Woodrat - On its way

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shockingmoment

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Just bought one of these after much deliberating, pondering, squirming over the cost and researching the various excellent posts etc in the forums. Selling my dovetail jig to help justify the enormous cost!

Anyway - it arrives tomorrow so will attack (attach) it on Saturday - any hints / tips / must do / must not do

Thanks
 
Congratulations, SM. Evidently a woodworker of taste and discernment. :D

shockingmoment":206abo2l said:
Anyway - it arrives tomorrow so will attack (attach) it on Saturday - any hints / tips / must do / must not do
The first thing that springs to mind is to make your mounting plate thick enough to allow enough space behind the router for dust-ex/plunge bar etc. Also if there's a little space it feels somehow a lot less like being made to face the wall by the teacher for being naughty. :lol:

Cheers, Alf
 
shockingmoment":1uynbsnm said:
Jany hints / tips / must do / must not do
Thanks

Don't get stressed when the manual doesn't make sense. Take a break and read it through several more times. Also, I reckon mounting it much higher up is a good idea. There are updates to any documents on the website.

Adam
 
Congratulations. Here is a link to drawings I did for my Rat mount.
http://photobucket.com/albums/v506/week ... unt_1a.jpg
Click the "Previous" button to look through the drawings.

The smaller diameter connection is for a hose to the DC port on the router. The hose could also be run to other points depending on where collection makes the most sense. A simple PVC cap fits over that port when not in use. Generally if the top port is being used, it would be because the hole in the Rat's rail is blocked by the work so no plug is required there.

There's other stuff in the album that might not be of interest.

Ratmount_c.jpg
 
SM

Congratulations on a wise buy! Once you get into it you will never regret the purchase. I made the mistake of using a temporary mount in my main workbench and thus only set the Rat up for major jobs - result - many wasted opportunities!!
Aldels web site has a few ideas for mounting the Rat. In the "feedback" section he has photos of a cabinet mount by Yaron. I used this idea, but with a full height cabinet and a little extra depth to bring the Rat forward from the wall. Works well and gives very useful storage - you don't need any space behind the Rat body (where this cabinet fits) so it is ideal for space utilisation.

Bob
 
SM
Here's the link to my review of the LittleRat-there are some pics of my mounting plate (if their any help)
http://www.philsville.co.uk/littlerat.htm
For dust extraction I use flat tumbledrier tubing from B+Q-its the same size as the end of the ally profile of the Rat and I conect my dust extractor straight onto it.
Enjoy your Rat
Philly :D
 
Dave, that's a terrific drawing. Is it done with SketchUp? If so, please can you tell me how you achieved that impressive text? My text efforts in Sketchup are very disappointing.

Regards, John
 
I'd probably buy the big brother if I had the chance again, if only for the extra capacity. I do love my LR though-flipping useful :wink:
Philly :D
 
SM, I hope those drawings do make sense once you have the Rat in your hands.

John, the drawings were done in SketchUp but the text was added in an image editor. I use Adobe Photo Deluxe because it was free with my printer. The font is a True Type font called Papyrus. I export 3000 pixel wide PNG format 2D images. Edit them in Photo Deluxe and then resize.

Send me a PM and outline what you're having trouble with in SU. Maybe I can help.
 
Folks - anyone feel generous enough to loan me the video / dvd for a short while?

Bought the Rat / Plunge bar and boy am I in trouble (vv early mxas present / b'day etc all rolled into 1)

Thanks
 
Thanks chaps - been offered a few - very generous of everyone!

She's on a late on Saturday - so I'll be busy installing it - don't want to rub salt in the wound - I'm on Silent Running at the moment!
 
Right. Finished early and sneaked into garage to assemble. Liked the box arrangement - but for now settled on simple suggestion from W/R.

Mounted the unit / clamps - ok

Installed the bed / Al guides - ok

Router - ! What is that manual on about?

Had to take locking lever off to make the plunge bar fit (do I need the lock lever?)

Removed base from router(Ryobi 600E - 1/2") but couldn't figure instructions. Eventually (+1hr) sorted it - two holes in plate lined up with router base (couldn't use these to fix but could to align next two holes) -drilled / c/s fitted - great!

Assembled on rig.

Removed Al guides to fit cams! Gave up for the night - bushed through too much concentration!

Question: Is there a way to prevent my router from ripping into the 'rat if its pushed too far back / down?
Will give another go tomorrow - after I've cleaned the gutters....pennance!
 
Aha! You are now among the ranks of the Ratters of the World. :twisted:

I assume that having the Rat in your hands helped to clarify my drawings. You might have seen my drawing in the manual which is the more complex over engineers version. You'll be fine with the simpler one and you might decide to make the box version with your Rat. Wouldn't that be novel?

As to your questions, there is a little orange button that fits into a hole to limit the north-south travel That will keep you from running the bit into something as you slide it back. As far as plunging into the aluminum, I guess there isn't anything to prevent that. I would install the raising plates if using a bit that is long enough to bottom out on Alu.

Admittedly router mounting isn't well described in the manual. Part of the problem stems from the wide variety of router base designs. Certain bases need to mounted farther aft than others. The fore and aft position isn't critical as long as the router bit won't hit anything when it is shifted fully north or south.

Centering is important but even that isn't as critical as you might think.

Make sure you can insert the Centre Plate when the router is attached. If you don't, bad words might come forth from your mouth.

Have fun with it. Get some softwood to play with and make some stuff. I would advise you to have a pad or paper and a pencil handy for taking notes. A bevel gauge will be useful for dovetails. A square for setting things up properly is a must. Mark up your wood pieces for testing so you can keep track of which faces are out when you're cutting. It helps you get the hang of things.

G'luck.

Dave
 
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