Hammer - A3 31 (Rating: 4)

I'm going to start from the beginning: I first contacted Felder/Hammer (just "Felder" from here on out) around spring of 2012, a few months before I was going to go back to school (while still working). Not having a Jointer and Planer was really interfering with my woodworking project list (there's only so much you can do with plywood and borrowing others' machines, right?). I spoke with their salesperson and he was pretty quick to provide me with a quote (I only really considered the straight-knife cutterblock, though from what Felder's management and their tech suggested to me, I'm very much missing out by not having the sprial head cutterblock. I absolutely believe them, by the way. When the technician found out I was using the straight knife block, he genuinely seemed disappointed for me!)

I almost pulled the trigger at that point in 2012 - I had signed the agreement and done everything but send it over. Looking at the next two years, though, I didn't see any time for "fun", so I waited. "My" salesperson didn't pressure me at all. I called back once or twice during that two years just to check in, but the price was holding relatively steady. I finished the program in July of this year (2014), and placed the order. Initially, I purchased the machine, the mobility kit, and the digital handwheel kit. I followed up shortly with an order of the extension table for the outfeed side of the planer and a set of cobalt knives. I didn't mind forking over the money for the machine, and though the shipping was initially a surprise (two years prior), I had gotten over it. And, while I thought that the digital handwheel may have a little bit expensive, it really didn't bother me (it works very well, by the way, a must have). But, the price of the mobility kit really left a bad taste in my mouth. It is absolutely very well constructed, and is perfect for what I need (and the Felder technician whom I eventually met with assured me that they're not earning excessively high margin on the accessories), but it is something that just seems to cost too much. They're made in Austria, too, though, so there's going to be a price for that. And it isn't though I had to buy it, after all. A minor thing to be sure, but it can almost overwhelm a buyer out of buying the machine if mobility is something the buyer must have (which I do).

I'm going to make some recommendations along the way, and here is the first one: While the mobility kit works for my purposes (just like the integrated mobile base on my sawstop mostly worked for my purposes), I upgraded the mobile base on the sawstop to the hydraulic mobile base. Now, THAT is a mobility kit! If Felder had made a hydraulic mobile base available, I would have happily paid for it. Such a nice machine deserves an awesome mobility kit! Think how you could even further distance yourself from your competition! Ok, back to my narrative . . .

After I forwarded the agreement and payment info, the salesperson said that another individual at Felder would be following up. The next day I received confirmation from that individual who kept me up to date on shipping. Maybe I'm lucky that I live in a part of the country that is a central hub for transportation, but I had the machine in no time (If memory serves, it was three business days, and definitely no more than 4 - and that's placing the order very near the close of business). So, Felder gets high marks with respect to shipping the machine timely.

The machine arrived in a bombproof crating arrangement. It really was something else. The "main" base of the "pallet" (in quotes because it was much more than just a pallet) was a combination of steel and wood, and the whole thing was screwed (make sure you have the correct Torx bit for your driver) down extremeley well . . . so well that it probably took more time to get the machine uncrated than the rest of the setup! Plan on having a bonfire with all of the pallet wood!

After I had removed all of the screws, it was time to remove the machine from the "pallet". As tempting as it was, I resisted the urge to lift the machine off the crate with my chain hoist. You may have read elsewhere that Felder recommends a pallet jack and ramp to get the machine off. That's great if you have a pallet jack around, which I don't/didn't. Since I had the mobility kit, I ended up mounting the mobility kit while the machine was still on the "pallet", and constructing a VERY long (almost 12') ramp and slowly and carefully wheeled the machine off the pallet. Nice and easy (if you have to factor in pallet jack rental into your cost calculation, you can justify subtracting out that amount from the price of the mobility kit . . . . at least that's what I did, ex post facto!).

