The WoodRat - Comb Joints / Finger Joints / Box Joints

[@alastairduncan1646]

I know this is a very old video and you possibly don’t monitor it now but I have found it very useful and I would reply to the comments about it being slow and painful as balderdash it is very methodical and just what you need to avoid making mistakes and spoiling painfully prepared stock. Thanks a lot

[@SteveCashmoreWoodworks]

Thanks Alastair. I do still monitor my KZbin account although it never has been nor will ever be one of these multi-million subscriber channels! But I’m ok with that! 😂 The WoodRat videos were intentionally made to be slow and more classroom like to emulate as though you were on a hands on course. So I realise that the delivery is slow and no doubt boring for some folks. But the point was to explain in as much depth as I could give given that this machine is not altogether that obvious on how it should be used. Anyway, glad you found it useful and hope you’re now making some good stuff with your Rat?

[@douglasclark184]

Thanks for your video. It is good to see someone other than WoodRat using their jig. Your video has been completely useful to me.

[@SteveCashmoreWoodworks]

Thanks Douglas. Glad it was helpful.

[@cakepanda]

thank you very much! very useful video. I am about to set up my second hand woodrat - all looks quite daunting, but your video will give me some good starting points.

[@SteveCashmoreWoodworks]

Thanks cakepanda. It's good to hear that you found it useful. If you haven't already seen the previous videos I made on the WoodRat then make sure you watch them in order, these should help you setup and maintain the Rat etc. Good luck with your new Rat...!

[@brianoneill350]

Great video, nice and methodical. Explains it well

[@SteveCashmoreWoodworks]

Thanks Brian. Glad you found it useful. 👍

[@2DKj0uwqA]

Thank you very much! I got a lot of useful information from your video :)

[@SteveCashmoreWoodworks]

Ok good. Glad it helped. Cheers 👍

[@alistairmcmeekin5382]

Excellent video. What type of cutter are you using? Have you tried finger joints with birch ply?

[@SteveCashmoreWoodworks]

Thanks Alistair. I can’t remember now, the video is a few years old. But it was probably an up cut spiral bit (HSS). I’ve not tried birch ply finger joints as I haven’t had a project yet that requires them.

[@CraneofBoulogne]

You have a much better way to make Bee Hive boxes by doing it this way. This is a good way and looks really easy compared to holding them up on the table saw passing them over a dado blade set.

[@SteveCashmoreWoodworks]

As you’ve mentioned dado blade sets I’m guessing you’re based in the US? We don’t have these over here in the UK (not to my knowledge anyway)! I agree that finding an alternative way to dado blades is preferable. Once you’ve got this method in your head it’s really easy. I mean Method B (symmetrical) of course. Thanks

[@CraneofBoulogne]

Yes sir I am in Florida, USA. Been here all my life, in the rural northeastern part of the state, very near Georgia thirty or so air miles inland from the Atlantic coast. Yes the second method, B is the one that impresses me most. It is actually admirable the way you looked at the Rat, used it some and came up with ways of adding in measuring scales in ways that lead to improvements in using the Rat. I am glad that I stumbled across your videos. I will watch occasionally and when you post more videos about the Woodrat I will be sure and watch them. thanks

[@SteveCashmoreWoodworks]

Florida sounds great! Never short of sunshine there?! I will do some more videos on the Rat as soon as I can. But glad that you’ve found them useful, as that was the intention. Thanks 👍

[@davesmulders3931]

Aren't these joints cut 10 times faster with a handsaw and chisel?

[@SteveCashmoreWoodworks]

I guess it depends how good you are with hand tools, I’ve never made the comparison so I can’t answer. But I can cut these on the Rat in batches, so that more than one board is cut at the same time. There is no need to clean up any baselines or shoulders because the router bit can “climb cut” leaving a perfect cut. If you follow Method B here you’ll have completely symmetrical joints without any need to markup the boards before cutting the joints. I understand perfectly that these machines are not for every woodworker, there’s a mass of people who use only hand tools. But if template routing is your thing then this machine is much more versatile than a dedicated dovetail template jig.

[@brianoneill350]

Good luck trying to cut these out with this accuracy with hand tools.

[@sixpotshot]

As a demonstration on its own it is ok and you make a good effort to explain how it works but as a demonstration of the woodrat abilities it laves one thinking this is a far too fussy, slow and complicated tool compared to other methods. Thanks for the vid all the same

[@SteveCashmoreWoodworks]

Thanks for your feedback. This was intended to be a clear and detailed explanation of how not to do and how to do comb joints. As you may know the WoodRat can be used to make many many types of joint and this is just one of them. It’s not complicated once you see how it works, it’s really very easy and quick to make joints.

[@sixpotshot]

It was not clear to me that it was also a demonstration of how 'not to' as well as and in addition to how 'to' but and I'll accept your explanation with thanks. All in all and in between systems like Incra's, Leigh's and the Woodrat for example and not mentioning the old fashion way of chiseling it out it just highlights a problem we all have which is to determine which method is best for one as we can't go all out and try everything that's available out there. Sadly!

[@stevenowen9279]

Can tell that Martin Godfrey has not trained him

[@SteveCashmoreWoodworks]

Can you explain your comment a bit more please, Steven? Who is “him”?

[@stevenowen9279]

@@SteveCashmoreWoodworks The guy doing the talking doesn’t come across to me as good as Martin Godfrey

[@SteveCashmoreWoodworks]

Ok, well that would be me then! Thanks for your feedback. Martin Godfrey being the inventor of the WoodRat is bound to be the best. I’m just sharing the things I’ve learned through a course I did with Mike Humphrey over 20 years ago (he’s retired now and you can’t do the courses any more). Mike knew a lot about the WoodRat and his course was a revelation. I don’t profess to be a professional teacher and I am a hobbyist woodworker (as explained in my info), but these techniques are brilliant, however I may have delivered them to the public.