Hammer A3-41 better than Jet JWP-160S 16" Planer and Delta 37-380 8" Jointer?

[Steve Mathews]

Is the Hammer A3-41 Jointer/Planer a better setup than a combination Jet JWP-160S 16" Planer and Delta 37-380 8" Jointer? The way I see it the advantages of the Hammer are; it has a larger jointer bed, elevation adjustments on both the planer and jointer seem easier to operate and it takes up less space. The obvious disadvantage is moving from jointer to planer operations. I'm always looking for ways to save space and improve my hobby shop setup. Thoughts?

[John TenEyck]

Only you know the answer to your question. For me, I would take the A3-41 over the stand alone machines because an 8" jointer is too narrow for the lumber I often use. If most of the parts you need are less than 8" wide, and you have the floor space, then the stand alone machines offer greater convenience. If not, or you can't justify the floor space for both machines, then the combo machine will better meet your needs. Change over time is not that big a deal, at least not on my MM FS-35; less than a minute. If you do go with the A3-41 I would get the segmented head which will make it easier to handle difficult grain and be quieter as well.

John

[Peter Oster]

I have an A3-31 the 12 inch machine and love it. Check out Rob Pocaro's review at www.rpwoodwork.com. Everyone seems enamored with segmented cutter heads. I use a lot of reclaimed lumber. Others have said if you hit metal it will take 2 or 3 sides off the cutter. At $10.00 each that could get expensive. I had the opportunity to visit the Delaware location. I was told the head has had both and there was marginal difference between the two. I said I was on a tight budget so it might have been to get the sale. I haven't run any really difficult grain. Maybe this will curse me but I'm getting zero snipe.

[Van Huskey]

In my eyes, you have stacked the deck for the combo machine. First, the separates you mentioned are toward the lower end for separates in quality and you used an 8" jointer in the example.

For me, the combo vs separates question distills down to budget and space. If you have the budget and space for similarly sized/quality separates then I would take separates every day if not I would rather have the combo machine. Unless you change your choices of separates the Hammer is far an away the better choice, IMO.

[Dan Friedrichs]

I have the C3-31. Thoughts:

1) Having >8" jointer width is fantastic. I regularly have boards >8" but <12". I would never go back to <12" jointer width.

2) You can get the Hammer with the "SilentPower" spiral cutterhead. This is also fantastic. Quiet, and very minimal tear-out, no matter how wild the grain. I would also never go back to straight knives.

3) I prefer the shorter overall length of the jointer, as it takes up less floor space. For the few boards I've had trouble edge jointing, I've just straight line ripped them, but there are table extensions for the jointer, if you desire longer beds.

4) Changeover between function is a non-issue. It takes <45 seconds. I used to jump between machines, but now see the inefficiency of that. Having to do the changeover has made me more deliberate and caused me to plan ahead a little better, and I think that has made a significant improvement in the quality of my work.

5) I, personally, really like the fit-and-finish, and general "Euro feel" of the Hammer. It's a pleasure to use. Like driving a BMW instead of a Chevy

[Steve Jenkins]

One thing I did with the combo machine I used to own is put a digital readout on the planer. If you need to change back to the jointer then the planer again to match a piece it makes it easier.

[Jim Becker]

1) A jointer just as wide as the planer is an advantage as you mention. I prefer that myself and hence, I have a J/P
2) Changeover is "overhyped as a problem" by many folks. Mine takes about a minute and that's taking my time. So it's a non-issue for me. In a busy production shop, I can see where that might be more of an issue, but for most solitary woodworkers, the short pause doesn't need to be a problem and may, in fact, be an advantage because it helps control pace of work to lessen mistakes and also encourages better planning.

[Rod Sheridan]

Steve, absolutely the A3-41 is the better choice.

I've owned an A3-31 since 2007, really love it.

Add the digital readout from Hammer for the planer, suggest you buy the metric one.

You'll love the width and performance, as others have said the changeover is a non issue.............Rod.

[Matt Mattingley]

The main 4 questions you really have to ask yourself is,
- Do you have the space? I don’t for two machines.
- Do you joint over 8 inch boards? I do regularly.
- Is the price comparison a factor? It wasn’t really for me.
- Is production important? That was a no for me.

