen the legacy DVD it is pretty impressive, I think its safe to say I am a fan of both it and the Rat.

Both appeal to me for different reasons. If I had pots of cash and space I love to have both, but I doubt the average workshop would really need both. Just depends on what you like making and how you like to make it.

I am sure many of the same things can be achieved with both in slightly different ways ( I have also heard that some people even make these things by hand tools alone! )

Ultimately the legacy is more sophisticated than the rat and can do a lot more and it is priced to match that sophistication. They are aimed at different part of the market and as mentioned above it's not really fair to compare them.

The Rat is also very good at what it does ( joints ) but I am not keen on pushing long pieces of timber under the table for profiling.


Just my 2p worth from someone who has used neither tool and hence my opinion is based on no experience what so ever . In fact I am quite likely to change it at any moment....

As they say the proof is in the pudding and I intend taking JFC up on his kind offer of a go on his legacy.

It was really good meeting you JFC, I enjoyed chewing the fat and checking out your workshop took my mind off not going to Tools 2005!


Cheers Ed

www.overlandy.com