HAMMER A3 31 Jointer Planer Combo Machine

[rnt80]

I ordered an A3-41 that is supposed to be here in late April.  They only had the Silent Power cutter available for it unless I was willing to wait until June to get the 3-knife .  Anybody have the Silent Power?  Is the quality of cut any better?

I just ordered an A3-31 and it's due in late April, must be on the same ship as yours.  And I ordered a FB 510 bandsaw also due in late April (originally I wanted the Hammer N4400 bandsaw but it wasn't available until June...so my wife forced me to upgrade to the Felder bandsaw....isn't she sweet).

I'll post any info on delivery schedule changes if they occur.

I was told this afternoon via email that the machine will be in DE on April 26.  With travel time (I live in AZ) they won't expect it to get to me until the first week in May...which is at least a three week delay from what I've been told all along up until this week.

 

[cbehnke]

Congratulations!

I hope that you like your machine as much as I like mine. I've had mine almost a year now and I wonder why I bothered with the Delta jointer and Delta planer that it replaced.  The upgrade to the Hammer combo is one of the best purchases that I have ever made.

I'm hoping i feel that way also.  I know what you mean...it's the same way I felt when I first discovered Festool.  I got a drill and sander and i was so blown away by the difference.  the extra money spent is more than worth it.

it's like i had been rubbing two sticks to make fire and i finally discovered using a bic lighter.

 

[junk731]

For the best cut on figured woods would you go with a Byrd or Hammer's Silent Power cutters?

Someone mentioned that Byrd has the best cut because the blades "shear like an angled handplane".

See the reply by Christine on this thread

Does anyone here have an opinion on that?

Obviously Hammer's silent power should be quieter, but I'm looking for best cut.

I owned a Hammer A3-31 with straight knives and I've had the opportunity to use one with the silent power head. I would still have the Hammer if I hadn't upgraded to a Felder AD741 with straight knives. Felder/Hammer introduced the silent cutter head in response to a growing request for this head not because of a superior cut that is often claimed by insert cutter. The Byrd head was not used by Felder because of the power requirement and the inferior cutter when compared to their design. The Byrd design produced a minute scalloping that was easily sanded but none the less present.

IMHO these are the pro/con.
The straight knife head using the cobalt steel knives provides a great cut in both regular and figured woods when jointed and planed properly with reasonably sharp knives. In my experience the cobalt knives last 2 to 3 times longer then the carbon knives. Change over time with straight knives takes approx. 10 minutes after you have done it once. The knives are double edged and only available from Felder.

The silent cutterhead also provides a great cut in regular and figured woods with sharp carbide, I don't know how it performs with dulled carbide. You will have to do the research to understand the wear differences between HSS and carbide. I did notice that I couldn't joint a piece of wood as fast as when I was using straight knives.. Planing was no problem. The carbide cutters have 4 sides but in reality by the time your ready to rotate them you will have damaged enough corners that a full 180 rotation will be needed. While you get an extended cutting time with the carbide, the cleanup and rotation/replacement time is quite long dependent on the size of the cutter head. Its been estimated to be in the 3 to 6 hour range dependent on the size. Each mounting seat and carbide cutter should be cleaned. The cutters are only available from Felder according to current info. Replacement cost of the cutters is in the $250.00 + range for the Hammer.

I my experience when using both jointer and planer a lot of tearout that is reported can be avoided by using sharp knives, proper feed rate and minimal material removal. I routinely plane figured maple with no problem. A Hammer/Felder straight knife machine performs exceptionally well compared to the competition.

I have no connection to Felder, but I have owned 6 of their machines.

John

 

[cbehnke]

Thanks for that first hand info John. 

I've head some similar things about the difference between the theory of 4 cutter faces on the spiral heads give you 4x the lifespan of the cutter and the reality of sometimes ruining two sides of the cutter at once...in effect greatly reducing the theoretical cost savings when compared to straight blades.  time will tell.

I was really torn about getting the straight knife or spiral head.  i chose the spiral head because sometimes i will have some not so highly-experienced workers running figured wood through the planer, so I went with a spiral head because I've heard that i have a better chance of getting less tearout when workers are not paying attention to grain direction.

If it was just me using dressing the lumber, i'd save the money and get a few different blade sets for different woods, uses, etc.

i don't know.  we'll see how it goes.

 

[Frank Pellow]

I'm still using the original set of standard straight knives on my A3-31 jointer/planer/thicknesser and, after about 6 months of hobbiest use,  the results continue to be great.  When these wear out, I will replace them with the cobalt steel straight knives. 

Aside from reduced noise, I can not imagine that the spiral carbide technology option on this machine would give better results.

 

[junk731]

I don't think you can go wrong with either version of the Hammer/Felder cutterhead. I had the importunity designed the  to discuss the differences between the cutterheads with HansJorge Felder. I basically got the impression that in order to keep up with current trends they designed the insert spiral cutterhead to give customers what they wanted not because of superior finish. In the past for upper end Felder/Format machine they actually offered a cutterhead that had continous spiral knives that was suppose to take full advantage of the shearing.

