Italian Invasion...... My New Toys

[Beau Cassidy]

After debating between Felder/Hammer and MiniMax I believe I have made the right decision. After 2 months of debating and 9 days from placing the order I got the call to come down and pick my stuff up- MM16 Bandsaw and FS 41 Classic 16 inch jointer/planer. The guys at MiniMax were on the ball getting things to me despite IWF. The got everything delivered to the closest terminal to my house. I had to go pick everything up because of work.

Beautiful site at the terminal...


Arrival home...






Unobxing the FS41








By the time I got the box off the FS41 it was getting pretty late and I was dripping with sweat. It will be at least monday before I can get anything else done. It wasn't too bad moving 1201 lbs of stuff considering it was just me. You just gotta let gravity work for you. I will post further pictures next week.

[David Gutierrez]

Very cool!! congrats. post photos of the shop when done.

[Jim German]

Awesome! Why'd you choose the Italians?

[Mike Wilkins]

Hold on a second, I had to wipe the drool off the keyboard. Now. Sweeeeeet!!! Nice looking toys. I imagine it will be a few years before you wipe the grin off your face. I'm hoping to upgrade from a 12" to a 16" JP machine in a couple of years. Enjoy.

[Myk Rian]

Awesome! Why'd you choose the Italians?

Because they make great pizza?

[Peter Kelly]

Great combo of machines. I pulled the trigger on an SC2 Classic yesterday. Can't wait to get it set up!

[John A langley]

I have four Machines of Mini Max equipment and you're going to love the Italian and stuff congratulations and good luck The bandsaw especially

[Edward Oleen]

Now all you have to do is build a new shop to house all that beautiful new equipment...

[Susumu Mori]

Hi Beau,

Congratulation! I can understand exactly how excited you are, because, coincidentally, I also got an Italian invasion two weeks ago!
My decision after the same process as yours was completely opposite, though

I got a Hammer A331 jointer/planer and Felder FB510 bandsaw.photo.jpg

My decision was not much based on product research because I thought we can't go wrong either way, anyway.
I originally thought that I'd upgrade from my Griz 14-inch BS to Hammer N4400, but knowing that FB510 is a newly designed product (and of course larger), I took a plunge. Actually, the new MM16-like dust collection chamber of the FB510 was a big factor (N4400 has only one DC port at the bottom), because I'm a bit too sensitive to dust, vibration, and noise (my shop is in the basement).

Anyway, I chose Hammer/Felder, primarily because Newcastle is only 1.5 hour away and they agreed to bring the machines by themselves all the way to my basement with the regular freight cost. The Silent Power helical head of the J/P was another factor, but, besides it IS quiet, the actual benefit is in debate. I prefer the euro-style jointer blade cover to the American porkchop, but again, this is a personal preference.

They uncrated the machines in my basement and after that I did all installation by myself. Once I manage to put them on the wheel, everything else was breeze.

One present surprise was that, even though the picture of the FB510 in the internet doesn't have a foot brake, it actually comes with it. FB510 was a bit cheaper than MM16 and I can see the reason from few differences;
1) the lower blade guide doesn't have a vertical (up-down) control and quite far from the table.
2) the two doors are connected: MM16 has two separate doors and two switches.
3) the vertical support column of the upper blade guide of MM16 has a more elaborated mechanism.

Besides these, fit & finish are no comparison with my older $400 14-inch BS.

One thing I'm surprised is, this BS is quite louder. The 14-inch BS is about 78-80 dB (very quiet) and FB510 is about 90-91 dB based on an iPhone app. The vibration is minimum with a nickel standing at all four corners. Without blade guides (and the zero-clearance plate in the DC chamber), it goes down by 2 db. So, the most of the sounds seem to come from the big wheels and long blade ripping through the air, but I'm not sure. The sounds and vibration actually seem going down a bit as I keep using. I'm curious about MM16 in this respect.

In any case, I know quite many people are interested in the BS and J/P we bought. Please keep us updated and exchange our information.

[Beau Cassidy]

Awesome! Why'd you choose the Italians?

