Good and Great News!

 Spring Poppies !

The WoodRat is Back!!!

I saw a tiny ad in FineWoodWorking magazine in the 90’s and mailed the company over in England.

I’d say mid to late 1990’s.  Still have the promotional stuff they sent back.  

WoodRat link in here

You can also see the manual that came with the machine I eventually purchased.

I love this wonderful thing.  I use it on almost every project and if I don’t I certainly entertain the idea to see if it’s feasible.

I’ve hacked it in a hundred different ways, come up with novel and most surprising ways of doing a task on it.  

WoodRat link

The inventor of the WoodRat, Martin Godfrey I guess, was getting on up there in years and he had to stop the business for a few years.

But the great and good news is there a new owner of the WoodRat!!!!

So exciting for me!!

Sandwiched between The Joe Sam painting and my espresso machine.

Latest little thing I added is a Dead Man’s switch.  Idea came to me while thinking about a project while I sitting out in Death Valley last Fall.  (See project below)

I think one of the best things about the WoodRat is how analog it is. It’s basically an XYZ movement of a machine using your hands instead of pushing a computer button.  Cranked with a handle, you can write stuff on it,  It’s a beautiful hand-eye dance.  Meditation really.  

Lately I’ve been getting into using end mills instead of router bits.

Please check out the WoodRat if you are a woodworker.

So I’ve been getting inquires on how I made a hanging lamp from last year.  This is the perfect opportunity to showcase the WoodRat.

This was not CNC, this is WoodRat.

This is the second coopered hanging light I’ve made this way.  The wood is routed out to where it’s thin enough for light to shine through.  The light shines through pretty good when the wood is just a couple thousand over 1/32”.   Around .041”

There were 15 staves in this particular lantern.

Made a clamping table for the WoodRat for repeated ability to hit that .041”

This is the simple way to determine line spacing for this particular size of cutter.

Cut an angle on the staves and glue it up.

Hanging it temporarily until the correct person accepts it.