Hammer A3 31 versus A3 26

[mattcville]

I am looking at either a Hammer A3 31 or A3 26 for a small woodworking shop. I already have a Makita 2012NB
portable thickness planer (12") that works reasonably well outdoors (lack of dust collection). Most of the boards
I work with are under 10" width. The 44" bed length on the 26 seems relatively short and I would likely end up getting
some combination of the aluminum table extensions for it. It's hard to imagine that this configuration would be as stable and precise
compared to the 55" cast iron bed on the A3 31.  Does anyone have experience with an A3 26 or A3 31 equipped with aluminum
extension tables? How well do these work? What board length can either of these machines safely handle in jointer mode without the extension tables?
Thanks.

Matt
Charlottesville, VA

 

[MrToolJunkie]

I own an A331 and use it without the extensions and have never had a problem -- if I feel compelled to have infeed/outfeed support I just use some Rigid workstands or roller stands.  If you have the money and space I would recommend bigger -- with jointers, the widest you can fit is the best option.  Even though you do not have much material over 10 inches, being able to skew your work or have capacity for that larger board is worth it.  Also, the new silent cutter heads available look very appealing.  I love my machine and the only issue I have had with it is the start capacitor going out after 5-6 years.  Other than that, it has been a great machine with no snipe and I have put 1000's of board fee through my unit.

Scot

 

[Timtool]

The 260mm machines in Europe are traditionally destined for DIY home use in very small workshops, the 310mm would be the minimum for a more serious use(mostly because of the wider planing capacity)
I have a comparable 310 model, with a 1400mm table you can joint up to 2000mm long without really needing extensions although it gets a bit more tricky once you go over 1000mm, sometimes i need to joint boards closer to 3m so i made an extension table for the in feed table only. Roller stands work but are not ideal, the workpiece should be supported over the entire length of it's travel.
Hammers are good, but the extensions are overpriced and i don't know how they behave under high load.

 

[mattcville]

Thank you both for your helpful comments and confirming my suspicion. I am in the process of converting a life long woodworking
hobby into a small business and am trying to select equipment carefully so that it will meet my current and future needs. The A3 31 seems like it would
be better suited for a small woodworking business doing production work.

Matt 

 

[Kev]

Thank you both for your helpful comments and confirming my suspicion. I am in the process of converting a life long woodworking
hobby into a small business and am trying to select equipment carefully so that it will meet my current and future needs. The A3 31 seems like it would
be better suited for a small woodworking business doing production work.

Matt 

Hi Matt, I'm super curious ... are you going to just do "general stuff" or is there something that you're going to make regularly to a plan?

 

[mattcville]

My original plan was to make functional and useful Shaker style household items and small household furniture using
a combination of power tools and hand tools. At the moment I've stumbled onto a specialty market niche making
yarn swifts for knitters and hope to start making other spinoff items such as wood turned yarn bowls and drop spindles.
Not what I intended, but I've have had some success selling to a few stores and through internet sales. Not enough to
pay for the Hammer A3 31, but enough that my wife didn't object to the idea of looking at the machine this week.

Matt

 

[Stokely]

I'm actually interested in the Hammer A3-31 as well. It seems utilitarian and space saving, although expensive. The extension tables, while also expensive, could minimize some of the difficulty jointing long boards while using a roller or external stand.

I'm debating between this and the Jet 12inch JJP. The Hammer, while more expensive, seems to be better made and some of the add-ons, are intriguing.

Thanks for the input on this thread.

S

 

[colyn]

I made my own extension tables for indeed and out feed table for the jointer for my a3-31 which I received a few months ago
I used the aluminum that came from Hammer for my Planer - and leave it there
LOVE it and with the standard straight blades - have had no snipe and perfect finishes - have been milling hard maple and walnut ( I do sometimes have to reverse wood due to grain direction but take off a 1/32 at a time so easy to compensate for grain direction on finished pieces which I cut to 1/64 " over...allowing me to rerun board thru jointer if I have reverse grain)
I will post pics later - cost almost nothing to make and are easy to set up and 100% flat

 

[Stokely]

I made my own extension tables for indeed and out feed table for the jointer for my a3-31 which I received a few months ago
I used the aluminum that came from Hammer for my Planer - and leave it there
LOVE it and with the standard straight blades - have had no snipe and perfect finishes - have been milling hard maple and walnut ( I do sometimes have to reverse wood due to grain direction but take off a 1/32 at a time so easy to compensate for grain direction on finished pieces which I cut to 1/64 " over...allowing me to rerun board thru jointer if I have reverse grain)
I will post pics later - cost almost nothing to make and are easy to set up and 100% flat

Nice! Can't wait to see pics!

