Wheels for a Hammer A3-31

[John Gehrke]

Hi, First let me start by saying thank you to all the posters I have read over the past month. You have lead me to order a Hammer A3-31 Jointer/Planer. By reading the great discussions I have settled on this machine. One of the other things I learned was not to order the wheels with the unit as they run the "wrong" way. However, I do want to make this unit mobile as I have very limited space in a garage that I have to park a car in when not working in the shop (garage). So now the question. Is there anyone who owns this unit who can suggest a good universal mobile base that would work well? Thanks in advance, John

[Lee Weed]

Hi John,

I just took delivery of my Hammer A3-31 with the mobility kit. I have no issues with the wheels, what are your concerns with the wheels?

I would order the appropriate dust collection adapter from Felder

Lee

[Ted Calver]

John,
I put Great Lakes casters on my Hammer and they work just fine. If you search for Great Lakes casters here you will find lots of threads on using them on the Hammer.

[Jeff Monson]

I used to own a A3-31, I used the factory mobility kit, it worked ok but was cumbersome to move. I made my own out of some angle iron, and reused the factory wheels. I liked this option much better. The factory wheels are very nice. I have a Felder J/P now on Great Lakes casters, while they work nice, I don't like how much they raise the height of the machine. I will make my own base for this at sometime in the near future also. I also prefer to use a lifting bar, once the machine is in place its set, much more convenient that stooping over and cranking down the pads.

[Mark Carlson]

Dito on using Great Lake casters. Easy mobility plus the ability to level the machine. I dont like mobile bases because they can get in the way. I've converted most of my machines to leveling casters.

~mark

[David Wong]

I use the Rockler all-terrain mobile base on my A3-31. The 5 inch wheels on the base make it easy to move around over the wide expansion joints on my garage floor. The base adds less than an inch of height to the jointer tables. I have had my A3-31 on the base for 3 years, and I have not detected any discernible flat spot on the wheels.

[Brian Tax]

+1 for the Great Lakes leveling casters, requires drilling some holes in be bottom, and works best for stuff does not have to move that often.

[John Gehrke]

Ted, I found your pictures of your set up with the Great Lakes casters. Thanks for posting those. In looking at the Great Lakes website I saw a number of different casters available. It looks as if you used leveling casters. Do you remember which ones? Here is the website page if you need to refresh your memory http://www.greatlakescaster.com/products.php?cat=262 Having never used this type of caster before I am confused by the difference between "top plate leveling caster" and "threaded stem leveling caster". Thank you

[John Gehrke]

David, thanks for giving me this as an option. It looks as if I either need to go with a higher table and use casters or go with a lower table using the Rockler base but have the Rockler base stick out a bit all the way around the base of the machine. I have a bit of time until delivery so I got some thinking to do.

[David Wong]

Here is a picture of the Rockler base on the A3-31 (when I was installing it). I have the pivoting wheels on the thickness planer outfeed side. They usually are not in the way because I have a 300mm table extension permanently attached to the planer outfeed.

[David Hawxhurst]

you would use LV-1710-NYP-S-M12 they are a stem type mounting caster. top plate is the type that has a mount plate and would use 4 bolts/screws to mount it. stem type have a stem the mounts in the the middles and is a single point. typically the come with a thread piece that you screw into the caster then mounts and secure with a nut. the leveling casters you're considering will allow you to spin the machine 360 assuming you have the space for the tables as you spin it. they also allow you to level the machine in the event you floor is not level. ask me how i know. while my garage appears level it is not.

i have zambus casters under my a3-31 which seem to be the same design as the great lakes ones. great lakes ones are cheaper. oh well there is always next time. the added height on the machine doesn't seem to bother me so i'm going to leave it alone. if i where to do it again i would probably use the leveling caster and make a cart/frame similar to david wong's.

[Jim Neeley]

Do the factory casters permit "front-to-back" or "side-to-side" mobility?

I've eyeds the A3-41's but once it's in place would be looking to pull it out from the wall, not move it left-to-right.

Jim

[Ted Calver]

John,
I'll double check tomorrow, but IIRC I used the threaded stem casters. There are existing holes in the corner of the A3-31 base and I think the casters I ordered fit into those holes but I don't want to give you bad info, so you better let me check.

[John Gehrke]

Hi Jim, From what I have been able to gather from reading other posts the factory mobility kit allows "front to back" and not "side to side". Here is an example of a quote from Jeff Monson "The mobile base is nice, but it moves the machine on the long axis. I used it this way for awhile, but opted to make my own as it took a lot of maneuvering to get it around my shop. Now I can move it any direction I want." In a very small shop like mine and sometimes needing to roll it through a door way I am looking for all the mobility I can get. But browse around the site here and see what the actual owners have to say. There are some very helpful posts. John

[John Gehrke]

Hi Lee, I swear I answered you yesterday but the reply isn't here today so I apologize if this somehow gets double posted. I was lead to believe by reading other posts on the factory mobility kit that I would be able to roll the machine "front to back" and not "side to side". I need a lot of mobility in my small work area which would include having to roll it through a door way. Since you have the machine with the mobility base please let me know if my information is correct. Also, thank you for reminding me about the Dust Collection issue. I had read that somewhere once upon a time but had totally forgotten about it when I ordered the machine. I better get back on the phone with the rep and add that. Thanks, John