Thread: Small Panel Saw Quest

The Minimax is every bit as good as the Hammer IMHO. Be very aware of the price of add ons to the K3, the scribing blade costs more and restricts the main blade diameter to 250mm. It becomes a very hard decision in the end but both companies are easy to deal with but the Hammer will cost you more.

Hi mate, I have the hammer K3 with the comfort package, very happy with it. I just purchased the 6 inch forrest king dado set, absolutely awesome combination.

Originally Posted by Chris Parks

The Minimax is every bit as good as the Hammer IMHO. Be very aware of the price of add ons to the K3, the scribing blade costs more and restricts the main blade diameter to 250mm. It becomes a very hard decision in the end but both companies are easy to deal with but the Hammer will cost you more.

Thanks Chris. Good to know.I get the impression that they both would be a good choice. I guess it just comes down to what size sliding table I want / can fit in the space. It just bums me that I have to make a decision without seeing one.
It goes against my entire being...lol
I also have to make sure the lead time does not influence me....
Steve

Originally Posted by jenno

Hi mate, I have the hammer K3 with the comfort package, very happy with it. I just purchased the 6 inch forrest king dado set, absolutely awesome combination.

Very nice. I just read a few more posts from some US owners and they mention buying a Felder fence to use on the Hammer. Some are saying that the Hammer fence can more when you clamp it. I will have to ask about that. Have you found this?

Steve

I own a K3 and bought it before I was aware the MM was available in Oz. It has been a good saw and a slider changes the way you work in so many ways. I bought mine without the outrigger because I did not know if I would use it or not but later on I added the outrigger when I got a big order for table tops which I am still making. I did have a problem with the fine adjuster on the rip fence which Felder never resolved because of the way it is designed and we modified it and Felder know if they have the same problem again what the fix is. If you do not order the outrigger the crosscut fence is put on the operator end of the table but I ordered the necessary parts to allow me to put it at either end because I wanted to do this....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DqzVglze9Nk

I added a digital readout to the rip fence and with the fine adjuster it is perfect though the rip fence does not get a lot of use because of the method in the video.

I bought a MM SN45 bandsaw and went close to buying one of their combination machines but in the end bought a Hammer A3-31 and I am still not convinced it was the right decision as MM in general have a lower price than Hammer by a fair margin for equivalent machines. When Hammer were aware of what I was thinking they got a sharp pencil out and started writing down numbers that made me re-consider my intention to buy the MM but not solely. In the end the I went for the Hammer due to the segmented cutter head and really no other reason. IMHO there is nothing between the two brands and you will be happy with either. I hope this helps with what is a fairly substantial investment though in your case the best local after sale support might be the winning factor.

Originally Posted by Sterob

Very nice. I just read a few more posts from some US owners and they mention buying a Felder fence to use on the Hammer. Some are saying that the Hammer fence can more when you clamp it. I will have to ask about that. Have you found this?

Steve

Steve, links to those posts? On mine the fence does visibly move but only to the position it is supposed to be in. The fault I had was the fence would not slide on the bar but we machined some parts and fixed that. A two year old could have designed something better.

Originally Posted by Chris Parks

I own a K3 and bought it before I was aware the MM was available in Oz. It has been a good saw and a slider changes the way you work in so many ways. I bought mine without the outrigger because I did not know if I would use it or not but later on I added the outrigger when I got a big order for table tops which I am still making. I did have a problem with the fine adjuster on the rip fence which Felder never resolved because of the way it is designed and we modified it and Felder know if they have the same problem again what the fix is. If you do not order the outrigger the crosscut fence is put on the operator end of the table but I ordered the necessary parts to allow me to put it at either end because I wanted to do this....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DqzVglze9Nk

I added a digital readout to the rip fence and with the fine adjuster it is perfect though the rip fence does not get a lot of use because of the method in the video.

I bought a MM SN45 bandsaw and went close to buying one of their combination machines but in the end bought a Hammer A3-31 and I am still not convinced it was the right decision as MM in general have a lower price than Hammer by a fair margin for equivalent machines. When Hammer were aware of what I was thinking they got a sharp pencil out and started writing down numbers that made me re-consider my intention to buy the MM but not solely. In the end the I went for the Hammer due to the segmented cutter head and really no other reason. IMHO there is nothing between the two brands and you will be happy with either. I hope this helps with what is a fairly substantial investment though in your case the best local after sale support might be the winning factor.

Thanks Chris.
The prices *seem* to be close but we haven't got down to the nitty gritty yet....we are still maneuvering for position......
The rip fence problem seems to be a concern. Not happy to risk having to deal with that.
'Segment cutter'?...is that the dado blade? Not heard that term before.
Your right, it will be a single item that decides which one I buy.

Steve

Originally Posted by Sterob

Thanks Chris.
The prices *seem* to be close but we haven't got down to the nitty gritty yet....we are still maneuvering for position......
The rip fence problem seems to be a concern. Not happy to risk having to deal with that.
'Segment cutter'?...is that the dado blade? Not heard that term before.
Your right, it will be a single item that decides which one I buy.

Steve

I was referring to the segmented cutter head on the A3-31, ignore this as it refers to the combination thicknesser/jointer I bought. I have confused you but the A3-31 comes with either a three blade cutter head or a segmented head that is comprised of lots of individual carbide heads as on this page where you can see both http://www.hammer-australia.com/prod...9&region=au-en

As a rule Hammer do not give deep discounts and the price is what it is.

Originally Posted by Chris Parks

Steve, links to those posts? On mine the fence does visibly move but only to the position it is supposed to be in. The fault I had was the fence would not slide on the bar but we machined some parts and fixed that. A two year old could have designed something better.

Sorry, I can't find it now!......
I did find a recommendation to buy a Felder fence for a Hammer.
Felder Fence on a Hammer.jpg

My problem with the fence will not necessarily happen with every machine and I have seen no other reports of it. Remember the fence I specified has the fine adjuster in it and is different to the stock fence. Something I did before buying mine was I asked Felder to find a customer who would let me see their machine and have a chat as they had no machines in stock and I wasn't buying without seeing one.

Originally Posted by Chris Parks

Something I did before buying mine was I asked Felder to find a customer who would let me see their machine and have a chat as they had no machines in stock and I wasn't buying without seeing one.

Yes, I've thought about this. Chances are slim as I live in a small town, 200 km from Perth, but its worth a try.
Thanks for the reminder....

I contacted Gabbett in Perth to see if there were any SCM customers close, that I could contact, and there aren't any, except a TAFE and thats problematic.
So, no dice. Maybe they don't sell any SC3's in Perth....lol
No matter.

I also asked the Hammer agent. No word back yet.
Steve

Anybody knows if the SC 1 accepts dado blades.

Hammer K3 has a optional accessory to ask when you buy, but i didn't see something similar on Minimax SC1.

Does Minimax already come by default with a large arbor for dado blades, or I need to ask for some accessory?