 

[colyn]

trying to post pics but getting server error- timed out
[eek]

 

[peter halle]

trying to post pics but getting server error- timed out
[eek]

image sizes are too large.  if you need help PM me.

Peter

 

[Dan Clermont]

First off, I need to menition that I am a Canadian dealer for the Hammer machines....

The A3 26 is for the very, very small hobby shop. Remember you can't plane boards wider than 10" on this machine. It is suited for people who build boxes and small pieces.

The A3 31 is really the "go to" machine. Gives you 12" planing capacity along with 12" jointing capacity so you can resaw boards up to 12" wide and joint them!

Get the new Silent Series Spiral Cutterblock  ;D You won't regret it.

Cheers
Dan

 

[colyn]

pics

 

[mattcville]

Thanks for the additional comments and for including the pics of the nice shop made extension tables.
I don't think I can afford the added expense of the Helical cutter head. The A3 31 is already pricey enough.
It's good to hear that users are getting smooth cuts with the standard blades. Having an aluminum
extension bed fixed on the out feed table of the planer makes sense to me and should minimize or eliminate
snipe. What length did you use?

 

[colyn]

used same length as the hammer aluminum ones were  for indeed and out feed
If you are planning on jointing long boards - you will need the indeed as well for support - a lot easier to navigate wood over blades

 

[MrToolJunkie]

First off, I need to menition that I am a Canadian dealer for the Hammer machines....

The A3 26 is for the very, very small hobby shop. Remember you can't plane boards wider than 10" on this machine. It is suited for people who build boxes and small pieces.

The A3 31 is really the "go to" machine. Gives you 12" planing capacity along with 12" jointing capacity so you can resaw boards up to 12" wide and joint them!

Get the new Silent Series Spiral Cutterblock  ;D You won't regret it.

Cheers
Dan

Dan -- I saw the video of this new head and noticed how much quieter it is over the standard straight knives.  How difficult is it to retrofit to an existing machine?  mine is the old style where both tables flip up.  I assume the cutter head is the same. 

Thanks,

Scot

 

[MrToolJunkie]

I would highly recommend getting the digital handwheel gauge too -- being able to get repeatable depth settings to within .001 is a real time saver and to me is the most important accessory.  I still have had no issue with the existing length tables on the jointer or the planer bed.  How often do you really need to joint 9 foot boards in real world applications?  I find it best to rough cut the stock to length and into smaller pieces.  This does two things -- 1. it eliminates some of the warp and twist that can span the length of the board (saving you material) and 2. it is easier to maneuver smaller pieces over the machine.  For most furniture projects the pieces will be under 110 inches in lenght which is typically the size one can safely and accurately  joint a board on a 55 inch length bed (roughly twice the length of the bed).  YMMV but it has worked flawlessly for me with no extensions and an occassional stand for heavy boards.  I have heard that the aluminum tables can flex a little under weight -- not sure if that is true or not since I have never tried it but something I would ask your rep.  I also highly recommend Zambus casters to be able to easily maneuver the machine.  The Euro style works, but it is more difficult to move the machine with a J-bar.  The Zambus allows you to quickly move the machine around and position it in tight spaces...if you get a permanent set-up then this is not going to be an issue.  For me I have to move mine around my tiny shop and so they are invaluable.

Scot

 

[Stokely]

Great set up you have! I'm leaning more and more towards this machine. I appreciate all the input as well.

 

[djwong]

I have a Hammer A3 31 with both the 400mm and 800mm extensions.  My machine is for hobby use, setup in my 19x19 2 car garage.  I have only used the 800mm extension table once so far, to support some 10ft 4x6's on the jointer.  I used the 800mm extension on the jointer out feed table, and it was a pain to making it coplanar with the jointer table.  The problem I had was managing the support leg.  Since my floor is not level, the jointer tables are not level.  You have to use straightedges to across the table and extension, along with a lot of patience.  I use the 400mm extension all the time, both on the jointer and planer out feed tables.  On the planner, the extension may help prevent snipe on long boards, but I have not confirmed this.  The value to me is how they make it easer to handle and maneuver longer boards on the out feed side.  I would not recommend the 800mm extension.  I have run 8ft boards with the 400mm extension with no problems.  Just get 2 couplers and one 400mm extension.

I second the recommendation for the digital hand wheel.  It is a real timesaver.  Also get the cobalt replacement knives. 

I use the heavy duty Rockler mobile base with my A3-31.  I chose this over Zambus style casters because I did not want to raise the tables too high.  The Rockler adds less than 1 inch of height.

David

 

[mattcville]

Dave, which Rockler mobile base did you get? Was it the HTC3000?

-Matt