John

 

[jacko9]

I can attest to the inferior cut with the Spiral Carbide cutter head as far as the scalloped surface finish.  With sharp high speed steel knives the surface finish was ready to assemble with little to no sanding.  With not so sharp steel knives the machine noise is much higher and the surface needs a bit of sanding.  If I had a choice, I would look for a cutter head with segmented carbide knives other than the Bryd design.  I also can say that the segmented cutter head didn't prevent tear out when planing Brazilian rosewood recently (I'm still epoxying some bad spots since the wood is so thin). 

On my jointer with the 8" straight carbide knives, I have never sharpened them for the past 25 years.  I don't cut used wood or wood with a lot of knots in it but, those carbide knives don't dull very much with hardwood.  I'm sure that I don't put as many thousand board feet through my machines as others, but as a estimate I would say that carbide outlasts steel 20 to 1.

Jack

 

[ScotF]

My straight knives work great and I usually go through 1-2 sets per year, which is a lot of planing and jointing.  They leave an exceptional finish with very little planer/jointer ripple.  I would probably also be happy with the new design, but it would be a pain to switch all those little cutters.  The blade changes are 1 minute per blade to either change out or reverse -- 3 minutes is not bad and they do last for awhile.

Scot

 

[jacko9]

My straight knives work great and I usually go through 1-2 sets per year, which is a lot of planing and jointing.  They leave an exceptional finish with very little planer/jointer ripple.  I would probably also be happy with the new design, but it would be a pain to switch all those little cutters.  The blade changes are 1 minute per blade to either change out or reverse -- 3 minutes is not bad and they do last for awhile.

Scot

Scot,  I'd suspect that barring hitting a major imbedded defect, the carbide knives would last you 5 years or more without change out.

Jack

 

[cbehnke]

25 years and no sharpening. WTF is that about?

 

[TomGadwa1]

It appears that there should be at least four A3 31 units on the boat coming to our shores. I hope they loaded them balanced so the ship will not list over too far and sink! Lets hope for fair seas and gentle handling of our babies! I talked to Carl from California and he told me that Felder designed their own spiral cutter head because they found the Byrd design lacking in some areas. So obviously the Felder one should provide superior performance over the Byrd design. I feel like an expectant father waiting for his firstborn child. I beginning to think that I may have been bitten by the woodworking bug. Possibly,,,,

 

[WarnerConstCo.]

I prefer my straight knives. It does not take me very long to swap them in my 16" jointer or any of my 3 24" planers.

I think being able to know how to set up your machine is important and setting knives is a huge part of that.

 

[jacko9]

25 years and no sharpening.  is that about?

Good quality Carbide knives and very selective wood (read no knots and no used wood) being run over the knives.  Also, it helps to know that I'm a hobby woodworker that used to have a full time job in addition to my woodworking.

Jack

 

[cgraham]

I am beginning to upgrade my tools from bench top/hobbyist tools to larger machines. I always have hated dual purpose machines because of the way you change between operations. They always seem to need to much recalibration. Also I have plenty of room in my shop. That being said the hammer really intrigues me.  Does anyone have anything bad to say about it? All I have heard is good things about the combo machines but i am still hesitant to purchase.

 

[Nick C]

One of the A3 31 J/Ps arriving at the end of April has my name on it. I saw it at the woodworking show in Baltimore, and was very impressed. The rep told me that Felder approached Byrd about making a compatible spiral cutter, but Byrd could not meet the volume requirement, and Felder decided to do their own thing. I've owned three J/Ps with Tersa cutterheads. Very quick and easy to change knives, but the replacement cost does get annoying. We shall see... I live in Annapolis, so the trip to Felder is a short, pleasant ride up the MD eastern shore with my trailer. My wife even tags along--for lunch in New Castle. I get a new $4K machine; she gets a $15 lunch. Now that's fair...

 

[cgmojoco]

Does the Hammer have parallelogram adjustments...how do you adjust it when it goes out of wack?

 

[TomGadwa1]

Called Felder USA today and they said the boat will be in port this Wednesday. From that day they said it will take about a week for delivery. If full remittance has not been made they will not deliver the unit. You gots to pays before you can gets your toys!! So make certain your check is in the mail now if it is not already. I can not wait to see my new baby!!

 

[kevinvandeusen]

Just installed the extension tables on mine.  Will make it much easier to joint long boards.

 

[cgmojoco]

Just installed the extension tables on mine.  Will make it much easier to joint long boards.

Please let me know how the extension tables feel --- one of my concerns about purchasing this machine is its short beds when it comes time to join long boards.

If the extension tables feel fine, that would be a relief.

Christopher

 

[Wonderwino]

My A3-41 is on the water now, too.  Besides the extra width, the jointer table is just shy of 6' long.  I may add the extensions later, if I find I need them.  I can't wait!  [big grin]