Woodrat questions

[RogerS]

Alf, 'jointing edges' ? In my naivety I'd use a biscuit jointer, I guess. But I think I'm missing some subtlety here.

 

[Midnight]

a jointed edge is one that's been planed flat and square to the faces..

a biscuit jointer assists in joining things together...

I know....confusing terminology....

 

[RogerS]

Ah, I see. In which case why on earth would you want to use anything other than a jointer ?

 

[Midnight]

simply cos there's some of us like to do things properly....

machines make corrigated edges; their flat surfaces need a ton of sanding.... hand planes get it done properly first time... every time...

 

[Philly]

Looking forward to a review then Col!
Cheers
Philly

 

[Alf]

Ah, I see. In which case why on earth would you want to use anything other than a jointer ?

Oh deary me... Wot Mike said, satisfaction, the silence, too much bother to swap from thicknesser to planer set-up, an awful lot easier to take a 22" plane to an 8' long board than taking an 8' long board to a machine, the ability to make a nice sprung joint. All sorts of reasons. For good work, even if I've used the P/T first, I'll always clean up the joint by hand, as do many others. Leaving on the machine marks is, well let's just say it's not something you're going to be happy to see when that first raking light glances off your latest project. And of course abrasives to remove the tell-tale evidence cost money which would look much nicer in the form of a hand plane or three. :wink:

Cheers, Alf

 

[Philly]

Some nutters like to use a router to do everything, though! :wink:
Philly

 

[Adam]

2. How much per day is the training?

3. How many days training will you need?

4. What does the accomodation and travel cost?

Just out of interest Neil, I took Mike Humphries course on the woodrat and thoroughly enjoyed it. It was very useful. It's worth noting however, he has far more people through the door for router (+table) training than woodrats. From what I found on my course, it's amazing how much more you can learn by "hands-on" training - all sorts of hints, tips, suggestions, safety, alternations, modifications, additional jigs, different techniques, new working methods etc etc. They apply equally to router tables as woodrats. Just most people don't bother as they get 90% out of their table/'rat for 10% of the effort - taking some training gets you that last 10%. Mike does a lot of training on the "Trend" equipment - something I always thought came with good manuals and was easy to use.

Adam

 

[Anonymous]

Well, I wasn't going to mention the oddness of Neil's question, but since you brought it up - it's the first time I've seen anyone ask about training costs...

oooh, I've just built Norm's router table

oh yeah? how much was the training?

At the end of the day, the dangerous bit of either a 'rat or a table is the whizzy tailed beastie joined to it...and we've never done training on that, have we? And the 'rat significantly reduces the danger of said tailed beast, cos your fingers aren't anywhere near the spinny-hard-metal-finger-biting-nasty-sharp-whizzy bit...

And don't get me started on table saws! lol

 

[Newbie_Neil]

Hi ES

Well, I wasn't going to mention the oddness of Neil's question, but since you brought it up - it's the first time I've seen anyone ask about training costs...

I believe that quite a number of the ratters will have had the basic 'rat course from Mike Humphrey, if not the advanced course as well.

It arose during a thread many moons ago when I mentioned how poor the Rat demos were at woodworking shows. At that point it seemed that most ratters had been on a course as the manuals were very poor.

Please note that I am not trying to knock the Rat.

Cheers
Neil

 

[RogerS]

And the decision is...well, lets' just say that come Thursday I will be the owner of a 'nearly-new' Woodrat. Stumbled across this great guy who had only used his a couple of times... turns out he's more into 'hand made furniture' - his workshop was an Aladdins cave of hand tools. He'd bought all the add-ons and most of the range of Rat cutters (most still with their protective sealant on) at the same time and so we did a deal for the lot.

He's local and so I whizzed down to see it and, thanks to all you guys, I could see what the pro's and con's were in the flesh.

The Incra was a close second and I can still see me replacing my router table with something a tad more 'professional' at a later date and that's where the Incra will come in then.

So I reckon I'll be selling my brand new Trend Mortice and Tenon kit (unused...never taken out of the box) 'cos I reckon that the Rat will do the biz. I'll stick this in a separate post to give you guys first dibs before I put it on eBay.

The sad thing is that I only just re-arranged me workshop and all me walls are full. So reckon another re-arrangement is called for but this time I'm definitely NOT moving the planer.

Many, many thanks for all the advice.

Roger

 

[Chris Knight]

Roger,

Congrats!

Us wunnerful humin beans are here to help you get over the initial learning curve. Glad that you recognise you still need the Incra and that the Trend M/T jig was taking up the space you willl need for your Leigh FMT jig one day! :lol: :lol: :lol:

 

[Newbie_Neil]

Hi Roger

Sounds as though you've done very well with your purchase. A good choice.

Cheers
Neil

 

[frank]

welcome fellow ratter to the ratters club may your sliding d/tails fit so smooth ,your m/t s be nice and snug and all the other things you will do that others can only dream of .

 

[Newbie_Neil]

Hi Frank

welcome fellow ratter to the ratters club may your sliding d/tails fit so smooth ,your m/t s be nice and snug and all the other things you will do that others can only dream of .

How are you? I've been waiting all morning for your post. :wink:

Cheers
Neil

 

[Alf]

Yay!

Sounds like you got lucky there, Roger. Like Chris says, we're here to hold your hand if you need help.

Cheers, Alf

Now about this guy's handtools...? :wink:

 

[Anonymous]

About the best advice I can think to give you, now you have a 'rat, is don't be too disheartened if the first few joints end up a bit, erm, how can I say, wonky...or loose...or Z shaped instead of box shaped...

Cos all of the above have certainly happened with me (don't ask - there's me thinking I know how the thing works, who needs to look at the manual this time?), but perseverence pays off in the end.

 

[RogerS]

Which routers are you all using with your 'rat, would you repeat your choice and if not what would you go for?

I've looked at the router poll but feel that the 'rat requirements maybe a bit different (assuming that one isn't going to betaking the router on and off all the time).

And can anyone tell me why a Festool 2000 is nearly half as much again as a Trend T9. Is it 50% better??!!

And are Festools cheaper in Germany, does anyone know?

 

[Anonymous]

I use a deWally dw621 - it works fine - only a 1/4" and 8mm collet though, not 1/2", which limits you a bit on the router bits. On the plus side, the plate on the 'rat that the router mounts on has 'pre-holes' positioned in just the right place for deWally, ELU, MOF type routers (and I should think the CMT fits that bracket too) - saves having to work out yourself where to put the holes. The dust extraction through the column on the 621 is also pretty good on the 'rat.

 

[Noel]

And can anyone tell me why a Festool 2000 is nearly half as much again as a Trend T9. Is it 50% better??!!

And are Festools cheaper in Germany, does anyone know?

Freud Review:
https://www.ukworkshop.co.uk/forums/view ... ight=freud

Festool tools are not that much cheaper in Europe as reported by some members and a quick surf usually confirms.

Noel