K3 Winner Disassembly/Assembly

[Eric DeSilva]

Hammer is doing it's holiday pricing, which makes me think hard about putting a slider in my basement shop. Unfortunately, the unit would have to come down an external stairwell then (without room to rotate on the "landing") go through a 32" exterior door. Hammer is telling me that their K3s in standard sizes--31x31, 48x48, 79x48 even--they come full assembled and calibrated from the factory, but that I could take the table/etc off and the unit would fit through the door. Putting it back together means achieving tolerances of 0.002" or so.

Anyone done this and care to comment on how hard it was to set up?

[David Hawxhurst]

are you talking about the cast iron table or the sheet metal part that takes it to final width. the cast iron tables are usually on to the width of the chassis.

[Rod Sheridan]

Hi Eric, your unit will not come fully assembled.

The sliding table and basic saw cabinet come as one unit, you'll have to install the right side extension tables and fence rail.

I put a 49" long slider B3 Winner down a basement stairway by myself.

I removed the sliding portion of the sliding table (not the fixed portion as that doesn't require any re-calibration to install.

The unit fits through a standard 32" door as it comes from the factory.

If you post a drawing of the stairway arrangement I may have more comments for you........Rod.

B3 009.jpgB3 003.jpgB3 016.jpg

Sorry my photographs are out of order.

The second photo shows the machine as it comes from the factory.

The first photo shows it going up the outside stairs onto a temporary deck which is the pallet the machine came on. The machine was rotated 90 degrees and pushed through my front door.

[Rod Sheridan]

B3 022.jpgB3 023.jpgB3 025.jpg

The machine had to be rotated on a landing at the top of stairs that was only large enough for the machine.

I built a stairclimber which is a wedge on wheels with a winch, the machine was pushed onto the climber and winched down to the position shown in the first photo, a Genie lift is replacing the two legs of the climber so it can be winched further down, and lowered at the same time.

Once it was lowered as far as it could go, two come-alongs were used to lift the machine so the climber could be removed and the machine powered to the floor.

Simple, and it only took myself and my cat to do it, and the B3 Winner is heavier than the K3..........Rod.

[Mike Gottlieb]

Very nice Rod. You are a brave and resourceful man.

[Mike Heidrick]

Very nice Rod. You are a brave and resourceful man.

+1

Hope you never upgrade or move. The next owners better be planning to move in.

[Jim Andrew]

I just watched the Hammer video, and the straight line feature really looks appealing. It also points out that you need the 79 x 48 as 31" straight line capacity would be a bit limiting. Which size are you planning to purchase?

[Eric DeSilva]

Great photos. Odd that the rep said everything--up to the 79" x 48" came fully assembled. He was pretty specific that removing the top--I'm presuming the swingarm assembly and sliding table--was a 2 hour job. On the other hand, shipping a 79" x 48" slider fully assembled seems space-inefficient. I may have to probe that some more. My inclination--if I do this--would be to go with the 79" x 48" size, and I'm lucky enough to have the space for it. Means I could put a full 5' x 5' sheet of BB ply on it by myself, which seems handy. And, if it all comes apart, fitting the 79" sliding table down the stairs seems no worse than the 31".

I'm imagining doing what you are showing going down the stairs, but the problem I've got is that the stairs are external and concrete sides. At the bottom of the stairs, I've only got a couple more inches than the width of the 32" door, so I think I'd have to take it down sideways so it is positioned correctly at the bottom to then go through the door. That then raises the concern of whether I've got the stairwidth clearance to take the thing down sideways. The "narrow" side is 31", I gather--any idea what the actual width of the base unit is the long way?

Just out of curiousity--why did you suspend it from the ceiling once you had it on the genie and removed the triangular support? Seems like you could have successively moved the genie back a little, lowered it a little, repeat until it was on the genie at ground level?

[Chris Fournier]

My friend has a Minimax 5 machine combo, he has had to move and now this hulk has to go in his basement. We cut the jointer planer off of the machine, jigged it up to re-attach using mechanical means, dry fit in my shop and now the machine is coming back together in his basement. Not what I would want to do but as my friend pointed out it is the only way. Move methodically and think ahead 10 steps and your scenario is a piece of cake. Go for it. Have some capable and strong friends who take good photos of the before and make detailed notes. We got a 1600 pound machine in the basement of a suburban home through the front door. Anything is possible if you have the stomach for it.

[Rod Sheridan]

Mike, it goes up the stairs the same way, no work invoived.

When I replaced my old A3-31 with a new one so I could give the old one to my brother as a thank you gift, it went up the stairs perfectly.

Then it went down the stairs at my brothers house perfectly, followed by his old jointer and planer back up the stairs...........Rod.

[Rod Sheridan]

I just watched the Hammer video, and the straight line feature really looks appealing. It also points out that you need the 79 x 48 as 31" straight line capacity would be a bit limiting. Which size are you planning to purchase?

Hi, having owned the B3 Winner for a few years, the 51" sliding table in my opinion is the best choice for a small shop.

It will crosscut a sheet of plywood, how many times do you make furniture wider than that?

As for straight line ripping, watch this video, around 1:50 it shows how to straight line long pieces on a short slider using a Hammer accessory...........Rod.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VL54SR0nXgM

[Charles Coolidge]

That's don't take no for an answer rigging there well played!