In that case I won’t need to take up so much room with the living quarters.
In that case I won’t need to take up so much room with the living quarters.
Bumbling forward into the unknown.
Speaking for Felder, here is the situation regarding Hammers. As many may be aware, the covid situation in Europe shut down our production line for nearly two months. There was always a little lead time, even pre-covid. A3’s are hands-down our most popular machines. What we experienced was that orders continued to come in while the factory was shut down. The lead time is just a function of us digging out of that backog of orders. The factory is has been back up and running for a while now and even brought in a bunch more workers on the production line to help deal with this backlog. What I can share is that the factory has allocated several containers of exclsively A3’s just for the US market. As some members have mentioned, these are going to be arriving December through February. “Yes”, lead time is long right now but hang in there, the machine will be worth it.
Erik
Ex-SCM and Felder rep
Yep, always has been a lead time for Hammer A3s for the years I have been watching. I waited a few months for mine to come in a few years ago and that was actually just luck as the West Sacramento warehouse had two orders canceled and I was able to grab one drastically shortening my wait time. Machine is amazing though and for what I use it for and my available space, its absolutely perfect! So glad I didnt try and save a bit and go with something lesser like a Jet or Grizzly combo J/P!
If at first you don't succeed, redefine success!
I own 4 Hammer/FELDER machines, and never regretted waiting for any of them.
There is a very fine line between “hobby” and “mental illness.” - Dave Barry
Upgraditis is a serious but fun problem to have. My jointer journey started with a bench-top Craftsman, to a 6" Jet, to an Asian made 12" J/P machine. Got my forever machine in 2018 in a Hammer A3-41 16" machine. I do have some boards in the stash that are over 12" wide, but the full capacity is not used often. But overkill is over-rated. Get what you want and save the regrets for someone else.
I use full width on mine all the time.
Bumbling forward into the unknown.
I have just a perfect narrow area in my shop that I keep the A3-31, My shop is in the shape of an L with the foot being a very narrow 16ft. If I had the A3-41 I would not have a good spot for the machine. I have drum sander, so the few times over the years where I needed the extra capacity the drum sander got me there.
I have been trying for 3 days to get pricing and order a blade guard for a A3-31 I recently bought used. Their customer service is really slow to answer. They told me to call in and every time it says to leave a message, which they don't reply to. If I bought the machine new and got that kind of service I would be furious. I made a blade guard out of wood to replace it.
If at first you don't succeed, redefine success!