Hammer K3 Winner - What I've learned in the last 6 months

[Kent Adams]

Just got a call. They are not sure if they fit Hammer and the prices are $418/$625 for two different versions. Wow.

I stick with my hand-made version that serves me well.

That $ for a plywood jig? That makes Festool look cheap!

[Chris Parks]

The Wixey advantage is repeatability, nothing more, no test cuts needed it is always spot on.

[Susumu Mori]

I see. No more eyeballing the scale with my eye glasses off. The more I use Hammer the more I think I need a shorter version of the rip fence because it rarely extends beyond the blade. And the Wixey seems a nice addition.

[James Zhu]

Any idea of the price James and will it fit the Hammer table slot?

Sorry for the late reply. The martin dealer said it is also available in a Hammer configuration.. The price Susumu mentioned above is same as what martin dealer said in the Felder forum.

[Chris Parks]

I wanted to use a shortened version of the fence as a rip stop when ripping on the slider but I can't find a damaged one to cut up. It only needs to be 200mm long to do the job but I refuse to pay the price for a new one to put a hacksaw through it.

[Susumu Mori]

Mine came with a 1,200 mm version, which is way to long for most of the time.
I'm going to get a 500 mm one.

[Chris Parks]

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.
Attachment 312577Attachment 312576Attachment 312578



Cheers

Mike

Have a look at end of the fence where he has put in a filler piece between it & the blade, You need to stop the video as soon as it starts https://youtu.be/rbRlItVCcIc?t=223

[Max Neu]

As far as digital readouts are concerned, I would get a Pro Scale.They are a higher quality/professional version of a Wixey.

[Mike Cahill]

Chris, - yeah, I had considered that. Something else to look into :-)

[Ted Diehl]

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
Attachment 312571

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
Attachment 312572

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
Attachment 312573

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.
Attachment 312574

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.
Attachment 312575

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.
Attachment 312577Attachment 312576Attachment 312578


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

i took delivery on my Hammer K3 Winner last month and thanks to your advice, I went out and purchased the Harbor Freight Pallet Jack before my saw arrived. The pallet jack currently sold by HF will not work well. The forks are too far apart to slide both of them under the saw base. You can get one fork and balance the saw on it but this is Very dangerous if you're not careful. I did do it though and carefully balanced the saw on the fork while my buddy slid some scrap 2x4's under the front and rear of the base, then I lowered the saw down and attached the mobility kit I ordered with the saw. Then with the wheels in place, built a ramp and got it off the pallet. This could have been accomplished without the pallet Jack using 2x4 studs to leverage each side up. I put the pallet Jack on Craigslist and sold it in 2 days for $200. Your clamp suggestions are greatly appreciated. BTW it took about a day to get the saw off the pallet and half the next day to assemble it (correctly &#128563. The biggest pain was installing the extension table and getting it lined up. I finally got the
Electrician over to install 220v in my garage. Now I'm stuck trying to hook up the exhaust port (4.72 inches) to my Oneida 2 1/2 inch hose. If anyone has figured this out please let me know.

[Erik Loza]

...Now I'm stuck trying to hook up the exhaust port (4.72 inches) to my Oneida 2 1/2 inch hose. If anyone has figured this out please let me know.

Lots of us use rubber sewer pipe fittings as couplers. Fernco is one brand, you can buy them at HD, Lowe's, et al. You'd want 5" ID for the machine, then adapt up/down as needed. Also, and you might already be aware of this: 2.5" dust extraction on the main saw chute will probably be an issue. I assume you're talking about the main saw chute and not the one on the riving knife.

Erik

[Kevin Jenness]

For backing up the crosscut I hold a scrap block behind the trailing edge of the workpiece with the crossscut fence in the forward position. That way I always have a fresh backer.

I inserted a wood block into the end of the crosscut fence extrusion so that gives a clear visual indicator of the cut point.

Like you, I use the rip fence "American style" for final ripping of most solid wood. For an initial straight edge on plywood or lumber the slider is used, sometimes using clamps, a ripping shoe or crosscut stop to locate the material. If my rip will leave enough material to hold the workpiece on the slider I do that and use the retracted rip fence as a guide. For narrow rips, Fritz and Fans with the rip fence retracted can't be beat. Whenever I can keep my hands to the left of the blade I do so.

The photo shows a shop-made clamp using a veneer press screw.

[Chris Parks]

Using the Frits & Franz method I have never found the need for any clamps at all and using it to rip is so much easier than relying on the rip fence. I eventually took the plunge, bought a new fence extrusion and cut it down to about 200mm to serve as a measuring stop when using the slider to rip or cross cut if needed. Repetitive cross cuts done against a short fence take no time at all.

[Andy Giddings]

Ted, sorry to hear about your issue with the Pallet Jack. I would recommend joining the Felder User Group on Yahoo. There are a lot of posts there about buying the right Jack for the Felder range. Most of the saws require a narrow Jack to fit under the frame. A standard width Jack will work with the combination machines.

[Andy Giddings]

Chris, agree with you regarding the F & F Jig. As long as you use some grippy material on the faces of the F & F, I've never found the need to clamp anything yet, even when cutting long strips off of narrow 2" thick material. Like you, I've put some stops and scales on the top of each side of the jig which enables accurate and repeatable cuts, quickly and easily.