Thread: Hammer a3-31 Fence

There has been a lot of criticism of the fence but I have no real issues with it because I set it right on the edge of the table for maximum cutting width and it never gets moved. As always you paid good money for it and a lot of it so I would be seeking to get it to work the way you want.

Ged, I have no issues with mine at all.

I suspect that you are not pulling the fence all the way to the front of the table, as I do below. It is only at this stage do I lift the tables and flip them up.





Regards from Perth

Derek

Hi. Thanks for the feedback. I've reread my post Derek and it isn't the clearest. There isn't any issues with tilting the table etc / fence getting in the way. That's all good. It's just the 'smoothness' of moving the fence forwards and backwards across the table. The fence is solid and tight when the handscrew on the sliding block and the handscrew through the thin metal plate at the back are tight. When i loosen them - so I can slide the fence back and forth - if I don't keep the fence dead square as I push or pull it back and forth then the sliding aluminium block - the bit with the handscrew on it that slides along the extension table bracket, twists a little and then jams / sticks / judders as it slides. I wondered if it was something I had done during assembly ? With that being said I have a question re attaching the extension table. There are thick machined washers that go between the extension table and the main cast iron body. The are about 2cm thick and have different diameters at either end. It appears the wider end fits perfectly into the machined holes on the end of the cast iron table - yet I have seen instructions showing the thinner end against the table end and the wider end against the extension table bracket. Can someone confirm which way these are meant to go in - I'm not sure it makes a huge difference but curious. I'll continue to play and may just end us as Chris did and leave the fence at it's widest

I think it will help if you can upload a video showing the issue...

I have a Felder JP combo and in Auckland, if you want to you can come and have a look how it is setup on mine, not sure if its anyway similar to Hammer.

It's just the 'smoothness' of moving the fence forwards and backwards across the table.

It's not smooth, if you compare this with a table saw fence. I wax the underside, and it moves more easily and quietly as a result.

Regards from Perth

Derek

Originally Posted by Gedc

Hi. Thanks for the feedback. I've reread my post Derek and it isn't the clearest. There isn't any issues with tilting the table etc / fence getting in the way. That's all good. It's just the 'smoothness' of moving the fence forwards and backwards across the table. The fence is solid and tight when the handscrew on the sliding block and the handscrew through the thin metal plate at the back are tight. When i loosen them - so I can slide the fence back and forth - if I don't keep the fence dead square as I push or pull it back and forth then the sliding aluminium block - the bit with the handscrew on it that slides along the extension table bracket, twists a little and then jams / sticks / judders as it slides. I wondered if it was something I had done during assembly ? With that being said I have a question re attaching the extension table. There are thick machined washers that go between the extension table and the main cast iron body. The are about 2cm thick and have different diameters at either end. It appears the wider end fits perfectly into the machined holes on the end of the cast iron table - yet I have seen instructions showing the thinner end against the table end and the wider end against the extension table bracket. Can someone confirm which way these are meant to go in - I'm not sure it makes a huge difference but curious. I'll continue to play and may just end us as Chris did and leave the fence at it's widest

Where did you see the instructions on fitting the cone spacers? The only ones I have seen specifically say the cone washer goes into the concave hole in the table small end first so the angles match. One thing that can be missed is the bar the fence clamps to, it must be 17mm lower than the table and then tightened. I recall I waxed the fence bar at one time but in all honesty I just don't move it at all and can't think why I would need to. It is only a 90 degree reference surface after it is all said and done and as long as the fence is positioned so the end of the cutting head is not exposed Bob's your uncle.

Hi Chris. Hammer USA instructions - http://maschinen.felder-gruppe.at/uploads/document/HA_USA_fencerailmount_instructions_A331.pdf

If I'm reading the initial information correctly - Page 6 shows the fat end against the table and Page 7 talks about aligning the fat part of the spacer with the machined holes and looking at the picture on Page 7 appears the fat end fits into the hole perfectly - which it does - I've tried. However, looking at Page 8 and the exploded diagrams it shows the reverse !?! The picture at the bottom of Page 9 again shows the fat end against the table. While loving the machine I thought some of the instructions for assembling parts were more aligned with something from the Warehouse or Kmart. Am i reading this incorrectly or does the document appear to show both ways of installing the spacer cone ? Cheers

Ignore all my comments above, I was going on memory and that is dangerous when you get old and feeble like me. I just went through all my documentation with no result, I have the extension table bar assembly drawings but not the fence bar assembly drawings so as a last resort I went to YouTube and consulted Harry and he shows the assembly of the extension table bar in this video starting at about 6 minutes https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8wUziBEpffk

It is not exactly like for like as there are two matching conical washers on each bolt, more about that in a minute. My A3 was a machine Felder was using for show room stock so Felder put it together and I guess it had at least a good chance of being assembled correctly. The two stepped washers are as in the video, small diameter to the table recess but as Derek says will go either way. My bet is they use them in several different assemblies and it saves money and I reckon they had a purpose machined washer that fitted that hole properly back in the old days. Now they use what is shown in the video big diameter against the fence for more bearing area against the aluminium. The two conical washers are replaced by a single thick washer on the fence end but there is no reason they could not be used as they are to fix the bar for the extension table. I bet if you wanted to put an extension table on at the infeed end you would fit it with the conical washers.

Thanks for all the help Chris. Had it all setup last night and noticed that the digital clock accessory was not stopping cleanly on a number but was split between the 1 and 2, 2 and 3 etc. Took it back to supplier ( Jacks.co.nz) today. They shook it agreed it shouldn't be doing that and replaced it.

Just put it back together and this new dial now goes up as the planing table height also goes up i.e the wrong way. So as the table height increases - and therefore the thickness of wood decreases I get increasing numbers on the clock. From reading I think they've given me a clock from a spindle moulder or table saw handle. Back we go again. Thanks again for the help.

The digital gauge on mine was affected by backlash in the bevel gears in the same manner so I tightened up the gear clearance so the handle had very little free play.