Hammer A3-31 Has Arrived

[Tom W Armstrong]

Darren, I remember the thread about the damage to your A3-31. That must really stink given we have to wait three months for these things to show up. Sorry about your ordeal, but it will be worth the wait.

Tom,
I have those same Footmaster casters sitting in a box on my workbench. Can you describe your process for drilling the holes for the stems?

Well, it wasn't pretty. I did something similar to what Alex Silva described back in your thread about lifting straps.

1) Unbolted the four brackets holding down the J/P
2) Scooted the J/P off the 2x4s running perpendicular to the pallet
3) Pried off these 2x4s as they just get in the way
4) Ordered a Milwaukee right angle attachment for my drill - waited
5) "Walked" the J/P to the edge of the pallet - Fairly easy
6) My son was home from college, but I didn't use him for help until the final step. Just FYI, it was easier than I thought doing this by myself.
7) Got several 2x4/6s and by angling the J/P between the slats in the pallet and using the 2xs for stability was able to get enough room to drill with the angle attachment.
8) Picture the J/P at a 30 degree angle on the pallet with me on the floor hoping the 700 lbs wouldn't decide to move.
9) Anyway, one side has zero holes and you have to locate and drill them. The other side has holes but they need to be enlarged slightly for the caster stem.
10) I went to 1/2" as I didn't have a 15/32" bit and using a washer everything fits tight.
11) Anyway, you have to man handle the J/P around and get each end hanging off the pallet and then tilt it up, drill, then do the next one. Don't put in the casters until all holes are drilled.
12) Once I had the holes all drilled, I basically put 1/2 of the J/P off the pallet and 1/2 half of it on, and put the casters on. You'll need a good 19mm ratcheting box-end wrench to help secure the nuts that are inside the cabinet.
13) At this point my son helped me get the other half off the pallet. Another option would have been to just cut the pallet sides and roll it out.

In the end, I really didn't need the right-angle attachment as you can really tilt the J/P and have enough room for the drill and bit. Stubby bits would have been helpful, but all I had were full sized bits. Also, I only smacked myself in the jaw once with the drill when the bit "torqued".

Just take your time and be careful.

[Darren Brown]

Thanks Tom.

Darren

[John Harden]

That "stubby little line cord" is actually generous....many, many machines of this type don't come with any cord. None of my Euro equipment did. But honestly, I liked that as I was able to make up a cord to exactly the correct length for my needs using rubber #10 cord from the borg and twist-locks to match my electrical setup. My suggestion for you is to either use the factory-supplied stub as a pigtail with twist locks and make up an extension that is exactly the length you need or to just replace the stubby cord with a full length cord that is exactly the length you need. The former allows you an easy quick disconnect, especially if your outlet is not easy to reach as it sometimes can be in many shops.

Congratulations on your new machine, too. You'll really enjoy it.

+1 on this. I have two Felder machines and went with a male twist lock on each that hangs off the pigtail cord supplied with the machine. I made up 3-4 'extension cords' of various lengths out of 10 gauge from the borg with matching twist locks on them. The idea is I can use the appropriate length for however I have the shop configured. I use the same arrangement on my MM20 band saw, so everything matches. In fact, I think it was the folks at MM who recommended this setup when I bought the saw from them.

I also agree with the fellow who mentioned how nice it is to have a quick power disconnect right at the machine for blade changes, etc. I don't need to walk across the shop and bend over and reach behind something to pull out the plug.

It works out very well.

Regards,

John

[Chris Tsutsui]

Congratulations.

When i'm not using the Hammer I find that it makes an excellent work table.

I just level the infeed and outfeed and remove the fence. Then I lay a partial sheet of 3/4" melamine on top and i've got a nice temporary work table!

I'm on a tight budget as I had to get my A3-31 from Craigslist, so my plug solution was to use the plastic yellow 220V plugs from HD. The one where one of the spades is tilted sideways. Then I made my own extension cord using 12AWG power wire and two more yellow plastic 220V compatible plugs.

My one tip is to make sure you adjust the A3-31 so that the table tops stay the same level even after you tighten the lever down. It will take some fine adjustement of the bolt stops under the wings to do this.

[Rod Sheridan]

Congrats on the arrival of the new machine.

I have a 2 year old A3-31 and it has a 3 metre long cord on it, however the Canadian machine is different electrically from the US machine.

Regards, Rod.