Hammer A3-31 Not happy

[Dan Richeson]

Hello

I had just bought a new machine and have had it for a month now and have not had much time to mess with it. I sold a jet 12JP machine and the only reason i did that was I wanted the carbide head. It was going to be close to the same price to buy the head or sell the machine and buy this one. For the money one spends on this I would think you should not have to mess around setting it up to work correctly. The table were way out of adjustment. I did make a call in for a tech to give me a call and that took about 1.5 weeks to hear from them. He gave me some good pointers and I have gotten the table top to my liking. Now I'm trying to correct the snipe. It was really bad I feel. I added more tension to the front roller with one full revolution of the nut. The tail end of the board the snipe was bad also. I gave one turn around also and it got better but I did it 2 more times and I'm still seeing the snipe. The front end of the board is perfect but the tail end I can still see and feel it. Di I keep turning these nuts tighter? Seems 3 complete revolutions is a lot all ready. Please let me know if this is normal to turn it this far. Thanks

Also the stupid cord that comes on the machine is worthless. It's about 1 foot long. For 5 grand you would think they could give you about 3-4 feet of cord so you can just install a plug and go to work. I ended up adding a ruction box on the back and terminal strip inside to make the connections. Another 50 bucks worth the stuff.

[Steve Jenkins]

You probably need to walk around and support the board when it’s near the end on the outfeed side. When you’re feeding the board in I imagine you’re giving it some support at least until it’s under both feed rollers.

[Dan Richeson]

Hello

I did hold it as level as possible coming out the other side. My old jet did a better job I feel than this Hammer. I want to give a fair shake.

[Lisa Starr]

Make sure you're locking the table after adjusting the height.

[Derek Cohen]

Dan, these are my expectations.

I am in Australia and service delivery appears to be very different to yours. If I had an issue, Felder would respond the same day, and arrange to meet me on my terms. I would pay for this if out of the warrantee period, otherwise not. I do not know what to recommend in your situation, but clearly to me it us terrible service.

I've had the A3-31 for about 10 years now, with the silent head and the digital gauge. It gets a lot of use, on hard Australian timber (and over the past few years on US Hard Maple), and I am still on the original carbide inserts. These are now about to be turned to their fourth face. I have also never experienced snipe, which says that the original settings just hold. This machine has been utterly reliable.

One thing I want to do is add a support table (that wide aluminium extrusion that clips on) to the thickness-planer outfeed. I always walk around to support the planed board, but some are very heavy and this could strain the rollers if I do not reach the board quickly enough.

Get yours sorted by someone knowledgeable, and then enjoy it.

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Patrick Kane]

Hey Dan, that is a bummer. However, I do think the final calibration is on the owner after delivery. That is sorta standard with every machine. For example, I definitely spent some time setting the pressure bar and bed on my 20” Powermatic after taking delivery. I spent a lonnnnngggggg time on a 500mm jointer calibration, but that was a used machine. It isn’t enviable work, but I would take a breath and commit a 90 minute period of time to sorting it out. I assume it will be like most machines and it’s worth the time to get it right the first time and have great workpiece results. I know Felder offers onsite commissioning, but I think it’s a decent price if you aren’t close to one of their headquarters. I’m too cheap to pay $2,000 to avoid a calibration headache.

[Mike Wilkins]

I have the A3-41 machine; the 16" version of yours. I guess I was lucky as it worked flawlessly out of the crate. I would emphasize 2 points made by others:
1. Outfeed support is crucial for long boards by supporting it as it exits. I don't have the aluminum extensions yet, but it is on the want list.
2. Lock the planer bed after each height adjustment; there is a little movement in the big shaft under the bed but none when the handle is locked.

[Keegan Shields]

Final setup should be done by the owner. I’ve tweaked every machine I’ve purchased. Just part of ownership.

Unfortunately, Hammer is Felder’s budget product line. I wouldn’t expect premium support. But there are some good setup videos on YouTube you can use.

[mike stenson]

Mine was also within tolerances upon delivery. This might help, if you haven't seen it yet.

https://lancesworkbench.conryclan.com/2019/04/removing-snipe-on-my-hammer-a3-31-whilst-thicknessing/

[Jim Becker]

On the cord, many machines don't come with any cord. None of my SCM machines did nor did my CNC machine. With a pigtail like you got, you can make up an extension to the exact length you need and still have a full disconnect at the machine. I set up all my machines that way. Yes, a few more shekels because of the additional plugs, but great safety and flexibility.

On the snipe, someone mentioned supporting the board as it comes out. That's often a standard process with any of the larger machines when thicknessing because of the distance between the infeed and outfeed rollers. A gentle lift on the outfeed side of the board with your hand for the las foot or so can eliminate the snip that's caused by the weight of the board dangling in the air when it loses support from the infeed roller. That moves the end of the board up into the cutterhead.

[mike stenson]

I just remembered, my locking handle was quite loose upon arrival. Looser than I would have expected, and I was slightly concerned until it finally hit a 'stop'.

