A Hammer A3-31 jointer/planer has arrived

Frank Pellow

Member
Messages
2,332
Location
Toronto, Ontario, CANADA
Since mid February, I have not owned either a jointer or a planer. See the thread: xxx

While I was working as crew on a small sailboat in the Bahamas for most of April, my long anticipated Hammer A3-31 jointer/planer arrived in Canada from Austria. On Monday, I drove over the Felder/Hammer warehouse in Mississauga to pick it up. My trailer bed is much below the level of the loading dock:

Hammer A3-31 01 -At Felder loading dock -small.JPG

But, these guys had obviously had to cope with this before and, in short time, they attached the trailer to a fork lift with a pair of straps and lowered it onto the trailer:

Hammer A3-31 02 -Getting the machine balanced on the staps hamming down from the fork lift -smal.JPG Hammer A3-31 03 -About to lower the machine into my trailer -small.JPG Hammer A3-31 04 -Lowering the machine into my trailer -small.JPG Hammer A3-31 05 -On my trailer at Felder -small.JPG http://festoolownersgroup.com/other...s-arrived/?action=dlattach;attach=50784;image
http://festoolownersgroup.com/other...s-arrived/?action=dlattach;attach=50786;image
Even though the machine was strapped down to the trailer, I was afraid of it being top heavy, so I drove the 30+ kilometres home over city streets never exceed 60 kilometres per hour.

My friend Rod Sheridan, who also owns an A3-31, is coming over this afternoon and is bringing equipment from work to help me move the jointer/planer from my driveway into my woodworking shed. Right now, the A3-31 is sitting in the trailer in my driveway under a new tarpaulin:

Hammer A3-31 06 -On my trailer in my driveway -small.JPG Hammer A3-31 07 -On trailer with tailgate down -small.JPG
 
Congrats. I've had mine for a bit over 6 months and still love it. Its a sweet machine for sure.

Not sure which head you got, if its the straight knife head do order a set of the cobalt knives, I nicked the stock ones within about 40 minutes of having it setup :doh:

The digital handwheel is also worth it imho...
 
Congrats. I've had mine for a bit over 6 months and still love it. Its a sweet machine for sure.

Not sure which head you got, if its the straight knife head do order a set of the cobalt knives, I nicked the stock ones within about 40 minutes of having it setup :doh:

The digital handwheel is also worth it imho...

Ryan, I have the straight blades. I was advised by Rob Sheridan, who has owned an A3-31 for many years that the regular blades work just find and not to spend extra money on the Cobalt blades.

I have the digital handwheel. But, they sent the Imperial guage for it by mistake and now I am waiting for the Metric guage to be mailed to me.
 
The machine is now in my woodworking shed:

Rod Sheridan came over yesterday afternoon to help me move the joiner-planer from my trailer and into the
woodworking shed in my back yard. Here is a series of pictures showing the move:

(1) We used 2 come-alongs to move the machine to back of the trailer:

http://festoolownersgroup.com/other...s-arrived/?action=dlattach;attach=50820;imageHammer A3-31 09 -Moving the machine to the back of my trailer using two come-alongs -small.JPG

(2) Rod winched the A3-31 down frpom the trailer on a couple of ramp planks:

http://festoolownersgroup.com/other...s-arrived/?action=dlattach;attach=50822;imageHammer A3-31 10 -Rod Sheridan winching the machine down ramps from the tailer (Margaret in backg.JPG

(3) Here is a photo of the machine at the bottom of the ramp:

http://festoolownersgroup.com/other...s-arrived/?action=dlattach;attach=50824;imageHammer A3-31 11 -Machine at the bottom of the ramp -small.JPG

(4) The machine is now on a dolly and being moved along a series of overlapping plywood panels

http://festoolownersgroup.com/other...s-arrived/?action=dlattach;attach=50826;imageHammer A3-31 13 -Machine on dolly and being pulled along overlapping plywood sheets -small.JPG

(5) Here is the ramp up to Shed #2:

http://festoolownersgroup.com/other...s-arrived/?action=dlattach;attach=50828;imageHammer A3-31 14 -The ramp into Shed #2 -small.JPG


(6) We used a come-along screwed to the floor to move the machine up the ramp:

http://festoolownersgroup.com/other...s-arrived/?action=dlattach;attach=50830;imageHammer A3-31 15 -Pulling the machine up the ramp with a come-along -small.JPG

The machine is now in the shed but still on the dolly:

Hammer A3-31 17 -Frank with the machine in the shed, but still on the dolly -2 -small.JPG

I need to attach a power cord (which I have not yet purchased) and to assemble the fence, the extension tables, the digital guage, and the mobility package. Once that has all been done and I have tried out the machine, I will report back here.
 
