I'm done - Hammer C3-41

[Dan Jones]

I guess I have had a pretty typical woodworking journey going from machine to machine trying to upgrade and become a better woodworker.  Last week, with a great deal of help from a great friend, I came home with a 1999 Hammer C3-41 combination machine.  This really suits my available space well and I believe will be my final major purchase.  I am 65 and I believe it is a good thing to consider that I, God willing, only have 10-15 years remaining to do woodworking.  This machine brought on these thoughts of eternity and that is a good thing.

The machine includes 12" table saw with a 49" slider, tilting shaper, 16" jointer (67" table) and planer and a horizontal mortiser.  Three 4hp motors.  Almost 1800 lbs.
It came with a lot of shaper and mortise tooling.  I have never used a shaper and look forward to learning.

The infeed table of the jointer is opposite to the table saw infeed.
The handle on the mortiser table goes in and out and left to right at the same time.
Per the Felder/Hammer group I'm going to move the triangular fence (60 inches long) to the jointer infeed side and install a Delta Unifence for the table saw.

When I have sold all the redundant machines l have I will be out about $1000-1500. 

[Mike67]

Wow - beautiful machine. Hope you have many years and lots of fun with it.

[MichaelS]

Made a similar journey myself with a Minimax a few years back (and had to mothball for 3 years, that shop is coming along nicely now!)

Congrats on the upgrade and enjoy the time - having machines that work well, safely, repeatably is one of my keys to enjoyment in the shop
Hammer machines have a similiarly loyal following and I suspect you'll be quite pleased

Michael

[Rick F]

That machine is in great shape.. I hope you enjoy it .. Its a beauty ..

[fredhargis]

Looks like a fortune just in the bits and cutters. Congrats, will serve you well (for many, many years I hope).

[JGrout]

sure is a good deal Dan you should be set up for all the work you can muster out of retirement

Per the Felder/Hammer group I'm going to move the triangular fence (60 inches long) to the jointer infeed side and install a Delta Unifence for the table saw.

I was under the impression that the fence was reversible for the TS and shaper operations  or was there a shorter accessory fence that did not come with the unit? 

It seems sort of awkward to put a unifence on just for TS operations 

Joe

[Dan Jones]

Joe,
You are right in that the machine was sold with the one fence for both saw and jointer.   They did sell a separate table saw fence option.  The fence, as you can see, is long and pretty heavy.  It definitely does not slide easily.  One 8mm bolt screws to the rail to lock the fence.  It is also criticized for deflection but I don't see that as much of a problem.  Yes it will deflect a little but 62 inches is a pretty long lever.  The table saw table is less than 40 inches so the jointer fence seems overkill for the table saw.  With us, used to the smoothness of T fences, the German fence is not very acceptable, especially for ripping. 

This also brings up the philosophy that you don't need a fence at all with a slider.  With parallel arms mounted on the slider you can accurately rip with the slider.  These are a little pricey but you will get the idea. http://www.lambtoolworks.com/products.html

I have the Unifence and trust that will be a good compromise. 

Dan

[BloomingtonMike]

"..and I believe will be my final major purchase.."

Is there a feeder on it? If not you are not done
 Maybe a feeder is not major

[JGrout]

that sounds rational 

How is the shaper fence? I know the Felder version was one of the better ones I ever dealt with; hopefully they did not skimp too much on the one you have. 

Joe

[Admiral]

Wow, very nice, and you got a boatload of tooling for the shaper too! Have fun with it, its always interesting to figure out how to best use a new tool, and you've got a good one there.