I Need A Second Opinion About Buying A Used Hammer A3-41(J/P)

[Eric B. Peacock]

I'm looking for secondary voice of reason to advise me if paying $3000 for 2001 Hammer A3-41 16" combo J/P is of sound judgement. It was on Ebay with a $3500 starting bid, and ended with zero interest. I contacted the seller to discuss the price and we're down to $3000.

The serial# is 50.03.163.01. It has 16"X67" bed, and it's wired for 230v 3phase 4kw which is about 5hp. It also comes with the mortising attachment, and seems to be in good condition according to the photos.(minus the blade guard)

I've been on the fence with the MiniMax FS-30, so naturally this Hammer being a 16" and close to $1500 less expensive has me in quandary.

Any advise would be appreciated.

[Rod Sheridan]

Hi Eric, that's a good price in my opinion, if it's in good condition.

I think that with mortiser, that's less than half price.

I own an A3-31 and am extremely pleased with it.

I presume that you have 3 phase power available for the machine?

Regards, Rod.

[Eric B. Peacock]

In response to Rod,

I do have 3phase power. I lease a small commercial space that provides 240v.

Thank You Very Much!

[Rick Fisher]

That's a good deal. If a deal like that came up in my area, I would buy it.

[Joe Jensen]

I'm looking for secondary voice of reason to advise me if paying $3000 for 2001 Hammer A3-41 16" combo J/P is of sound judgement. It was on Ebay with a $3500 starting bid, and ended with zero interest. I contacted the seller to discuss the price and we're down to $3000.

The serial# is 50.03.163.01. It has 16"X67" bed, and it's wired for 230v 3phase 4kw which is about 5hp. It also comes with the mortising attachment, and seems to be in good condition according to the photos.(minus the blade guard)

I've been on the fence with the MiniMax FS-30, so naturally this Hammer being a 16" and close to $1500 less expensive has me in quandary.

Any advise would be appreciated.

I was just at a commercial tool dealer who deals with new and used. He said in this economy commercial stuff in new condition is selling for less than 1/2 price. New isn't selling at all. His delivery guy dropped off my MAX sander and said it was his first delivery this week.

[Rick Fisher]

Joe, see if that guy has a suitable jointer for me. The economy in Canada is still okay.. no deals up here. :(

I think Freight from Az would be reasonable compared to East>West.

[Steve Rozmiarek]

Go for it, and quit second guessing yourself!:D

You'll not regret the move, unless you decide to upgrade in the really near future. Good news is there are maybe two or three machines that would be an upgrade. If you want out of it later, the original purchaser already took the big hit in cost, you will be able to get much closer to your purchase price. Plus the economy has to improve, right?????

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

These things are fairly bullet proof but abuse is still possible

Take an indicator on a base and put the thing on the out or in feed table and register the indicator off the opposite table. Press on either table in various places with various amounts of pressure. Do this with the table locked down.

That will give you a sense of how worn the hinges may be.

There is always going to be some movement as nothing is perfect and the hinges are just steel shafts in Cast Iron. That's a great hinge bearing combination which all manufacturers of combos use but, still it's never going to be as tight as tapered torqued down spindle bearings. So you want to have a feel for how much movement under how much pressure you think is solid.

For a good start point go look at a new machine and put your indicator and arm to that.

Unfortunately I can't tell you what factory spec is. But Maybe the Tech boys at Felder can.

[Steve Schoene]

Having 240 volt power isn't quite the same as having three phase. Just about every house has 240 volt power available, but almost all of that still is for single phase motors. You do need to check to see whether it is really three phase. If not, you would need a fairly expensive phase converter since this is not a machine that you would want to take a power penalty that comes with the less costly passive phase converters.