Hi there

First time poster. I purchased a Hammer K3 Winner sliding table saw and an A31 Planer/Jointer about 6 months ago. I moved from a cabinet saw with lots of jigs and fixtures, Incra miter sled etc etc. and it has been a bit of a learning curve so thought I’d share in case it is useful to others.

Pre-purchase
It took me a while to pull the trigger, figure out what I wanted etc. Liz Rogers (E.Rogers@felderusa.com) was (and still is) exceedingly helpful before, during and after the sale. I did find it hard to figure out which accessories I needed so to save others time, get the dust port adapter to convert from the European size to our usual 4” – this is a must have. Also, if you decide to get extensions, they are the same between machines (e.g. I can use the same extension ‘table’ on the saw or the jointer/ or the planer – you just need the mounting kits for each machine. Also get the ‘mobility’ kit – these machines are HEAVY.

They’ll arrive extremely well packed on pallets. The unpacking takes a long time as you have to break down the crate they are in etc. You need a pallet jack. I ended up buying one as I knew setup was going to take a few days. Harbor freight have one for a reasonable price that I got a big discount on with a coupon and was then able to sell on Craig’s List a few weeks later.
http://www.harborfreight.com/materia...ack-68761.html

Also, you need a couple of friends. I had to build a ramp to get the jointer/planer off the pallet. Again these machines are HEAVY.

Hold-downs
I’ve seen lots of discussions about hold-downs/clamps for the sliding table. I have found that the following work just fine.

Budget: These work but are a little flimsy - http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...?ie=UTF8&psc=1
IMG_4491.jpg

Medium: Needs a washer to make it fit into the t-slot on the table:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...?ie=UTF8&psc=1
IMG_4493.jpg

Best: These came with my FMT jig but they sell them separately. These work great. And not too pricey! You need the surface mount model.
https://www.leighjigs.com/hold-down_clamp.php
IMG_4490.jpg

Finally, get some of these:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...?ie=UTF8&psc=1
They have a ¼” X 20 thread and self-center in the various T-slots. They also work for attaching things to the fence etc. They are great.
IMG_4492.jpg

Ripping
Have also seen lots of discussions on ripping. I am not using the sliding table for the final rip-to width. I am using the rip fence just like I did with my cabinet saw. I had some Maglock featherboards, clamp, a custom saw guard with anti-kickback pawls etc. I like using a feather board to prevent kickback and keep the board against the fence and my fingers away from the blade. I found that the Kreg featherboards fit and work great. Just use the plastic insert that comes with them to make them fit into the slot and you’re off. I also slide the fence back to the center of the blade so nothing can get trapped between fence and blade.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...?ie=UTF8&psc=1
I haven’t used the sliding table to make the initial rip (the one you usually use a jointer for) but am going to try that out having read about it.
IMG_4489.jpg

Crosscut fence
I was spoiled, I came from an Incra Miter 5000 sled. I work with hardwood 99.9% of the time and am used to supporting the work piece at point of contact with the blade to reduce or eliminate tearout. The crosscut fence on the saw is a couple of inches shy of the blade. Also, what if I want to cut small pieces? I’ve been messing with sacrificial fences attached to the fence using the parts mentioned above (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...?ie=UTF8&psc=1) and some 14” X 20 screws. This works fine but then I can’t use any of the stops that came with the fence and you have to clamp stops to the fence. Again this works fine but sometimes, especially when making boxes, you want two stops – one for the short side length and one for the long side length and you need to flip the short one up out of the way as you alternate between pieces.

After much experimentation I came up with the following. I found that Kreg swing stops (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...?ie=UTF8&psc=1) fit the fence if you attach them with the nuts I mentioned earlier (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...?ie=UTF8&psc=1) and some thumb bolts (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...?ie=UTF8&psc=1). You can then make a piece of wood that is the height of the fence but longer, that fits between the fence and the stop (about 7/16 thick), attach it to the fence using those miraculous wedge shaped nuts again and some screws and you have a sacrificial fence with stops.
IMG_4495.jpgIMG_4497.jpgIMG_4498.jpg


Photos of everything I have mentioned attached. Please let me know if there are any questions or if I can explain anything further.

Cheers

Mike