Hammer A3-41 Jointer/Planer Combo

[greatscott]

I am going to go look at a Hammer A3-41 (16" jointer/planer combo) next week.  I don't know the exact age but it's probably 10-12 years old.  It's been used in a full-time cabinet shop but it's not currently being used.  It's got a 3 blade cutter head.  Possibly has the mortising attachment but not sure?  Owner said it's in good running condition (bearings are good, not sure about condition of blades).  What should I be looking out for when I go view this?  Any issues with the jointer beds going out of alignment when you are switch between joining and planing?  Any A3-41 or A3-31 owners want to chime in?  

I have a DJ-20 jointer and a 15" Grizzly planer and the idea of saving space on a combo machine has been on my mind for some time and I finally came across one (and having a 16" jointer sounds appealing).

[JGrout]

I used/ worked on an A3 41 in the past used it for over a yr 

the tables can be fickle at times(make sure they lock down properly) you have to move/remove (cannot remember now)  the fence to use the planer  You also have to lower the planer table to  use the jointer so it can be a lot of cranking 

IMO they are serviceable but what you have now is more versatile/convenient.  Losing a little space for the ability to flatten stock you can still do with what you have is not my idea of a good trade off 

JME 

Joe

[TGW]

I have no experience of that very model but it is very popular in Europe.

Essentially you sacrifice a bit of changeover time to squeeze in more machining capacity into a limited amount of space. In many cases that gained capacity gives you the sacrificed time back.
I have a 24" jointer/planer, 16"table saw, and 3 hp spindle moulder combination and when I still worked in a single car garage it saved me from lots of trouble. The sort of small separates that could have fitted into that space would have had totally inadequate capacity for what I was making. The changeovers caused me very little frustration compared to what had been caused if I for instance had been straightening 2,5m (8'4") long rough sawn 3x8 on a short bed 6" jointer or if I had been ripping lots of 3 inch timber on a Unisaw.

In a bigger workshop and especially in full time professional work I rekon separates are a lot better than a combination but such large separates take up a lot of space.

[jteneyck]

Sorry, no direct knowledge of the Felder, but I'm sure it's a very good machine.  I have a MiniMax 14" J/P, before that a 10-1/4" Inca.  I can't imagine how people get by with a 6" jointer, even an 8" one is too restrictive for my needs although I know many cabinet shops work with the set up you know have.  And I guess that's OK for cabinet work, but for wide panels only a wide jointer will do.  I would have gotten a 16" J/P like you are looking at if I could have found a used one at a price I was willing to pay, but the 14" one came along so that's what I have.  And I know there are work arounds for not having a wide jointer, but I've never met anyone who had a jointer that was "just too big" for their needs.  There's just no good substitute for that width and I would trade length for more width any day. 

Change over from jointing to planing is about a minute for my machine.  It's just not a big deal.  I have to remove the fence, which is a big lump of cast iron, so it takes some effort.  Other than that, flip up the tables, flip up the dust chute, and crank up the planer bed.  A minute.  Same to go the other way.  I can't say about the Felder, but the tables on my machine are flat and coplaner, and stay that way as long as you make sure there are no chips in the hinge area or where the rest on the other side meets the frame when you close them.  My machine is more than 30 years old and has never been adjusted as far as I can tell.  I'm the second owner.  I don't have a power drive on my planer bed, some of the Felders do.  Some even have a built in DRO to take you to any setting you want.  I've thought about adding an aftermarket DRO to my machine to make adjusting the planer bed easier but so far haven't done it.  I know some machines require that the planer bed be lowered just about completely (6" or maybe more) so that the dust chute will fit under the jointer table.  I only need to lower the planer bed to about the 2.5" mark in order to have enough room for the dust chute so it doesn't take long to raise/lower it.  This is something to pay close attention to on the Felder.  

Is a J/P as convenient as separate machines?  No, of course not.  And changing it from one function to the other will drive you nuts if you don't group your parts and run them at the same time.  You just have to think ahead.  

How much space you will save is debatable.  Yes, a little, but likely not as much as you might think.  My MiniMax takes up nearly as much real estate as my Inca plus a 12" Foley/Belsaw planer/molder I had before.  You do save some wiring and ducting, however.  My MiniMax also has the mortiser attachment, which I highly recommend you get on the Felder if it can be had with it, and that takes up a pretty big chunk of space.  It can be removed to save space, but I didn't like that idea so I tolerate the space it eats up.  On some of the newer machines the mortiser attaches to the work side of the machine so you have no choice but to remove it when not mortising.  If that's the way the Felder works then it won't take up more footprint during normal use, but you'll have to find a place to store the mortiser. 

Everything is a compromise.  I value the wide jointing capacity of my J/P enough to adapt my work habits to it. 

John

[Bob Vaughan]

Be sure that the jointer beds are parallel with the planer bed.  Those jointer planer combo machines I've worked with seemed good when new, but after a while the jointer beds get out of kilter.  This means either you set the knives parallel to the jointer beds or the planer bed.  One of the two will be slightly out and that can be a real pain to work with.

Also look at how many turns of the crank are required to go from planing to jointing.

[Derek Cohen]

I have the A3-31, which is a 310mm wide table (compared to the 410 wide table of the A3-41).

Look up the cost of the spiral head (as well as fitting it) vs the cost of a new combo with this head. The spiral ("silent") heads are a must. They are cheaper to run, easier to change blades, and produce a better finish. Very quiet too.

The accessory that is a must have is the Digital Indicator. This is incredibly accurate, and your machine may come with one, which is a cost savings since it is an essential purchase.

I've been running my machine for 5 years now, and only just rotated the carbide inserts of the spiral blades. That is amazing longevity.

Run a few boards through the machine to check all is well. There is otherwise little to go wrong if all is set up correctly. It is build like a brick outhouse!


Regards from Perth

Derek

[greatscott]

Thanks everyone for the input.  I'm going to go take a look at it next week and see what exactly I'll be getting myself into.  I'm curious if it has a DRO - sounds like something that would be a worthwhile investment for it.  I watched a video on the jointer to planer switchover and I think the guy had planer bed was cranked down to over 8".  Took about 30 seconds to wind it up.  The reason the owner is selling this one is that he bought a new one with the new "silent" version with the carbide inserts with plans of putting this one in his summer shop of north