Hammer A3 31 jointer/planer combo

[Bob Landel]

I just learned my Hammer combo will be arriving next week. I have to make the final decision whether to have the factory install a Byrd spiral head, I had ordered, or not.

I have already received an opinion from Rod Sheridan, and while I respect his recommendation, I keep thinking I might be missing something if I don't have the Byrd head installed. Of course the extra $799.00 for the
spiral head is one thing I will be missing if I have it installed!

I have seen the Byrd head on a Hammer combo in action at a member's shop and was very impressed; quiet and smooth finish.

I could buy a few extra accessories with the saved money (extensions tables, dial gauge, and extra blades) if I choose to stay with the stock quick change blades.

I would love to hear from additional Hammer A3 31 owners of both the Byrd head and the quick change standard head.

Thanks in advance.

[Van Huskey]

I personally will not own a jointer or planer without a Byrd or clone head. There are myriad posts about straight knives vs Byrds but obviously the spiral blades are a different story. In that arena the long term time and money savings are what would still get me. With spiral knives the Byrd head loses some of its appeal compared to straight knives but I bet you won't be unhappy if you decide to get it.

[Jeff Monson]

Bob, I also have a a3-31, it has the quick change knives and I do like the performance. My previous planer was a dewalt dw735 that I installed a byrd head on, it was night and day difference in machines with the new head. If the option for a byrd head was offered at the time I purchased my hammer, I would have had it installed. The byrd head was much quieter, and worked great on figured wood. You're already making a substantial investment, so why not get what you want and be done with it. I think a a3-31 with a byrd head would be an unbeatable combination machine. Thats just my opion though.

Enjoy your new machine, its a great combo unit. 1 tip to remember, use paste wax on the planer bed. I have had some feed issues when using other products.

[Doug Shepard]

So far I've only used my A3-31 on a couple of boards with what I would call high figure (some curly mango). No problem so far just using the stock knives and I haven't even changed those out yet for one of the better replacement sets I bought with the J/P. If the Byrd is quieter I'd think I'd spring for it besides getting the reported smoother cuts. The A3-31 with straight knives can be pretty loud once the DC is kicked on. It's quieter than my old DW733 but still pretty loud.

[David Hawxhurst]

i have the straight blades and have no complaints. have used it with good results on everything i've throw-en at it so far. have not seen the results of aboard done with the byrd head vs straight blades as none of the owners around me have the byrd head on their machines. not sure how much smoother the cuts of the byrd head are but with the quick change blades are pretty smooth and need minimal sanding before finishing. don't think you would go wrong with either choice.

[Chris Tsutsui]

I would see it as paying $800 for less visible planing marks. This could avoid a lot of sanding in the long run which is a good thing and I would have to think hard about this if it were my choice as well.

As it is, the A3-31 produces pretty glass like surface and you will see some tiny surface plane marks that i imagine would be eliminated with the byrd. To view this you have to shine light at an angle over the surface of a hard wood because you can't really feel it unless you put a thin grocery bag around your hand and feel the surface.

Like the post above, very light sanding will fix the marks and I wonder if there will still be some markings from the byrd head.

As for noise... the motor and belt of the A3-31 is so loud I don't think the cutter head is too much of a factor. I always wear good hearing protection with this machine anyways.

Tough choice, if I had to do it again, I'd probably just go standard head and use the $800 for another very nice toy.

[Jeff Monson]

I'll throw in another opinion, the straight knives do leave a smoother fininsh, (if there is not tearout) compared to a byrd head. But very light sanding removes the small lines left from the byrd head. Again I have NO complaints on the straight knives.

[Brad Shipton]

Unless you have a lot of projects with difficult wood, I would stick with the stock head. I ran about 3000bdft thru mine before switching over to a Byrd head. I was always pleased with the cut quality in domestic wood species. I switched to the Byrd head to process Jatoba and it was worth every penny for that task. You can always change out the head later. I did, and it is not that complicated. They are not giving you a great discount on the Byrd considering they are shipping one less head. I was the first to have one of these heads made, and mine cost $1100 (CAN) direct from Byrd. Its about a 3hr job to remove/replace the old head.

Brad

[Gary Curtis]

Thanks to all for your invaluable experience in this area. I am saving up for a Hammer J/P, and robbing one 7/11 Store a week get the cash. Ha:).

But I've been to a Felder showroom a few times and have seen the demonstrations. Those Austrian engineers are some downright serious professionals, so to hell with what it costs. If a spiral cutter makes that much of a difference, it's worth the extra.

[Mike Gottlieb]

I agree with Jeff. Having used a Dewalt 735 with a Byrd spiral head and currently using the Hammer with a standard head, IMHO, the spiral head is far and away much better on highly figured wood. I constantly get tearout on very curly cherry using my Hammer, but none whatsoever when I used the Byrd on the 735. I am seriousley considering buying a Byrd head for my Hammer, but am not sure how involved the installation would be. If I had it to do over, I would have Hammer install the Byrd head.

[Roger Jensen]

I may do this someday, although it isn't on the short list. Who sells and provides installation support if you install the head yourself? Does Hammer provide any instructions (I found their documentation pretty weak) or does Byrd tell you what to do?

Thanks

Roger

[Bob Landel]

Hm-mm! Just like politics, people have different opinions.

Since I love Austrians and spending money, I'm going with the Byrd head.

At least some of the new cutter head cost will go to Byrd in Tennessee and the tech guys in Delaware. This is a good thing! (I need to comvince my self this helps the economy.)

I appreciate all you guys responding to my dilemma.

[Ed Griner]

You may want to try the Hammer J/P as delivered.You can always change to a spiral head later. Had mine with straight blades,for about six months with great results. Ed

[David Hawxhurst]

I switched to the Byrd head to process Jatoba and it was worth every penny for that task. You can always change out the head later. I did, and it is not that complicated.

Brad

i've used the straight blades (stock) on jatoba recently and the results where very smooth. in the right light you see some planer marks but a few swipes with some 80 grit they where gone.

[Eiji Fuller]

I bought the A331 with the straight knives about 2 yrs ago
6 months ago I replaced the head with a byrd. It took about 3 hrs.

In the 18 months b4 the byrd I went thru 4 sets of knives. On the byrd I've rotated a few inserts. Its the best return on tool investment I've experienced.

[Rod Sheridan]

Hm-mm! Just like politics, people have different opinions.

Since I love Austrians and spending money, I'm going with the Byrd head.

At least some of the new cutter head cost will go to Byrd in Tennessee and the tech guys in Delaware. This is a good thing! (I need to comvince my self this helps the economy.)

I appreciate all you guys responding to my dilemma.

Gee Bob, I was hoping you would try both and let us know:D.

Either way, you'll enjoy your machine........Regards, Rod.

[glenn bradley]

I'm with Van. Once I had my first spiral head I couldn't see upgrading to any surfacing machine without one.