Hammer A3-41 Setup, Cable and Electrical Connection

Some thoughts and tips from my experience setting up the Hammer A3-41 planer thicknesser.
A3-41 Assembly by Bent's Woodworking: • Hammer A3-41 Assembly
GT Woodshop: • Hammer A3 41 4 Month R...
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Chapters
00:00 Intro & Basic Setup
01:27 Rail and Fence Attachment
03:36 Rail Too Short
05:19 Taking It Off The Pallet
07:44 Fine Adjust Handle
08:40 Infeed Bed Adjustment
11:46 Table Flatness
12:19 Electrical Cable
14:08 Which Size Breaker?
16:58 Wiring The Circuit

[@duster8100]

When you start these single phase A3's always hold the green start button down until it reaches full speed. If you don't the start capacitors are stressed and they will fail somewhere down the track. The vertical bolt you slid the paper under should be adjusted to contact the under side of the table after it is locked down on the other bolt, leave the DI set up and monitor the height change as you bring the bolt up and start locking it down.

[@martinb9996]

Thanks for the video Fergus. I took delivery of the smaller A331 a year ago with a spiral head and digital dial and found myself puzzling my way through a number of the same issues you have had. Since that time, I’ve managed to rotate the cutter blocks using the designated torque wrench and that worked well enough. After 100’s of metres of wood planing, I began to get ‘sticking’ when thicknessing and Felder advised using a red scouring pad (yes, you can get them) and WD40 to thoroughly clean the beds which worked a treat. My next challenge is whether I’m competent enough to grease gears and tension the internal belts! It’s been a fantastic machine which has transformed my woodworking. Kind regards. Martin

[@beyondutility]

Thanks for the comment Martin and glad to hear you're getting on well with yours. I guess I'll be looking into those maintenance tasks in a year or so too!

[@leatherbydragonfly]

Great video. I’ve had mine 2 years and love it.

[@georges8348]

The cutterhead rolling backwards is a result of belt memory..

[@sethhamilton5824]

I will have to check mine out. I just adjusted the fence plugged it in and used it and it’s been making square wood.

[@leatherbydragonfly]

Jason Bent has mentioned the castors I use to move my J/P around. I can make the machine crab on a diagonal with minimal effort and turn around in its own footprint

[@beyondutility]

Thanks. I've been considering them but also wondered whether I could use a pallet truck for the whole workshop but it does need quite a bit of space to get in and out of what it's moving. Works for now though. Love your work. 👍

[@pmelchman]

@@beyondutility Thank You...we are trying to raise the bar....

[@sethhamilton5824]

I just looked at my rail. I can indeed get the full length with maybe a cm of the block hanging off the back. I install my rail offset back a cm. It’s possible my rail is longer or my rectangular tabs are shorter than yours.

[@SM-vs4ro]

For the fence travel, engineer #1 never talked to engineer #2 and Quality never looked at the operation of the machine just the parts. It's hard to get a big company to change if their is no cost benefit.

[@snaplash]

You could drill a new hole for the front rail bolt further back, so the rail can be moved back the same amount.

[@beyondutility]

What a great idea! Seems so obvious now you've said it, but I hadn't thought of it. Thank you.

[@matthewhale657]

I feel dumb asking this but I can’t seem to figure out how to open that electrical shut off box. Any tips? I took all the screws out but it seems stuck towards the bottom of that switch box like it’s still attached so I just pull harder? Just don’t want to break anything

[@beyondutility]

I was exactly the same! Have you removed the bottom screw? I think it's hidden beneath the yellow bit I think you need to pull that yellow bit out downwards (maybe). If I remember correctly it's a clip which locks the front in place and you need to put a fair amount of force to snap it out. I did it about 6 months ago so can't remember exactly and I'm not near the machine until next week. Hope this helps.

[@herbertthecat]

Does every workshop in the world have one of those Ikea stools kicking around?

[@beyondutility]

😂 probably yes!

[@joschmoyo4532]

Lol. The fact that every hammer table is not flat across its width or length should be an annoying fact not an acceptable tolerance. Garbage machines. Did you gauge the thicknesser bed too ? If it's not flat you WILL get snipe and there is NOTHING you can do to prevent it. Felder will tell you their tolerances are acceptable but of course that's only because you accept it. I wouldn't.

[@beyondutility]

Interesting to hear your thoughts. I'm not really sure what is reasonable or not and I've seen others saying that the tolerance of the beds is not good enough so could well be right.

[@joschmoyo4532]

@@beyondutility For any jointer to be accurate it has to have tables that are dead flat.With a machine of genuine quality you would simply not be able to slide a feeler gauge under your straight edge. Felder beds and tables are notorious for being unstable. The ribbing is not deep enough and they don't season their castings properly to stabilise them before machining them. Quality machine tables are seasoned, case hardened then surface ground for greatest accuracy and wear resistance. Felder tables are just surface milled because it's quick and cheap. Cast iron takes time to stabilise. It needs to be exposed to temperature cycling for at least two years outside in the weather.

[@beyondutility]

@@joschmoyo4532 Interesting. Are there other brands that you recommend which are produced to tighter tolerances?

[@joschmoyo4532]

@@beyondutility Yes, but of course your looking at industrial quality machine's where production runs rely on tight tolerances. But that is no excuse for a company the size of Felder to cut corners. The most important tool you need when looking to buy any machine is an engineer's straight edge. If Felder made metal lathes or mills to this poor standard they would not last five minutes. The machines would be unusable. Personally I can't believe they get away with it but most hobby woodworker's really don't know better. They fall for the spiral head cutter and think that makes the machine awesome ! I'm not a big SCMI fan myself but your more likely to get a better machine from them than Felder. Unless your prepared to hunt for a good used Wadkin. Combination machines are a crippling compromise. Most full time wood machinists hate them because they are slow and inaccurate.

[@beyondutility]

@@joschmoyo4532 thanks for your thoughts. Much appreciated.