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Thread: Hammer/Felder question

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Feb 2003
    Location
    Milwaukee
    Posts
    907

    Question Hammer/Felder question

    I'm curious - I read the posting about the person having trouble with his Hammer jointer/planer tables being out of whack.

    The point that was mentioned in passing was about the floor the machine stands on being flat or level. That's my interest.

    How important is it that the floor the Hammer or Felder jointer/planer stands on be flat and/or level? My concern with this is that I want one of those machines but I know with certainty that my shop floor, the basement of my house, is anything but flat or level. This hasn't been a problem with my DJ-20 jointer since that machine rests on top of a base which itself is on the welded steel mobile base.

    Is the body of the Hammer jointer/planer sensitive to the floor not being flat? I can see that causing problems if the machine's cabinet twists or flexes in response to any dips or undulations in the floor.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Mar 2003
    Location
    San Francisco, CA
    Posts
    10,304
    I have had a Hammer A3-31 jointer-planer for nearly fifteen years. It is on wheels, like all the big machines in my shop. It gets moved when I have a big project to spray. I haven't noticed any issue with table alignment because of moving.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Dec 2006
    Location
    Toronto Ontario
    Posts
    11,248
    It's not an issue.

    The machines are meant to be mobile, and Felder/Hammer provide mobility kits for them.

    My A3-31 and B3 Winner are moved frequently on my certainly not level shop floor.

    Regards, Rod.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
    Location
    Northwestern Connecticut
    Posts
    7,149
    I don't own one, checked them out at an industrial show, the bases are rock solid, I have trouble believing the floor condition could affect the tables being co planer. I've worked where riggers installed a a very large through molder and had to accurately level the machine using vibration dampening feet to accommodate the out of level floor, but that's a 20 ton machine that spans 30 feet. The argument does not translate to a small home/ commercial level freestanding machine.

  5. #5
    In my experience, smaller combined machines that have a unitized chassis are not really sensitive to uneven floors. The exception is very tall machines with a small footprint, such as vertical bandsaws. Large combined machines or anything with a sliding table over 5' or so is a whole different story.

    YMMV,

    Erik Loza
    Minimax USA

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Oct 2008
    Location
    Scottsdale, Arizona
    Posts
    469
    No problem with my MM CU 300 combo (purchased from Erik Loza above). The frame must be stable as nothing ever gets out of whack no matter how I situate the machine.

  7. #7
    Quote Originally Posted by Rich Enders View Post
    No problem with my MM CU 300 combo (purchased from Erik Loza above). The frame must be stable as nothing ever gets out of whack no matter how I situate the machine.
    Rich, that is due to the unitized (one-piece) chassis. Knapp, Rojek, and Minimax combos are all built this way. Hammer I think, too. Unless it has changed, the big Felders use a siamesed chassis (jointer/planer and saw/shaper being individual halves that are bolted together to create the single machine) and those are the ones which really should have a level floor. At the very least, regardless of which machine it is, if it has a slider, it should be to level to the point that the slider will not run away on its own. Jointer planers don't seem to care at all if the floor is level or not.

    Best,

    Erik Loza
    Minimax USA

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Oct 2008
    Location
    Scottsdale, Arizona
    Posts
    469
    Erik,

    My garage floor is sloped so I do use half inch pads under the low side to bring the slider approximately level, but I don't have to be fussy about it, and everything seems to stay in sync.

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