Hammer Planer Test

If you follow me on Instagram you know of my woes with adjusting the jointer portion of my Hammer A3 41. I was almost ready to sell it until I considered another aspect of my machine - the planer. The planer does amazing things. Watch the video - if you have a machine in a similar price
range that can do what this one can - let me know in the comments .

[@BeauDobbs]

I have the A3-31. I rarely end up with snipe at all. But the dial indicator is pretty exact and I feel confident when I make adjustments. Feed roller marks happen when I take heavy passes, generally

[@micksimon55]

Hi Darrell. As you know, I have the same machine. Yes, I can control down to ~ .002". I sometimes need to recut a part and surface it to the same dimension as an existing part. I can put a caliper on the correctly made part and set my thickness to that dimension on the planer and come within a thou or two.
Really sorry to hear of your frustration with the jointer. Wish I could be of help, but I know how finicky the adjustments are on it. I recently added a SCM slider (SC-4E). I'm making a dining table that's about 78" overall and have found, to my astonishment, that I get a an excellent glue line straight off the slider.

[@DarrellPeartFurnitureMaker]

Hi Mick - I am going to try to fix the jointer . I am not willing to give up the planer. It sounds as though the other brands cannot replicate what the Hammer planer can do. Just looked at the SC 4E - looks like a great saw. I assume you got the shorter version?

[@micksimon55]

@@DarrellPeartFurnitureMaker No, they don't import the 5"5" version except for special order. mine is 102". I laid it out in CAD and once installed, I have 3" clearance on the backstroke and 2" on the front stroke. I moved my bench, hand tools and assembly benches into the adjacent garage and moved my wood and misc stuff into my storage room behind the casita. Works great.

[@Psychlist1972]

For those of us not on IG, what's wrong with the jointer?
Also. from the looks of the chips, I assume you have the silent power spiral head?

[@DarrellPeartFurnitureMaker]

Hi Pete - yes I have the silent power spiral. The problem is the jointer portion of the machine. I tried to adjust the spring joint cut out of it and made things worse. I have adjusted many jointers over the years - this one is beyond touchy. Almost imposable to do yourself- unless I were to get better instructions

[@Psychlist1972]

@@DarrellPeartFurnitureMaker My Felder rep in the Delaware office has been super helpful in the past when it comes to getting documentation. You can ask if they have the adjustment instructions in a PDF they can send you. If you don't have a Felder rep already, I can connect you with mine.

[@DarrellPeartFurnitureMaker]

@@Psychlist1972 That's where I got the instructions I used. I have since seen other instructions that contradict the Felder instructions. In any event it is very difficult to do yourself. At one point I was extremely frustrated. I believe I have gotten the machine way out of whack. I have decided to have the tech come . I'm mulling it around whether to sell my Hammer and get an AD 941.

[@Psychlist1972]

@@DarrellPeartFurnitureMaker Oh cool, I wasn't aware.
I do like the A3-41, especially with the silent power head. But if I had it to do over, I would go with the AD 941 (or 951). It's quite a bit more expensive, but you get a longer bed, a better fence connection, variable speed (with the 951), and the power planer bed adjustment. That last one being key. It also helps that the accessories for Felder machines all work with each other, too, so you don't have to have separate, say, extension tables for Felder vs Hammer.