Replies

1. 
   Dave45 | Sep 14, 2007 02:43am | #1

   I saw these advertised on TV last night and wouldn't be surprised to see them become the next big "gotta have" household dohickey.

   I don't see an "industrial" model anytime soon, however.  It has to store the dust, hair, etc, that it picks up and the poor thing would probably gag within a minute on my shop floor. - lol

2. 
   GRW | Sep 14, 2007 08:08pm | #2

   We have the household model. The Mrs. loves it. It doesn't deep clean, but it's great for dust/lint and such. I wouldn't recomend it for the shop. It has very little dust capasity, and would just put micoparticles in the air. The next filter would be your lungs. I'll wait for the Festool version.

1. 
   wbfinewoodworking | Sep 15, 2007 06:07pm | #3

   "I'll wait for the Festool version."

   I'm sure that they are working on one for BIG $$$$.

   I need one of those that will also catch mice and rats. Every winter they seem to invade my shop (garage) and set up house keeping.

1. 
   KiddervilleAcres | Sep 16, 2007 02:42pm | #4

   Rats!  Holy cow!

   I used to have a problem with skunks finding a winter home under my crawl space in the breezeway.  Then I found where they were getting in - problem solved.

   Yeah I know, I couldn't use it as an excuse for a new tool.  But I did manage a new plane or three!  Pssssttt, don't tell anyone (wife especially). :-)

   Regards,Bob @ Kidderville Acres

    

   A Woodworkers mind should be the sharpest tool in the shop!

1. 
   DanCC | Sep 19, 2007 07:40pm | #13

   In another life I worked for the Boy Scouts and we had an ongoing (likely still ongoing) problem with skunks at camp.  What with 300 or 400 campers a week leaving stuff in tents etc, they were well fed and acted like they owned the place.  The staff kids (16 - 22 or so) starred putting moth balls under their tents to keep the critters from taking up residence.  It worked as long as they renewed the moth balls once a month or so.  We also had a camp ranger who in the off season would engage in a little target practice. However, he had to be right on target and get them between the eyes or he was not allowed in the office for a couple of weeks.Dan Carroll

1. 
   BigK | Sep 20, 2007 08:42am | #14

   My dad used to do something very similar. He would shoot at the mice with a Crossman BB gun. Would sprinkle a little kool-aid powder on the shelf of the pantry and sit down to wait. Don't know if he ever got any of the little buggers or not, but he was a pretty good shot with anything he would use for hunting.

2. 
   BigK | Sep 17, 2007 09:07am | #5

   Cats.

1. 
   wbfinewoodworking | Sep 17, 2007 03:02pm | #6

   I've thought of that, but with seven basset hounds a cat wouldn't stand a chance.

1. 
   BigK | Sep 17, 2007 07:03pm | #9

   Point taken. But a mean tom cat can generally take on all comers with no problems. Perhaps you need to train the bassets to catch the mice. Wonder if they will leave the bodies where you are sure to find them, thereby proving that they are getting the job done? My cat always leaves them on the dust mat in front of the bathroom door at my shop. Good kitty. She is part of a feral colony that I have adopted and care for at my shop.

2. 
   wbfinewoodworking | Sep 17, 2007 09:24pm | #10

   Oh, my bassets have killed birds and squirrels that are out in the yard, but at night when the rats and mice come out the are sound asleep.

3. 
   BMilton | Sep 18, 2007 11:29pm | #12

   If you like dogs, try an Alaskan Malamute - best micers I ever saw! Seriously, when I was in college, we rented a place where my wife could keep her horse (and hay - so, many mice!). The house was tiny, and the kitchen even tinier. One night about nine, I went in for a snack. I turned on the light and there was a mouse in the center of the kitchen floor. He never made it to the cabinets (about 3 feet away) before our big Mal had him. Made quite a racket when the Mal hit the cabinets (whole danged house shook). But, we never had much of a mouse problem.

        Bob

    

4. 
   AndyE | Sep 20, 2007 08:55am | #15

   My cat tends to only leave mouse 'parts' on the mat. Usually just the head and a spleen or liver or some other small part. Always the same part along with the head though. Must not taste as good as the rest.In the spring there is often a bird or two and every now and then she will leave us a bat. Can't figure out how she manages to catch them.But what ever she bring back, no doubt she will look proud of it and want to make sure we get to 'enjoy' it also.If I could get her to pick up the shavings in the shop, I wouldn't mind cleaning up he 'prizes"Andy

5. 
   BigK | Sep 20, 2007 09:13am | #16

   My cat leaves bird-kills also. And yes, she is very proud of her work. She is part of a feral colony that I take care of. Wish I could train them to gang-up on and kill the idiots who keep coming into my shops' yard uninvited (over a 6' chain link fence with triple barbed wire around the top). I would rather that they deal with the problem then me.

3. 
   9619 | Sep 17, 2007 04:29pm | #7

   LB,
   I have known Rodney Brooks since long before he started iRobot. He is a wonderful professor of robotics at MIT -- one of the most creative people I have ever known.

   People have tried to make money on robots for home use for a long time. Remember the Heathkit robots, such at the Hero 2000? There have been robot lawnmowers, and other attempted applications, but none of them were successful.

   Then iRobot came up with the Roomba, and sales took off. Now the MIT spinoff gang is doing shop robots. More power to them!

   But if they team with Festool, then watch out! There will be nothing left for the humans to do. I can just see the Festool Domino Mark 11 doing "Draw bore pinned floating mortise and tenon" with no need for the human to guide the machine. :-)

   Mel

   Measure your output in smiles per board foot. 

1. 
   SARGEgrinder47 | Sep 17, 2007 06:32pm | #8

   I have a hand held "shop sweeping robot".... I think?  Just open the outer doors and it starts in the back of the shop and goes forward at 250 mph on my command pushing dust.. etc. outside. 

   Some have mistaken it for an electric leaf blower! Naaaaaahhh..... leaf blowers are gas operated and spit fumes at over 400 mph outside where they belong. :>)

   Sarge..  

1. 
   MikeHennessy | Sep 18, 2007 03:25pm | #11

   Mee too, but mine's 'lectric. Pull it out twice a year, whether I need to or not!  ;-)

   Mike HennessyPittsburgh, PA