The things that were important for me was, a small footprint, accurate machine, silent cutter head, decent dust collection.

Sometimes I wish (3 times) I Purchased the A3-41 over the A3–31. 99% of the time I deal with rough lumber.

The only two problems with the Hammer in planer mode are,
Outfeed table height has to be adjustable and there is a little bit of table play as it does not have Guide pins . The Felder Version has two guide pins.

I ended up going for the A3–31 silent cutterhead. I have little to no regrets.

I do have the analogue hight gauge read out, in metric, like Rod stated.

[Brian Holcombe]

A wide jointer is very handy.

Changeover is annoying but very much a minor inconvience for saving a considerable amount of space in a small shop.

I gang up my work and do my jointing all at once, then all of my planing.

I put outfeed and indeed extensions on the machine when needed and I’ve been able to joint 80” long material dead flat.

[Mick Simon]

I'm very happy with my A3-41. As others have said, the wide jointer is wonderful. After 3 knee surgeries and one hip replacement (so far), I knew getting up and down to spin the crank would get old fast, so I made this for next to nothing the day I set the machine up. Works great with my $9.95 HF drill motor.

[glenn bradley]

You know you only posted this to get a "dog pile on the rabbit" reaction out of the A3-xx owners, right? Given a comparison of separates and a combo of equal quality I would take the separates if I had the room and a combo if I didn't. As Jim states the whole overblown description of effort on changing over a combo is a non-issue. I think this misguided dogma is based on the flurry of lower end machines that were all the rage a few years back; lots of alignment problems and changeover was convoluted on some designs.

The reason I favor separates (which may have nothing to do with your situation) is that I can just walk up to the machine and use it. Given the fact that a quality combo changeover takes about the same time as swapping a tablesaw blade (which I do at the drop of a hat) this should not even count. I am sure that for me, it is more of a habit thing than an indicator of much value. Look at your shop design and how the machine(s) will integrate into your workflow. What is best for you is what is best . . . for you

[Dan Friedrichs]

I'm very happy with my A3-41. As others have said, the wide jointer is wonderful. After 3 knee surgeries and one hip replacement (so far), I knew getting up and down to spin the crank would get old fast, so I made this for next to nothing the day I set the machine up. Works great with my $9.95 HF drill motor.

Mick, I love that you painted it Hammer red! I wonder if slots could be cut to let you read the dial as it spins? Nice work!


A few wise minds have commented that they'd take separates if they were of equal quality and space were available. In reality, the price of equal-quality separates is probably near 2x that of the combo (if not more), and space is never free. Something in my mind has a hard time rationalizing having duplicates of the important part (the cutterhead and motor) with different support tables to allow the work to run over vs under the cutter...

[Matt Mattingley]

Here is a decent review/walk around.

[Steve Mathews]

You know you only posted this to get a "dog pile on the rabbit" reaction out of the A3-xx owners, right? Given a comparison of separates and a combo of equal quality I would take the separates if I had the room and a combo if I didn't. As Jim states the whole overblown description of effort on changing over a combo is a non-issue. I think this misguided dogma is based on the flurry of lower end machines that were all the rage a few years back; lots of alignment problems and changeover was convoluted on some designs.

The reason I favor separates (which may have nothing to do with your situation) is that I can just walk up to the machine and use it. Given the fact that a quality combo changeover takes about the same time as swapping a tablesaw blade (which I do at the drop of a hat) this should not even count. I am sure that for me, it is more of a habit thing than an indicator of much value. Look at your shop design and how the machine(s) will integrate into your workflow. What is best for you is what is best . . . for you

Always good to get an enthusiastic response from a committed group. The real motivation for the question comes from a couple of local offerings for used Hammers and the growing dissatisfaction of my current planer and jointer. If both machines were of better quality the idea of replacing them probably wouldn't come up. The one advantage I've noticed having separate machines is being able to move from one operation to the next without a lot of setup effort. The obvious disadvantage is the floor space they consume. I just purchased a new SawStop so I may gnaw on the idea for awhile before making a change.