Hammer self-setting planer blades

[Andrei Georgescu]

Seems to be the worst deal I could make when buying my hammer c3 31 but it was a good overall price. Is there a way to switch to the classic blades that can be sharpened multiple times?

[Rod Sheridan]

Andrei, I can't get 3 blades sharpened twice for the cost of 3 new double edged blades...............regards, Rod.

[Andrei Georgescu]

It costs me USD 3.50 for resharpening 3 HSS blades.

[Rod Sheridan]

It costs me USD 3.50 for resharpening 3 HSS blades.

Oh, much different than what it costs me in Canada.........Now I understand why you want the standard knives............Rod.

[Jim Becker]

The downside to resharpening is that you then have to deal with setting the knives when you reinstall them...one of the primary benefits of Tersa and other replaceable knife systems is that they eliminate the knife setting dance. :)

[Steve Schoene]

If time is worth anything, the self setting blades are a joy.

[Andrei Georgescu]

Well I still have two sets of self setting blades and a lot of limewood so I guess I'll try that route for a while.

[Amy Soto]

which one deal? can you add some details?

[David Kumm]

Are the Hammer blades the ESTA system? That system works well and the knives are pretty well made. Straight knives might outperform them in a high production environment as they dissipate heat but the time involved setting them more than offsets the slight benefit. For a smaller jointer, I prefer the ESTA to an insert head. Dave

[Rod Sheridan]

David, the Hammer knives have holes in them which lock onto a heavy knife carrier.

The carrier has jack screws which set the knife height. The blades are changed without any adjustment.

I believe the carriers on the ESTA system index off the outer circle of the cutterhead and are not adjustable. If so, your cutterhead alignment has to be perfect, not so on the Felder/Hammer system..............Regards, Rod.

P.S. I love the quick change knives, I use the Cobalt knives, they last a long time between replacement.

[David Kumm]

The old Felder quick change system was ESTA and i think the first machines to use it here in US in 90s. There were two types, one indexed off the head and the other slipped inside and was leveled using the jack screws. As you noted, using the head as reference is not ideal. I have an old Porter jointer where the head has a yoke so it can be adjusted to the tables but that is pretty rare and I suspect too expensive to produce any more. I'm with you though, for my usage, the quick change systems are hard to beat. Dave

[Joel Wesseling]

The cobalt knives cost me CA$200(incl tax) for two sets for A3-31. Im still using the first of 4 sides after 6 months of low to medium usage, and the initial sharpeness appears to have not changed, but, curious what results I would obtain with sharpened steel blades. Note on the quick change system: The two center jack screws appear to have no purpose as the two outside screws set the height and angle, then two inside screws should only just touch the bottom and not raise the knives. When I changed the knives I found a few of the center screws backed well away from the bottom, the 4 locking srews securely lock the knive holder in place. Maybe the center screws will help resist downward flex but the holder is securely held in place anyway?

[Andrei Georgescu]

I am very pleased with how these thin blades perform out of the box. I might have changed my mind.