I was a little turned off by the very direct approach from Felder- several calls...particularly if I went to their site. Not pushey but- well- I don't know- I just didn't like the coincidence of the calls and my site visits. Something which is not coincidental and previously mentioned by others. They certainly make good equipment and I did have a hard time deciding between the two. In the end either would have been great to have and it was basically a tossup as prices and accessories were similar.

[Beau Cassidy]

Hi Beau,

Congratulation! I can understand exactly how excited you are, because, coincidentally, I also got an Italian invasion two weeks ago!
My decision after the same process as yours was completely opposite, though

I got a Hammer A331 jointer/planer and Felder FB510 bandsaw.photo.jpg

My decision was not much based on product research because I thought we can't go wrong either way, anyway.
I originally thought that I'd upgrade from my Griz 14-inch BS to Hammer N4400, but knowing that FB510 is a newly designed product (and of course larger), I took a plunge. Actually, the new MM16-like dust collection chamber of the FB510 was a big factor (N4400 has only one DC port at the bottom), because I'm a bit too sensitive to dust, vibration, and noise (my shop is in the basement).

Anyway, I chose Hammer/Felder, primarily because Newcastle is only 1.5 hour away and they agreed to bring the machines by themselves all the way to my basement with the regular freight cost. The Silent Power helical head of the J/P was another factor, but, besides it IS quiet, the actual benefit is in debate. I prefer the euro-style jointer blade cover to the American porkchop, but again, this is a personal preference.

They uncrated the machines in my basement and after that I did all installation by myself. Once I manage to put them on the wheel, everything else was breeze.

One present surprise was that, even though the picture of the FB510 in the internet doesn't have a foot brake, it actually comes with it. FB510 was a bit cheaper than MM16 and I can see the reason from few differences;
1) the lower blade guide doesn't have a vertical (up-down) control and quite far from the table.
2) the two doors are connected: MM16 has two separate doors and two switches.
3) the vertical support column of the upper blade guide of MM16 has a more elaborated mechanism.

Besides these, fit & finish are no comparison with my older $400 14-inch BS.

One thing I'm surprised is, this BS is quite louder. The 14-inch BS is about 78-80 dB (very quiet) and FB510 is about 90-91 dB based on an iPhone app. The vibration is minimum with a nickel standing at all four corners. Without blade guides (and the zero-clearance plate in the DC chamber), it goes down by 2 db. So, the most of the sounds seem to come from the big wheels and long blade ripping through the air, but I'm not sure. The sounds and vibration actually seem going down a bit as I keep using. I'm curious about MM16 in this respect.

In any case, I know quite many people are interested in the BS and J/P we bought. Please keep us updated and exchange our information.

I was looking at the Hammer A431 and the Felder FB510. You must have been the guy the salesman (Craig) was talking about two weeks ago when I called them. The were having to go out and do a local delivery.

[Susumu Mori]

Hahaha, that's me~~~.

I'm still in the process of learning about the BS Euro-style blade guard. I would appreciate it if you share your experience with MM16.

As for A331, there is not much to adjust and it just performs. I wish I had A431. The 12-inch planer is a bit limiting...
Oh, as many had pointed out, the fence is definitely the weakest link of the Hammer J/P. That requires some learning to how to get around some slop, although it doesn't affect the accuracy once I get the hang of it.

[Susumu Mori]

Funny that I communicated only through emails and, although they eventually responded, sometimes I felt they could return emails sooner. They could be little more pushy for me....

I also communicated with Minimax by emails and he was super fast.

The customer service was through emails and calls and so far I'm quite satisfied. They do respond well.
My FB510 initially had strange sound and the service person immediately identified from my video that the cooling fan of the motor was touching the cover and, sure enough, the cover was dented. I also asked several silly questions and he has been very nice to me.

[Larry Edgerton]

Just a word of warning, the some guys get all sensitive when you tell how nice you're Ferrari handles. I say this as I walk out to my shop full of Ferrari's........

Larry

[Craig Hoehn]

Felder really needs to update their website on the FB-510. I was looking at one in the show room and noticed that it did in-fact have a shroud under the table, and had a foot brake, and I could even get it with ceramic guides (pretty much a copy of the Laguna guides). Better priced than the Laguna bandsaw too, but it’s still going to be a while until I have enough coin.