Minimax FS 41c vs Hammer A3-41

[Ian Guy]

Josh, I am very happy with the Minimax jointer planer and as I mentioned, I’d likely buy it again. The tersa head is great so far and gives great surface results.

I tried to do as much research as I could before buying, but there just didn’t seem to be as much information about MM machines as with Hammer/Felder, so I kind of felt like I was taking a chance. As Jim mentioned, it may be due to the fact that there are more Hammer and Felder machines out there in the hobbyist world then MM, so more people are posting about them on forums like this. I recall that most of the MM complaints seemed to be delivery damage and/or customer service support.

So far, I have no regrets and think it is a great machine and see no reason to doubt the quality or craftsmanship. As you and others have noted, shipping and delivery with any machine may be the wild card these days, but that has nothing to do with the build quality. I think most of the Hammer complaints are due to shipping damage as well, I don’t perceive that there is a quality control issue in which they are shipping out defective or subpar machines. On that note, I was more impressed with the crating for the Hammer—it had a cage made out of 2x4s all around it. The MM had an sturdy cardboard cover over the machine. Best of luck in your buying decision.