On Fri, 21 Jul 2006 21:22:47 -0400, Joe Bleau wrote:

Thinking about getting one. Read everything on their website but we
all know they are not going to point out any negatives. Would like to
hear for users. Thanks.

Joe

I bought one about 3-4 months ago at a WW show, and I've used it so far to make
dovetails, sliding dovetails, M&T joints and box joints, and it does all of
these things well. I don't use it as a substitute for a router table, however.
I find the table much better for things like rounding over an edge,
panel-raising and making rail-and-stile doors. I consider the WoodRat a joinery
machine.

What's bad about it? Well, the manual, for one thing. It's hard to understand
and leaves out lots of important little details. I think it was written by the
tool's inventor, and he suffers from being too familiar with it so he can read
between the lines and find information that isn't there. But you can't, and
you'll find it quite frustrating.

Learning to use the WoodRat takes a while. If you expect to take it out of the
box and start making furniture the next day, you'll be disappointed. It takes a
fair amount of head-scratching, practice and reading and re-reading of the
!$#&*! manual to figure out how to do anything the first time. But eventually,
you'll get to understand how it all works and when you need to do something new,
you'll know how to do it, in your own way, without the manual.

I've never found it a problem that the wood is below the base. In fact, you
have more visibility into what's going on at the point of the cut with the
WoodRat than you do with a router table. And as far as mounting it on the wall,
well I agree you shouldn't even think about using drywall plugs or even mollys.
I have mine lag-screwed into the studs of a basement wall. It's had a dedicated
Hitachi M12V sitting on it for the last 3 months, and it doesn't show any sign
that it's going anywhere.

All in all, I have no regrets, and knowing what I know, I'd buy it again. Feel
free to post or e-mail questions if you have any.

To reply by e-mail, use jcarlson631 at yahoo dot com

John