Hammer a3-31 planner thicknesser

[Wallnut]

The new Hammer A3-31 is now installed and running.
COST A tad over $4000
MACHINE - Very stable, at 340kg it doesn't move for anything.
Both in and out feed tables were square, parallelnd well machined.
Easy and accurate screw ajustment of the infeed table for Jointing.
Fence is readily adjusted for angle cuts and moving to distribute wear across the full width of the blade.
Tables cam locked and easily lifted and secured when thicknessing required.
Thicknessing table is large with single central colum for raising and lowering.
Clamp lever locks position and table parallel to blades.
Seperate belt drive for feed rollers, dis-engaged when not in use.
Chip extraction efficient at 120mm dia

BLADES 3 blades - double sided so resharpening not an option, wear out/throw out
Comes with HSS fitted. Not suited to Australian hardwoods.
Only takes a couple of minutes to change blades, pin alignment makes very accurate setting of blades.

CON'S The swing over dust extraction hood when changing from thicknessing to jointing is a real pain, table must be lowered to 140mm every time transition is made as the hood hits the table and won't allow positioning of tables. This gets annoying after awhile.
The 120mm dust hose exits centrally over the planner table and gets in the way, should be offset to rear.
Thicknessing height adjustment hand wheel is also placed centrally in front of the table, this means for every adjustment put the plank down, unlock, adjust, relock and then pick up the plank and feed in, repeat this process. This wheel should be positioned on the front of the machine as it is on their table saws.
OVERALL It will be interesting to see how long the $82 per set of cobalt blades last with our timbers, HSS lasted about 1 hour each side on Silver Ash.
A very quiet,solid, accurate machine which gives excellent results all round, the finish is smooth as a hand plane on the Jointer with a slight rippple left by the thicknesser and it handled cranky grain in Maple very well.
Just ensure the vacuum hood is down and adjusted when jointing as this is the only hand protection when Jointing, it is NOT spring loaded.
Excellent machine let down a bit by a couple of small things.
But I will learn to live with it as IT AIN'T GOING BACK.


take care

[Mr Brush]

I looked at the Hammer machine a while ago, but ended up buying a (3-phase) JET JPT-310 instead.

Being of similar design, the JET has many of the same issues as you describe. I would have liked the autosetting blades of the Hammer machine, but have since got quite good at replacing and setting conventional blades on the JET. I had been told that the Hammer can be fairly expensive to feed in terms of replacement blades, so it'll be interesting to see what life you get out of them on our hardwoods. I'm considering retrofitting a (JET) helical cutterhead to my machine to eliminate the blade setting altogether.

One trick I use for the dust hose when in thicknesser mode; make up a short loop of material (I use that stretchy garden tie stuff), and leave it on the hose all the time. When you go to thicknessing, slide the loop of material up and hook it over the edge of the (tilted up) jointer table to hold the dust pipe up out of the way. If you're not sure what I'm talking about (and reading it back I can understand that....), let me know and I'll put up a photo to show this in use.

Enjoy your new toy !!

[Billyboydes]

Hi Wallnut,
I have had the same unit for a few years. Very happy with it. I agree with your comments. Much prefer the throw away blades to sharpening, but they do wear.

Don't know if you got the extended table but it is necessary for longer pieces.

Enjoy.
regards
Billy

[TP1]

A couple of points I noted with my machine:

1. The standard blades are not HSS . Hammer call them "chrome steel" and I think are used so they can charge extra for the real heavy duty cobalt blades. I have been using these extensively on wide jarrah boards and they are certainly lasting the distance. Given that they are double sided, I think they are very good value - even more so when you consider how easy they are to change. BTW, keep the old blades - u can quickly fit them if you have to start dressing some rough timber which may have some foreign material embedded. No harm done if they hit a nail.

2. The Hammer A3-31 dust port is designed to be used with their 90 degree adapter. They just don't include it as standard. Dust extraction with the machine is suddenly a dream to use as the hose is directed away from the machine. Look how it is used on the brochures or other advertising material.

3. Most combo machines have to have their table lowered to accommodate the. Dust hood , there is no perfect solution.


BTW, did u end up getting the digital readout with aluminum wheel? That is an incredible add on that I also think should be standard. It makes precise adjustments a snap , and which are also repeatable .