[Curt Harms]

.............................
On the snipe, someone mentioned supporting the board as it comes out. That's often a standard process with any of the larger machines when thicknessing because of the distance between the infeed and outfeed rollers. A gentle lift on the outfeed side of the board with your hand for the las foot or so can eliminate the snip that's caused by the weight of the board dangling in the air when it loses support from the infeed roller. That moves the end of the board up into the cutterhead.

JJP12 here. I hold the board up a bit on both infeed and outfeed and have no detectable snipe. The Jet planer function doesn't have a pressure bar like the larger stand alone planers so the only thing holding the work piece down are the infeed/outfeed rollers. When the work piece isn't under both rollers it can rotate up into the cutterhead and so snipe.

[Jamie Buxton]

I've got a 150-page document from Hammer, called Hammer Setup Guide. It is quite complete. It covers, among other machines, the A3-31. I downloaded it from a Felder/Hammer server. You might contact your sales guy to see if he can find you a link to it.

[Joe Cowan]

I bought the 31 just over a year ago and ended up selling it. I disliked the short planer beds and also was more used to going from stand alone jointer and planer that I expected. Nice machine, but I was set in my ways I guess.

[mike stenson]

The short beds, can be an issue. I recently purchased one, and the first real project is a settle, so I have 12"x1.5"x7 1/2' rails to deal with. I found it easier to use a handplane for those, but not a problem at all on the 3-4' pieces for the sides. Basically, average furniture sized things.

I'll get longer extension beds likely, and most certainly more shorter ones. Mostly because the planer is a pain to install and remove, so it's just going to live there perminently.

[Derek Cohen]

I am curious what one builds that requires a longer bed than the A3-31? I've run bed rails on- and through mine, although this has been an infrequent length. Mostly the longest length is in the region of 1m. I have a table coming up which will be 2m. What I appreciate about this machine is the 12" width when jointing, which is a significant step up from an 8" wide jointer, and far less costly than a stand-alone 12" jointer.

Regards from Perth

Derek

[mike stenson]

I am curious what one builds that requires a longer bed than the A3-31? I've run bed rails on- and through mine, although this has been an infrequent length. Mostly the longest length is in the region of 1m. I have a table coming up which will be 2m. What I appreciate about this machine is the 12" width when jointing, which is a significant step up from an 8" wide jointer, and far less costly than a stand-alone 12" jointer.

Regards from Perth

Derek

Would have been nice here. Over 2m (2.4ish). 31cm wide, and 38mm thick. It was easier to bring the tool to it on the bench. Probably still would be with bed extentions.

https://photos.smugmug.com/Woodworking/Settle/i-6SnF5TD/0/398bec34/L/IMG_8764-L.jpg


The actual oak that made up the bench would have been a lot easier. As they're a lot narrower.

[George Yetka]

I have the 31 and luckily for me it also came perfect. The only item I had to adjust was the fence on the jointer table. It only adjusted to 89 degrees. The planer bed sucks down lubricant as well. As I recall mine didnt have a cord at all I wired a 5' cord into the disconnect on the side.

[David Wong]

Waxing the planer table really well, helped to eliminate front grab and rear snipe. I also have a short Hammer aluminum extension table I leave attached to the outfeed side. Not sure which helped the most, but waxing the beds is very important

[Patrick Kane]

I am curious what one builds that requires a longer bed than the A3-31? I've run bed rails on- and through mine, although this has been an infrequent length. Mostly the longest length is in the region of 1m. I have a table coming up which will be 2m. What I appreciate about this machine is the 12" width when jointing, which is a significant step up from an 8" wide jointer, and far less costly than a stand-alone 12" jointer.

Regards from Perth

Derek

I think you can achieve satisfactory results from shorter bed length, but it does make the task easier with longer beds. My jointer length is 96-100", and it's easier to balance boards as you run them over the cutterhead. I remember setting up roller stands for my 6" and 8" jointers. If your pressure isnt perfect, or your stands are too low/high, then you get less than perfect results. While the longer beds arent necessary for smaller projects, it is a luxury to have the entire board referenced off the infeed table when jointing. It takes most of the strain off your body, because the materials isnt fighting you as you are focused on moving it forward. Some of my longer projects involve a 14' sapale table for my parents, a 10-11' walnut table for my sister, dozens and dozens of island/countertops in the 8-12' length.

Similar practice to hand planes. Im sure you could joint an edge with your no3, but i will have a lot easier time achieving that jointed edge with my no8. The more machined reference surface you have, the less chance there is for 'user error' to creep in.

[glenn bradley]

Never been a fan of short beds . . . I just want to get that out there :). I thought it was pretty much SOP to pay for local "Euro" technicians to come out and set up these machines. Sounds like I am in error in this. In your case it sounds like it might be the shortcut to getting on with using the machine. We all have expectations and then there is reality. My jointer arrived on the pallet so well setup I wasted time looking for what I must be missing. Someone else who bought the same machine had to have help getting things brought into line. Sounds like you may benefit from a professional assist. Once things are working as expected you will quickly forget the painful front-end load of effort :)