Calling all Hammer Owners

[Patrick Harper]

At the moment, I'm primarily a hand tool user. I do use a bandsaw to rip long boards and a benchtop thickness planer to thickness boards. However, to turn out finished projects more quickly I'm in serious need of a powered jointer. I need at least 12" capacity and currently work out of a small garage shop. This has lead me to considering jointer/planer combos. Hammer currently makes my list because of it's value. I haven't ever really considered a table saw until I started watching Hammer's videos on their K3 series and following that up with a bit of research. It seems like it would be great for accurate cross-cuts and miters as well as using the crosscut to complete joinery tasks such as tenons (with dado stack). As a result, I have a few questions for Hammer owners.

1) How has your overall experience with Hammer been? Have you had any problems with your machine(s) or support?
2) I'm considering the 16" j/p primary for the length of the beds. How do the bed extensions work on the 12" model? Anyone using them?
3) Anyone using one of the smaller slider's wishing they had a longer table?
4) Anyone have any experience with the Hammer sliders and their dado cutter?
5) Aside from the mobility kit, are there any must have accessories for the J/P or slider?

Thanks in advance guys!

[Rod Sheridan]

Hi Patrick, I have an A3-31 J/P and a B3 Winner saw/shaper.

1) I have had great support from Felder.

2) I have the bed extensions, they work fine, I normally only have one on the planer outfeed so that short pieces don't fall on the floor. On long items I've used them, and not used them.

3) I have the 49 inch slider, no I don't want a longer one, it crosscuts sheet goods just fine and if I need to straight line rip longer than that I have the jig for it. I normally keep the outrigger on the wall and only use it for larger material.

4) I have an FS Tools dado stack for mine, the Hammer one works well also.

5) I wouldn't recommend buying a sliding saw, I use the shaper a lot so I like the B3 better.

For the J/P buy the digital height gauge in mm, not inches. It's a great accessory, I also have 3 table extensions which can also be used on the saw/, shaper or band saw.

For the Saw I have

- scoring saw
- straight line ripping bracket
- eccentric hold down clamp
- rip fence fine adjustment
- dado capability
- precision mitre index system
- full size table to the right of the saw

The shaper has the following options

- stock feeder on tilt away bracket (used for saw also)
- tenon hood and table
- curve shaping hood
- 30mm spindle in addition to 1 1/4" spindle
- sanding drum for shaper

Regards, Rod.

[Jim Andrew]

I bought the 79" slider, mostly for straight line ripping. Had a 8' saw been on sale, would have looked at that. The 12" blade is just for ripping, when you crosscut with the scoring blade, you use a 10" blade. The saw is 4hp, plenty of power. I saw my own lumber, and since I got the Hammer saw, I just cut it live edge. Less waste that way. Great thing is, if you use the slider to rip your lumber, you can go right to the clamps to glue up panels.

[Adam Levitt]

I have the 12" jp combo and the n4400 bandsaw. These are my first tools as I am new to this wonderful hobby.
Dealing with Felder has been great. Wonderful support and great prices in my opinion.
I have a small shop, 8' by 18', and am currently considering adding the B3 saw/shaper like Rod's above. I am amazed at how much these relatively small machines can do.
If I had to start over and had the available cash I'd consider one of their combo machines.
Definitely get the digital height gauge for repeatable planing. Currently I try to mill all the pieces at the same time. Should be receiving my digital gauge any day now.
As a side point I have the Oneida mini gorilla and it is plenty for these two tools.

[Patrick Harper]

Thanks a lot guys.

Has anyone out there used their slider for joinery tasks, such as cutting tenons with a dado stack? I would think this would work great and not require making cross-cut sleds and other jigs.

The prices shown online (when you sign up for an account) look pretty good. The sales rep said they're their lowest prices since 2009 (who knows). Is there any room to talk them down further on their prices?

I've also been considering Minimax, but they seem to be priced higher...somewhere between Hammer and Felder. Probably out of my price range.

[Patrick Harper]

I should also mention that I have an absolute max budget of around $10k. I've also considered going with separates from the likes of Grizzly etc. I could get more for the money, but the quality would suffer. My biggest concern about Grizzly is some of the shipping disasters I've read about lately. It seems like a lot of people aren't getting undamaged goods until their 3 or 4 shipment.

