Hammer #2 arriving tomorrow

[HowardH]

After an almost 3.5 month wait, the big day to receive a Hammer a3-31 is tomorrow.  I have no doubt it will be everything my K3 Winner is and then some.  I ended up ordering the new silent power spiral cutter head so it should be interesting how quiet it is going to be after having the DW 735.  Also got the digital dial and mobility kit but no extensions.  Figured I wouldn't need them.  With it finally starting to cool off a bit, I'll have no excuse to starting making saw dust again.  Should I wax the planer beds? 

 

[bijeshj]

Congrats. i have the previous model and they are great. I have been using the Felder supplied ones - cleaning, protection and keeping the beds slick. Seems to be working fine. I stopped using the T9 since it was making the cast iron somewhat sticky.

 

[sgryd]

Yes, you have to do something with the beds. I don't know why, but Hammer seems to leave the beds unpolished. On booth my A3-31 and Hammer bandsaw you can actually file your nails on the beds. In the beginning I had a hard time to get the wood through the planer due to this. I've used quite some "Supergliet" on it and it behaves somewhat better now. Everything is really nice about the Hammers, but the beds (IMHO).

I thougt I got bad beds, but my dealer says this is the way Hammer does it..

I'm really happy with my hammers. Don't misunderstand me =)

 

[lambeater]

Howard how do you like the K3, I have been looking for a while but still not sure. Don't have a big shop, so I have to keep it mobile, but want it to replace my 3hp cabinet saw.

thx
Lambeater

 

[stvrowe]

Yes, you have to do something with the beds. I don't know why, but Hammer seems to leave the beds unpolished. On booth my A3-31 and Hammer bandsaw you can actually file your nails on the beds. In the beginning I had a hard time to get the wood through the planer due to this. I've used quite some "Supergliet" on it and it behaves somewhat better now. Everything is really nice about the Hammers, but the beds (IMHO).

I thougt I got bad beds, but my dealer says this is the way Hammer does it..

I'm really happy with my hammers. Don't misunderstand me =)

It is not only Hammer(Felder) but also, Martin, Kundig, Minimax, SCMI, and Aggazanni to name just a few.  Over 8 years of use, I have discovered that I like this finish much better than the highly polished tables because it is easier to slide the wood over the surface than the highly polished tables as your workpiece glides across the ridges.  You do need to wax it or use Supergleit especially on planer beds.

 

[sgryd]

Thanks, that's great information. Now I don't have to envy those with mirror-like beds anymore =)

 

[waynelang2001]

I have the C3-31 combination machine and i find just running a candle stick over the beds is enough to keep thing running smooth for hours.

 

[woodguy7]

Wayne, would that not affect a Finnish on the wood ?  I have huge problems with the beds on my Felder, almost need a constant drip of super gleit on them  [huh]

 

[HowardH]

6:00 pm CST and no truck yet!  [scared] [scared]  Evidently they are running behind.  Ya think?? 

Howard how do you like the K3, I have been looking for a while but still not sure. Don't have a big shop, so I have to keep it mobile, but want it to replace my 3hp cabinet saw.

thx
Lambeater

I love it!  Best decision I could have made, at least for me.  It got the 48" slider and it's just enough.  I do very little sheet goods projects and I can always break it down with my TS 75.  The mobility kit takes a minute to figure out but it's amazing how easy it is to move a 750# machine.  What's nice is being able to get an initial clean ripped edge on a rough edged board by simply putting it on the slider and pushing it through the blade. 

 

[lambeater]

Thx Howard, did you purchase the scoring blade and dado with your machine. I have a narrow shop so the 48" route would probably be for me also.

Lambeater

 

[HowardH]

6:30...no delivery.... 7:00...no delivery...7:30.... no delivery... getting concerned.... 7:45... YES!  the RL Carrier truck rolls up!  Finally!  I directed him to come down the alley behind our house where my garage is.  It comes on a narrow pallet, strange contraction, actually.  He had really hoist it about in order to get it on the lift platform.  I could imagine the thing toppling over 5 feet to the ground.  Wouldn't be taking delivery of that one!  [blink]  Fortunately, he manages to get it into the garage where I rip off the box to inspect for damage.  All appears well and it looks like every thing is there.  Of course, in the best tradition of Festool, the instructions suck.  They also give you an enormous bag of screws and bolts of which you might use half of them.  Go figure.  I basically had to start doing some head scratching to figure out what to do first.  It came solidly attached to the base so those screws were the first thing to go.  T15 made short work of that.  Got the mobility kit attached and gingerly brought it down the ramp I built. It is a beast!  Very robust, very well built.  Attached the bar that the fence attaching to, got her lined up, at least I think I did.  I'll double check that tomorrow when it is still daylight.  The cord is way too short so I have to go to the BORG tomorrow and buy about 20' of 12 ga wire to make an extension cord.  Oh!  That spiral cutterhead is way cool!  Vicious looking, very menacing.  8)  I have to figure out how to zero the digital handwheel too.  It looks like I can use the vertical scale as a zero point, set it to an arbitrary number, i.e. 4" and then set the hand wheel to the same number.  I'll have to call and ask Felder about that one.  Should be able to make a little saw dust tomorrow.  ;D

Thx Howard, did you purchase the scoring blade and dado with your machine. I have a narrow shop so the 48" route would probably be for me also.

