Rat Noob Report

[Philly]

Hi All,
Well, as you might of heard, I came home with a LittleRat from the Ally Pally show. I've heard a lot about the Rat, but niggling doubts and "other" jigs have meant I've been happy to live without one.
You have to mount the jig on a wall, or at least that seems to be the norm (definitely no pun intended :roll: ) I built a ply base unit for mine so (for the time being) when I want to use it it just gets clamped to the edge of the bench.

There is a facility for dust extraction through the jig, and one of the things I noticed in use was how little dust there was-now that is rare when the router comes out to play!
Read the manual, sent off for the DVD and watched that-that was when the penny dropped! :idea: It is a clever little device and remarkably simple to use. My first attempt with it made dovetails to be very proud of....(I was very disappointed :wink: )
Second go I thought I would make a box. Had some offcuts of Bubinga so this is what we ended up with 45 mins later.

This dinky little box with a sycamore base was simple to make and the joints went together spot on. Tore out a corner routing a groove for the base (on my router table this time) but it looks good! And so easy to use.

Quick clean up swipe with my Veritas low angle smoother ( 8) ) and there you go. Lick of oil and it looks like I should make a lid and give it as a present to me Mum. Now there's an idea-actually making things! No, never catch on... :lol: :lol:

Anyway, just a quick report to say this-The Rat is good! Very straight forward, safe, clean and great results. And worth it just for the hilarious dvd :wink:
So yes, I'm a Ratter and proud!
Cheers
Philly

 

[Chris Knight]

Don't remember if you have been previously chastised for the LN chisels though? :lol:

 

[Waka]

Philly

Arn't you now glad I carried on with the bidding?

can you join the RAT Club even if you don't own one, good review glad its easier to use than it looks. Regarding the router does it take all makes?

Combination due tomorrow.

 

[Midnight]

Philly... one o these days that coathook's gonna catch up with ya... amrk my words... :wink:

btw Chris's S&S still trumps ya..

;P~~~~~~~

 

[Anonymous]

Any more gratuitous LN chisel gloats will be erased from images :twisted: :wink:

Nice box Philly and nice little toy there. Liked the way the LV LA just slipped into the description :lol:

 

[Philly]

Waka
It takes any router, even ones bigger than the baseplate. You just drill a couple of holes to fit anf voila! Glad you "prompted" me a the auction now, Mate :wink:
Chris,
You slapped me down pretty hard recently after my last "comedy gloat" exercise-I now have to resort to "Sly-gloatage" :roll: Chisels are now 5 months old so not really a gloat. Should of got my Veritas Scraper plane in the background somewhere-now that would of solicited a remark or two. Oops! There I go again :roll: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:
Mike
I know my place :wink:
Tony
Please don't edit my gloats-I may have to start producing projects otherwise! And lets face it-you're not exactly gloat free, are you :lol: :lol:
Cheers
Philly

 

[Alf]

"Sly-gloatage"?! I can only assume if you ever needed to be undercover you'd turn up as a novelty giant spanner... :roll: :lol: And yep, we did the LN chisels. They've been in the background in 3/4 of subsequent pics...

Hey, those Little Rat DTs aren't 'arf bad, are they? Now you'll really be a 'Ratter when you realise that dovetails are just a fortunate bonus feature. :wink:

Cheers, Alf

 

[Anonymous]

Waka
Tony
Please don't edit my gloats-I may have to start producing projects otherwise! And lets face it-you're not exactly gloat free, are you :lol: :lol:
Cheers
Philly

Moi??

 

[Newbie_Neil]

Hi Alf

Now you'll really be a 'Ratter when you realise that dovetails are just a fortunate bonus feature.

Interestingly, one of the PWW editors/contributors has a 'Rat set up permanently just to cut D/T's and uses it for nothing else. :shock:

Cheers
Neil

 

[Alf]

Yeah, I noticed that too, Neil. Bit of a shame I thought; might as well have a Leigh. :roll: :lol:

Cheers, Alf

 

[Philly]

Will be experimenting with other joints soon-thought I'd jump in with dovetails as they were LAST in the manual (can't beat the idiot test for confirming a jigs usefulness!)
A question-do you Ratters lock the power on when using your routers (like in a router table) or manually turn the power on? I find that by holding the power on I apply a bit more pressure to the router as time goes by, slightly bend/increasing the depth of cut. Whats the best? Or am I just scared of routers...... :roll:
I can see how it would be great for knocking out loads of DT's though and the power feed thing is just amazing-how did I ever get by without one??????
Cheers
Philly

 

[Chris Knight]

Philly,
Lock the power on - in my case with a DW625 there's no choice anyway. I tend to hold the router by the "wings" where the handles were before I removed them for the plungebar.

Indeed, do not put weight on the router or you will bend the plate and screw up your depth setting. And, if you haven't done so already, check the face of the rat against the plate for square, I need a small shim (folded paper) under my plate to make it square.

 

[Philly]

Magic-cheers Chris!
I'll try that later,
Philly

 

[Anonymous]

Does this mean that there will be an Xcalibur table saw going cheap?Yours hopefully etc.

 

[Philly]

Ahhhhhh-no! :lol:
Sorry
Philly :wink: