new woodrat station

[engineer one]

after a problem or two with my little ryobi station, i finally decided i had better get a space, and install the woodrat. which i have had for some time :roll:

so i built an mdf box, solid top and back, plus open front and bottom.
screwed to the wall at just over 54 inches to the base plate. this will allow me to work with all the lengths i want, plus makes it easier to see when fitting the bits etc. the lower shelves are open at the outer ends to allow me to store certain parts there.

the photos show the basics, it is not painted, only covered with dilute pva.

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as you can see from the level, it is quite high, but i do find this a decent idea, except of course lifting the rail and mounted router on and off if need be. :?

am happy with the basic settings etc, but there are a couple of problems that are still not properly resolved. drilling for the M12v was a little problematic, since the guide bush screw holes in the base plate are not in the same position as those on the router. so a little bit of guesswork was needed. also the base of the m12 is almost as wide as the baseplate on the rat. bit scary. drilling that stuff is a real pain.

still got it all sorted last night, and tried it out today, fine everything works in the right axes etc, the winding works, and i was able to notch a couple of my shelves for the coffee table.

must figure out a way to avoid breakout on veneered mdf
so out with the glue, and then the 3m magic tape to hold the break out in place whilst it is glued back. it's alright saying use a backing board, but of course that means having lumps lying around to fit :roll:

anyway, the areas of problem i am now experiencing

1/ after only a few minutes, since i had not used it for a while, the router started to run very slowly. so i took the top off thinking it would maybe need bushes, but thought the first thing to do was blow out the whole top.
used an air duster bought for the computer, maplin sell it.
tested the router without the top on, and it worked, so put it back together and it worked also. lesson therefore if you router starts to run erratically, worth just blowing some air through it to ensure it is nothing serious.

2/ fitted the newer ally rails, and discovered that the base plate won't run up and down too easily, indeed at all there is no side movement on these rails unlike the plastic ones, so question should one shave the base plate to allow for movement? is so how?

3/ the centre finder is also too wide for my baseplate so i understand that one has to start by removing the little bumps, any sensible ideas about doing this to ensure that you get only equal amounts off??

anyway otherwise i am again happy with it, think it will make my next couple of tables easier to deal with.

just waiting for some help during the long rail glue up, and then more details of the final build up of the coffee table. :? mind you am still worried about the mortices in the table top. that will be fun laying them out and ensuring they are attractive and accurate :roll:

paul :wink:

 

[MikeW]

Hey Paul,

I also have my mount high up, putting the base plate around the same height. I prefer it higher up. Not that I have used the thing in a few years...

Good mention of the dust in the router top. Usually it is associated with the speed controller. On some models of router, it can actually make either the mains switch loose contact altogether, or simply affect the speed controller.

For the veneered MDF, what joinery is it causing breakout? If it is on box or DT joinery, I attack from both sides. Come in so far from one side, back out, raise and come in from the other side. Climbcutting seems to work for my on tenons to avoid breakout.

I don't use the center finder. On the ally rails, I sanded the base plate with 400 grit sandpaper until they ran smoother and them just wax the rails and base plate.

Take care, Mike

 

[engineer one]

thanks again mike, i guess you're making too many saws :lol:

as for the breakout, i was being lazy in that rather than hand cut the corners in the shelves where they wrap round the legs, i slotted them.

the major break out came with an oldish tct cutter which was more worn than i thought it was.

changed to a new one and it became much better. then as i said i glued the breakout back :?

for small failings i often use magic tape to hold things while the glue sets, but in the past i have used something called stretch wrap i know it is available in america, made by 3m's.

i actually found it in a local store called poundland, for you guessed it
£1.00 12.5 cms wide by 100 metre long. really good value, you can use it for lots of things, for instance holding stuff down, i would think veneers before proper gluing, staining up to an edge, same with paint

plus to protect stuff when you are moving it around. it is kind of like clear velcro in that it sticks to itself.

paul :wink:

 

[engineer one]

after some use, decided i was not too happy with the support itself, so i hand planed another one, found an interesting thing that is not mentioned in the instructions for mounting the rat :?

if you have a piece of wood that reaches to the top of the hanging channel, and mount the baseplate at the front screw hole, then the m8 comes through the channel and hits the wood. took a little time for me to figure out where it was sticking :roll: so need to cut it back a little there

paul :wink: