Uh oh...now I did it. I injured my A3-31

[HowardH]

I was running some small (.75" x 1.25"x 10") maple pieces through the planer part of a Hammer A3-31 and all was good for about 50 of them when it didn't like one of them.  It tried to puke it out  When it was ordered, I sprung for the Silent Power head and I'm glad I got it but I don't think it likes small pieces like that.  I heard a loud "Bang!" and it scared the begeezus outta me!  [scared] [scared] It shut the machine down.  I made sure the red button was pushed, took off the DC hose and looked inside the dust housing.  What was left of the workpiece was jammed in there and was pretty small.  I double checked to make sure everything was clear and then finished up.  I didn't realize something was wrong until a few days later when I lowered the jointer tables and something was wrong.  The right side table locked like normal but the left side wouldn't lock.  Uh oh...  This isn't good.  I found by pushing down on the table it would engage but something was obviously bent or knocked out of alignment.  That has since been confirmed since it no longer will joint anything beyond 4 inches.  The cutter head simply won't touch anything.  Still planes just fine, it's the jointer that's cattywampus.  I called Felder and their tech couldn't really tell me much.  So here's my first experience with buying big iron over the net and then need service.  They have some travelling techs and one is actually going to base where I live in the Dallas area.  However, it's going to be at least a month before he can get out here.  [crying] [crying]  Hopefully he will be here sooner than later.  It's nothing obvious or I would fix it myself.  Or at least try to.  Should be interesting and hopefully not too expensive.  My first thought it was aw heck, or something to that effect, ;D I hope it's not the cutter head.  Keeping my fingers crossed...

 

[TomGadwa1]

Sorry to hear about your mishap. Suggest to examine thoroughly the left tables hinge areas and opposite resting areas for debris that could interfere with the full closing of the table. It sounds like the table can not lower completely which would cause the side of the workpiece opposite the fence to miss the cutter head. So on a twelve inch wide board it is only hitting the first third of the board. Use a level and compare the in feed and out feed tables to see if there is a difference. Since you stated that it appears to still thickness properly then I think your issue is with the closure on the out feed table in the jointing mode. Just some thoughts. I too own this machine and feel that you may have been close to the limit of workpiece size being too small for the machine to safely mill it.

 

[cliffp]

As an owner of a Hammer A3-26 you have my sympathies. I can't imagine that you did anything obviously wrong, certainly in terms of thickness. I think the machine can go down to around 3mm. I have gone down to 5mm without problem. It is probably a combination of all 3 dimensions being relatively small which would (I guess - I'm no expert!) make it more likely that the whole piece would disintegrate if there was a defect in the wood. I got a big bang out of my machine while planing (thicknessing in England) but this was due to me adjusting the hose which lifted the housing it attaches to, cutting the motor off suddenly. I had an accident while milling pieces of wood similar dimension to yours a couple of years ago when I was using a router sled. The wood fractured and sent a huge dagger shaped piece of it into my crotch, actually drawing blood. I was unable to perform marital duties for a week or so!

I hope you get it fixed ok and that the bill isn't too big.

 

[Iceclimber]

Sorry to hear about your misfortune.

Id be stressed. It will surely work out but still id be stressed.

Serviceability is really something to consider when making a purchase on big shop equipment. Something i might not had thought about unless it was brought up.

Best of luck.

 

[HowardH]

Fortunately I don't make my living with it.  Plus it's pretty cold right now and my shop is not heated.  The Felder service rep also brought something up I had never considered.  He said not to run tools that use a capacitor below 55 deg.  It could damage the electrical system.  I'll just make sure I choose rough workpieces that have been skip planed already so they are reasonably flat to begin with.  I should be able to plane both sides so they are parallel.  Using the slider could substitute for edge jointing.  That's the great thing about woodworking.  There is almost never only one way to accomplish something.