How I ended up with a Hammer A3-31

[TP1]

This is my third jointer and thicknesser setup in 18 months and it will hopefully be my last for the forseeable future. The first was a Ryobi Thicknesser a dn 6" benchtop jointer and I quickly graduated to a ML-392 from Timbecon.

I really wanted the Woodfast - bigger, heavier more powerful but like many others I felt I should be prudent and I opted for the cheaper one. Just over a year later the motor burns out, Fathers' day comes around and my wife says - "why don't you get the one you always wanted?".

Within the blink of an eye, I go to Carbatec, ready to slap my hard earned down for a new Woodfast Pt-310 combo machine. The bloke who showed it to me didn't know much about it and was quite curt and seemed anxious to be somewhere else. I actually said I would buy it if they could deliver it within the next few days. "Nuh" was the reply, followed by a shrug of the shoulders.

As it turned out, the unfriendly experience at Carbatec jolted me into rethinking the whole thing from scratch. So I went to KR Engineering and checked out the Hammer range. I have always been a fan of the Felder quick change blade system. It would be a huge benefit for me anyway.

What a difference there is in the business dynamics when you go to a industrial/commercial supplier. Those guys know all their machines inside out and and are very adept at solving specific issues, and were great to deal with as well. A quick call to the Missus - " Go for it" was the reply,and I am know the proud owner of a Hammer A3-31.

This thing is 300Kg and is built like a battleship. Its 4 HP motor needs 19 amps of starting current ( according to the specs), and it planed 2.2 m lengths of 260 x 40 Jarrah with absolute precision and ease. Like a 300kg swiss watch, as I recall another owner once wrote.

BTW, I also forked out for the extension tables which attach to the jointer and thicknesser beds, with extensions, the overall table length is 2.6 metres. The extensions are made of very heavy aluminium extrusion. They come off and stow very easily See picture below:

[Gezawa]

G Day TPI
I also had a simular exsperience, although I was after a table saw.
The service at other providers was less than impressive. So started looking at other options and ended up talking to Richard and purchased the Hammer B3 Basic and I have never looked back.
They are are a very well put together machine and I love mine.
Next is to save for the A3 31.
Cheers Gerry

[John Saxton]

Well Done TP1, when you want to to talk to the experts about WW machinery you do gotta go to the right place its a pty that you have to waste fuel going to places that can do nothing for you when they claim they can.

Glad to see that you've got some decent machinery for your work.

Cheers

[nihilism]

Richard is a good guy to deal with, always phoned me back etc. I originally was going to buy the c3-31 comfort, ended up with the c3-31 perform and an n4400 to go with it. Richard and Kurt came out and delivered an set up both machines for me and answered all my questions. Have had no trouble with the machines.

[TP1]

I don't understand why all other companies don't do the same or at least offer a service in installing and calibrating machinery for customers. I know that assembly etc can be part of the fun for some but after experiencing professional set up and calibration, it definitely has got its advantages. The customer satisfaction rate has to be much higher and you also learn so much more about the machine through the interaction with the experts.

I'm a bit worried that I will become a Hammer/Felder junkie and eye off their other tools as well. Anyway, I think the bank balance will put a stop to that in the near future as I also took delivery of a Festool Kapex KS-120 this week.

But the N-4400 bandsaw does look nice.........

[Wallnut]

TPI,
I am also the proud owner of a Hammer, K3 Winner Comfort, absolute pleasure to use and well worth the extra $'s paid for quality.
You will find the larger Companies like Felder, Altendorf etc who sell what is known as commercial units all offer this level of service. Unfortunately the Companies selling the DIY/Hobby units as you experienced don't as it would cost more than the unit value for the Tec's time to come and set it up.
I also spent days in Brisbane checking out every available retailer for what I wanted, both new, reconditioned and second hand. I soon found the cheaper units were sadly lacking in strength, rigidity, weight for stability and accuracy over the full length of the slide.
Old story, you get what you pay for.
Enjoy you Combo,
Bushy

[TP1]

There seems to be a few people with a Hammer sliding table/panel saw. Has anyone tried ripping solid timber using the sliding table?

Some members at Sawmill Creek were raving about how useful it was for this purpose.

[nihilism]

There seems to be a few people with a Hammer sliding table/panel saw. Has anyone tried ripping solid timber using the sliding table?

Some members at Sawmill Creek were raving about how useful it was for this purpose.

Yeah I have, kind of. I dressed a whole bunch of 100x100 rougth sawn jarrah pergola posts which were painted. Beacuse i didn't want to take the paint off on the planer and was too lazy to do it any other way, after checking for and removing nails, i ran them all across the table saw first to take a couple of mm off all four sides. Worked well.