Thread: Hammer a3-31 Coplanar

Anyone who says a machine is bang on out of the box is wrong; things get knocked around in transit and any deviation from flatness in the floor can also throw things off. It might be pretty close out of the box, but machines should always be checked and adjusted in the location they will be used.

The real question is "does it negatively affect your work?" If so, it needs to be fixed, if not, it doesn't. Being a combo, it's never going to be quite as good as a dedicated jointer, but over half a mm does sound excessive. I'd aim to get that down to 0.1-0.2mm

Thx Elan. Agreed entirely re will I notice it enough in what I am doing or am I just looking for some theoretical perfection. Hard to tell that at this time as still a complete novice on this type of machine. From the bits of wood I've been jointing they seem very square when I stick an angle across them. Given I'm hobbying in a double garage, it will get wheeled around a bit on its mobile base as I need to make space so keeping it in one location might not always work. Having played around a bit more it appears the tables are setup in a very flat A shape. I'll keep reading up and listening. Thanks again.

Well. That was easy. Took the plunge and got out a spanner. Had a few goes adjusting one of the 'locking handle side' bolts on the infeed table. Now got it to between 0.1 and 0.2 at the end of the infeed and appears almost dead flat at the cutter head as in can't get a feeler guage under it. If I get the infeed end dead flat i.e remove the 0.1 to 0.2 gap then i get a gap appearing at the cutterhead. I'll have a play with the other bolt beside it - the one closer to the head as that may well help.