Ryan, I have the straight blades. I was advised by Rob Sheridan, who has owned an A3-31 for many years that the regular blades work just find and not to spend extra money on the Cobalt blades.

I think it depends a lot on what sort of shape your lumber is usually in.. The straight knives regular or cobalt both cut great so I'd mostly agree that the spiral is probably overkill (I just stumble on the definition of overkill here :D). I personally found the default chrome set was somewhat less robust than the cobalt as I end up with (relatively) a lot of pretty rough lumber so when I swapped out the knives after nicking them the cobalt for $60 a set vs $32 for the chrome it seemed mostly worth it.

Also congrats on getting it unloaded with no problems! Looks like an adventure :D

I was biting my nails the whole time unpalleting mine, its kind of a heavy sucker!!
 
I have been (mostly) away from Toronto ever since I took delivery in May
and I just got around to wiring my A3-31 last weekend.

I set the machine up and got it running yesterday and I didn't encounter any inferior quality
(other than the minimalist documentation and set-up instructions). Here is the machine configured as a planer:

Hammer Combo set up as a planer -small.JPG

Notice that machine is still on Rod's dolly. I did purchase the "rolling carriage" add-on but a sub part is missing.

I ran about half a dozen boards of various types through both the planer and jointer and didn't notice any
problems.

But, I didn't do any careful checking about allignment and and I do plan to check that soon.
 
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:threadjacked:

So, congrats on the cool tool and all, but I think everyone is missing out on a very important part of the story...

While I was working as crew on a small sailboat in the Bahamas for most of April
'
That sounds like some serious fun, got any details on that? Or is it one of those "What happens in the Bahamas, Stays in the Bahamas" sort of things?
 
Wow, I somehoiw missed this thread earlier. Congrats on the new tool, and welcome back to civilization. :wave: (I'm guessing you've been at Pellow's Camp.)
 
:threadjacked:

So, congrats on the cool tool and all, but I think everyone is missing out on a very important part of the story...


'
That sounds like some serious fun, got any details on that? Or is it one of those "What happens in the Bahamas, Stays in the Bahamas" sort of things?

Brent, I am sorry to dissapoint you but my Bahamas trip was quite straightforward. I have fiends (Jim and Barbara) who live in Salt Lake City and own a 45 foot sailboat moored in Florida. They wanted someone who had sailing experience and who they could live with in close quarters for a month to accompany them on a trip touching on several islands in the Bahamas (I am happy to say none of the big tourist traps).

I am just such a person. We had a great time and I have extensive notes and photos but none of it concerns woodworking, so I posted nothing about the adventure here.
 
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Wow, I somehoiw missed this thread earlier. Congrats on the new tool, and welcome back to civilization. :wave: (I'm guessing you've been at Pellow's Camp.)

Yes Vaughn, that is mostly where I have been.

I can now get access to the internet there but it is expensive to use and I use it only to report that all is still well to friends and relatives who are concerned about my well being. So, in theory, I no longer need to take a break from places such as Family Woodworking; but it still does not feel right to me to be spending time on the internet when at camp.
 
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Brent, I am sorry to dissapoint you but my Bahamas trip was quite straightforward. I have fiends (Jim and Barbara) who live in Salt Lake City and own a 45 foot sailboat moored in Florida. They wanted someone who had sailing experience and who they could live with in close quarters for a month to accompany them on a trip touching on several islands in the Bahamas (I am happy to say none of the big tourist traps).

I am just such a person. We had a great time and I have extensive notes and photos but none of it conserns woodworking, so I posted nothing about the adventure here.

And still, it sounds like a lot of fun! Congrats!
 
Yes Vaughn, that is mostly where I have been.

I can now get access to the internet there but I use it only to report that all is still well to friends and relatives who are concerned about my well being. So, in theory, I no longer need to take a break from places such as Family Woodworking; but it still does not feel right to me to be spending time on the internet when at camp.

Well you could drop in for a minute to at least let us know you didn't get shoved through a spaghetti sizer.

Good to see your alright Frank.
 
All Paid For

I had an objective of selling sufficient tools that have had little or no use over the last two or three years to pay for the
difference between what I sold my old Delta jointer and planer for and what I had to pay for the Hammer combo. I am happy to report that, with the sale of one of my two Festool multi-function tables yesterday, that objective has now
been realized. :)

By the way, I don't mean that the sale of the MFT made up the difference but, rather, that it was the final item that I sold to close the gap.
 
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