[Rod Sheridan]

Thanks a lot guys.

Has anyone out there used their slider for joinery tasks, such as cutting tenons with a dado stack? I would think this would work great and not require making cross-cut sleds and other jigs.

The prices shown online (when you sign up for an account) look pretty good. The sales rep said they're their lowest prices since 2009 (who knows). Is there any room to talk them down further on their prices?

.

Hi Patrick, I have used the dado stack for making half lap joints, works OK, I prefer the shaper however as it can do both sides at once.

Hammer have sales occasionally, and often you can negotiate a discount............Regards, Rod.

P.S. Here's a link to making tenons on the B3.

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthre...ns+on+a+shaper

[Brian Tax]

I have the 12" j/p combo, and I have been very happy with it, I was coming from a 6" bench top, so could only go up. There have been a couple of times it has annoyed me that I had switch back between operations mid stream, mostly due to my poor planning or a mistake. I am a hobbiest so it does not make much of a difference. If I have unlimited budget and space, then I would probably go separates, but it really excels in the bank for the buck/space category.

[Scott DelPorte]

I recently purchased a Hammer a3 41a, which is their 16" jointer (no planer). I'm quite happy with the machine. It took longer than I wanted (a few months) to get one shipped to me, but it was well crated and arrived in good condition, was very easy to set up, and I have had no problems with it at all. It has a pretty big footprint and requires room behind the machine to accommodate the sliding fence, so take that into consideration when planning out where you will put it. The Felder people can send you exact dimensions of their lineup so you can see what will fit.

The Felder people have been good to deal with. Overall, my experience with Hammer/Felder has been positive, but I have generally had good experiences with other brands too. If you have specific questions about the machine, I would be happy to answer them.

[Barry Walker]

I recently bought a TS from Grizzly. No damage but I had to get Grizzly to force UPS Freight to deliver the saw after two cancellations. Grizzly then had to send me a different rear trunnion.

[Jim Becker]

I can't comment on Hammer because I'm not familiar with them, but I absolutely love my J/P combo and am very glad I put it in my shop years ago. My unit is 350mm wide (~13.65") and while there have been a very few times that I wished for a little wider, they are few and far between. 'Just on a few special projects. And honestly, I don't really care about the length of the tables. It's a very rare moment that I'd try to "seriously" flatten a board that's more than 5-5.5' long since it's rare that a project component would be that long. I break material down before final milling. The only time long-long boards go through is for skimming new lumber so I can see grain/color for better matching during project material selection.

I also use a sliding table saw and wouldn't go back to a "north American" design table saw. Yes, I've had to learn to do some things differently, but and also NEVER edge joint any more. (the J/P only flattens and thicknesses...edges get done on the slider wagon) The combination (pardon the expression) of the J/P and the slider really works for me.

[Patrick Harper]

Jim, thanks for the informative post. Do you own one of the 14" Minimax's. What brand/size slider? Do you ever use the slider to cut dados, tenons, etc?

[Scott DelPorte]

Based on my limited experience, I would be surprised if Grizzly machine shipments are damaged at a higher rate than the others. The ones I got from Grizzly all seemed well crated, and arrived in good shape. I would imagine they use the same truck shippers that others use.

Before I bought my Hammer, I seriously considered one of Grizzly's 16" jointer, but I don't have the right equipment to move machines that heavy into my shop. I am limited to about 1000 pounds in what I can lift off my truck with forks, and their big ones were well over that. If that is a consideration, the Hammers are about the lightest of the bunch for a given cutting width. The Hammer is more refined, but I thought the big Grizzly jointers made in their Taiwan factory looked pretty good.

[Jim Andrew]

None of my machines have arrived damaged. Must be the quality of workers in Kansas. My Hammer saw arrived without even a hole in the plastic covering, but the Grizzly machines I have were delivered in good shape as well. If you follow the directions about noting any damage on the packing before signing the receipt, you are fine. Grizzly will take care of any problems. You just get the complaints on the forum, where guys start complaining here before they even call Grizzly.

[Chris Parks]

I smile whenever I use my A3-31 combination machine with the optional height gauge in the handle, wind to the height and it is always spot on.