[Wallnut]

Evening all,
Mr Brush, I was using a Jet 15" thicknesser for the past 12 years or so, got a quote for the helical at aproximately $2000. I was also informed that it would drastically reduce the decibel levels when installed. At that price, I decided to sell both it and the 120mm H&F Jointer and invest in the Hammer 3 phase combo.
Billy, no I didn't get the table extensions as a mate of mine is an aluminium fabricator (marine stuff) and he has offered to make a set for me at mates rates.
Hi TP1, long time mate, no I havn't purchased the digital read out as yet, it is on the list though, especially with that dam winding all the time, really buggs me, especially when I stuff up and need just one more board to finish a project. My mate is looking at it (dust hood) from the perspective of converting it to a slide in/clip lock setup.
Good point with the 90 degree adapter, checked it out in the catalogue. Might just be forced to 'knock one up' )
I ran about half a cube of Maple and Red Cedar over the cobalt blades this afternoon for friendly Cabinet maker,( handy contact there) excellent results with no signs of blades loosing the edge, We were impressed, have to agree with you mate, looks like they will last the distance.
take care

[TP1]

The elbow is only a few bucks and slides easily on to the outlet for an airtight fit. Also, the outlet is 120mm, hammer have adapters for other sizes but I simply attached a 5" hose to the elbow with duct tape

[Peter36]

Hi TPI,
It is possible to resharpen the double sided plades . I get mine resharpened by Carbitool who charge me $12 an edge (400mm) and I have been doing this for some years now .

[Billyboydes]

Hi Peter,
I hadn't heard that. How do you then adjust for the change in the thickness setting. How much is lost in the sharpening. I know that I can have visible light (from wear) under parts of a blade on a flat surface, when it has been worked hard. Therefore there must be loss of cutting depth.
regards
Billy

[Peter36]

Hi Billy
I am not too sure how much Carbitool grind off. Not much. Just enough to remove any nicks . I always use a dial gauge to set the blade height to be the same as the outfeed table . Takes a bit of time but is worth it.

[Billyboydes]

Thanks Peter, but I am not aware of any blade height adjustment in the Hammer?

[Mr Brush]

I thought the Hammer "self-setting" blade cutterhead relies on alignment pins and centrifugal force?

If it does, then provided the three blades are ground perfectly uniformly (relative to the pin holes), and provided they don't take too much off, then surely you just have to adjust the outfeed table to the new height? A simple jig with two indexing pins (simulating the cutterhead) would allow the grinding to be precisely controlled so that all three blades came out identical.

Takes longer than just dropping in a new set of blades, but still much quicker than setting each blade individually on a conventional cutterhead.

I would have thought that some form of outfeed table control would be provided to assist with setup at the factory?

[Peter36]

I am not familia with the Hammer . I have a Felder combo which I have had for about 7 years. I bought it from Hans who ran Felder Australia before the State franchises were set up. I guess there have been a few improvements since then.

[pjt]

If u were going to resharpen the replaceable blades ideally u would have an alternate set of blade carriers as well, the carriers have set screws (factory set) which meet the bottom of the groove that is machined into the cutter block, for the replaceable blade system to work as a quick change system the groove depth has to be the same in all 4 grooves (machined in the factory) and the pin location in the carrier has to be at the right hieght to suit the distance from blade edge to hole and the hole has to be centrally located in the blade to be double sided.
If the blade sharpening process removes from the blade say 10 thou, that would then be the amount to adjust the set screws and therefore the cutting edge remains at correct hieght relative to the outfeed table. The trick is getting your blade sharpener to do each blade/edge the same relative to the hole in the center of the blade, a spare blade sharpening carrier might be the trick there.
Each time the blades are sharpened adjust set screws, but then that all kinda defeats the purpose of the quick change system especially if u didn't have spare carriers for the resharpend blades.

My two cents worth


Pete

[Wallnut]

The elbow is only a few bucks and slides easily on to the outlet for an airtight fit. Also, the outlet is 120mm, hammer have adapters for other sizes but I simply attached a 5" hose to the elbow with duct tape

G'day TP1.
My digital readout arrived yesterday with the GOLD PLATED ELBOW included.
After I sat down and re-read the invoice, I rang and asked if there was a mistake ?
Nope- that is correct old son. $78.10 + GST for a single 120mm PVC elbow
Needless to say, it is on its way back! I can get the same thing in white PVC from my local Pumping and Irrigation supplier for about $15, which, incidently, I thought was high anyway.
The Digital read out is handy as you said, I like that bit.

[TP1]

G'day TP1.
My digital readout arrived yesterday with the GOLD PLATED ELBOW included.
After I sat down and re-read the invoice, I rang and asked if there was a mistake ?
Nope- that is correct old son. $78.10 + GST for a single 120mm PVC elbow
Needless to say, it is on its way back! I can get the same thing in white PVC from my local Pumping and Irrigation supplier for about $15, which, incidently, I thought was high anyway.
The Digital read out is handy as you said, I like that bit.

I didn't realize that plumbing fittings would fit the Hammer Machine as well as the original. It may be useful to check out 120mm to 100mm & 125mm plumbing adapters as well