Lambeater

No on the scoring blade, you an always add it later since it is belt driven.  Only useful for sheet goods so not a big deal for me.  The model I got, the 48 x 48 came configured for dado.  Their dado cutters are obscenely expensive!  Almost $1000!  [eek] [eek]  I heard you an get a Freud or Forrest made for a whole lot less.  Haven't had the need yet as I can always use my OF1400 Festool for that. 

 

[ScotF]

After an almost 3.5 month wait, the big day to receive a Hammer a3-31 is tomorrow.  I have no doubt it will be everything my K3 Winner is and then some.  I ended up ordering the new silent power spiral cutter head so it should be interesting how quiet it is going to be after having the DW 735.  Also got the digital dial and mobility kit but no extensions.  Figured I wouldn't need them.  With it finally starting to cool off a bit, I'll have no excuse to starting making saw dust again.  Should I wax the planer beds? 

Congrats!!  I love my A3-31 and it has been a workhorse for me for several years.  You will need to wax the beds of the planer often -- you will notice some wood start to drag (at least I do with the straight knives) and this is the indication to wax the bed of the planer table.  A quick coat of wax and everything runs smooth again.  I usually do a coat for every 30-40 board feet I run.  Interested in your take on the Silent Power -- this was not available when I bought my machine, but it seems like an awesome set-up.

Scot

 

[waynelang2001]

Wayne, would that not affect a Finnish on the wood ?  I have huge problems with the beds on my Felder, almost need a constant drip of super gleit on them  [huh]

All i do is put a touch of candle wax, I dont try cover the whole bed. I have never had a problem with finish before because of wax, if it does get on the workpiece it is easy to see anyways.

 

[timbly]

Hi Howard
Just wondering how you were getting on the A3 31? This is the machine we're considering possibly with the silent power spiral cutter head.
Still not entirely sure on the cutterhead as it adds quite a bit to the price so any feedback appreciated.
Thanks
Tim

 

[HowardH]

ohhhhhhh...    [tongue] [tongue] [tongue] [tongue] [tongue] [tongue]  It is fantastic!  Very quiet, very smooth results.  It powers through purple heart and hard maple like butter.  Absolutely no snipe, either!  The dust collection isn't the greatest.  I end up having to disconnect the vac hose and manually getting some crumbs left over but it get's maybe 90%.  The silent cutter block is great.  It is so quiet I don't need my ear muffs.  I would say it makes the same amount of noise in planing mode as a jointer would make.  Not much at all.  I takes about 30-45 secs to do a change over so I'm adjusting my workflow to make sure I do all my face surfacing first and then lifting the tables to set up the planer.  I wasn't so sure at first about the euro style guard but now that I have used it a bit I find it very easy and safe to use.  I love the digital handwheel.  I have it set up to be within .01" accuracy.  Makes repeatability a snap.  The results are dead on square and fast!  On my DW735, I had to make multiple passes to get to the final dimension and with the Hammer, with 4hp on tap, a couple of passes and I'm there.  Real time saver.  I would say to go for it!  Over time, you won't miss the money...

 

[cgmojoco]

Just curious, when you get around to changing the blades (I know the spiral cutter heads are supposed to last much longer), let us know how that goes.
Did it last significantly longer between changes as advertised?
Was the blade change any tougher?

I'm a little concerned on how the blade change process works...

 

[HowardH]

Hopefully, that will many years from now.  I believe I can rotate them a few times before they have to be replaced.

 

[WarnerConstCo.]

It is not an actual spiral knife head?  Shelix style head? 

I looked it up, kind of a spiral pattern with the individual cutters.

 

[timbly]

Hi Howard
Thanks for your reply.
With the spiral head do you get a clean finish with hard and soft woods? I read somewhere that it gives a kind of scalloped finish with faint marks and lines - is any of this true?
Tim

 

[junk731]

It is not an actual spiral knife head?  Shelix style head? 

I looked it up, kind of a spiral pattern with the individual cutters.

Darcy you a correct, it's not a Spiral Knife. Felder does make a spiral knife cutter head but it's only available on the higher end machines. The cutterhead is best described as a spiral insert cutter head similar to a Shellix head but modified to be quieter and use less power than the Shellix.

John