Once I removed it from the pallet, I set about giving the machine an inspection. With respect to the jointer table flatness: that process has been thoroughly documented elsewhere. At the end of the day, I have a machine that yields boards of exceptional flatness and squreness. From my conversations with Felder management, I am confident that Felder is really improving a lot of things when it comes to communicating with customers receiving and inspecting the machines. If my expectations are correct, I would expect that future purchasers of a Hammer product will not only be assured that their machine will outperform other machines in its class (or below), but will also have video and/or excellent manuals that show how some adjustments can be made, if the purchaser thinks they are warranted (which, most likely they will not). In other words, if you're on the fence about buying one of these because of a concern for quality, I think you could safely dismount said fence and rest assured that your machine will be what you expect it to be, and probably much more. Here's just one reason why:

When I met with the technician, he showed me how in Felder's manufacturing process, each step is checked and documented as being checked (and by whom) for each machine. They keep this on record for each machine. Consider the accountability that this produces. If there's ever a problem with a machine, they can go back to the exact time, date and individual to attribute the error. I've been to a good number of manufacturing facilities - from Mercedes to ThyssenKrupp, and I've never seen anything quite like that (of course, Mercedes is all robots). Moreover, I can do all but guarantee that Felder's competitors are not doing things this way. It's another good reason why this machine costs more than a Jet or Grizzly (in addition to the superior design, engineering and overall quality, not to mention the location in which it is made).

I'll restate what I said about the above-mentioned technician with whom I met: He (I'm not using his name, because I didn't ask him if I could) was EXACTLY what you would want from a company like Felder. He was professional, kind, and you could tell he cared a lot about Felder - he takes pride in his company as if it was his own (side note: I also work for a family-owned company that is a little larger, but not too much larger than Felder, and family-owned companies that can instill the kind of pride that Felder has instilled in [this particular technician] are doing a lot right in most areas of their company. I can't say enough good things about him.

Before I move to the rest of the inspection, I want to comment on what some have commented to be a downfall of the "euro-style" machines. Some say that the design of the lifting tables will cause there to be an inherent instability in the table flatness over time as they are raise and lowered. Is that true? Sure, but the flipside is that the tables can be adjusted over time to try to address that problem. I'm not a metallurgist, but my understanding is that when a traditional dovetail-style jointer's tables start to sag, there's no going back short of having the thing reground. Just keep that in mind.

While I'm on the jointer tables, I'll just go ahead and mention that lifting of the tables is a breeze. I'm sure I could do it with one or two fingers if I tried. There's also a spring (or more) that keeps them from crashing down hard once they're up. In fact, the whole changeover process is a breeze. Tables up, flip the dust hood, raise the table, engage the feed rollers, and you're in business. A minute or less if you're good at cranking the wheel.

So, what about the rest of the initial setup and adjustment? Well, armed with my One-Way multi-gauge, my straight edge and feeler gauges, I went about checking for coplanarity of the jointer tables. How long did it take me to adjust? Zero minutes and zero seconds. If you followed my earlier review, you know that I care about thousandths, and still, no adjustment was needed for coplanarity (including the height of the outfeed table with respect to the cutterhead blades - all three of them). It was perfect "right out of the box", so to speak. Thank you to whichever Felder employees in Austria made that happen!!!

There's nothing to adjust on the planer. Assembly of the handwheel was a no-brainer. Felder initially sent me the wrong wheel (that counted the wrong way), but it was quickly replaced when I let them know. A note to Felder: put that wheel in a box, please. Mine (the first one that I received) was just placed inside the plastic surrounding the machine itself, and went flying toward my car (I caught it in midair) when I was pulling off the packaging. No harm, no foul.

The other thing that people will gripe about is the "cord" that comes with the machine. Bottom line is that in all likelihood, you'll have to add your own cord and definitely will have to add your own plug to the machine. I'm guessing, but don't know for sure, that Felder doesn't bother with a "real" cord because they have no idea what the end use is going to be. Is it going to be mobile? Is it going to be stationary? Festool puts super-long cords on their vacs because they know that the thing is going to be pulled all over the place at one time or another. But Felder shouldn't be expected to know whether the user will need 4, 8, 12, or a 20 ft cord. I know it is an irratant for others, but again, for me, it wasn't a big deal. Just know that you'll have to make that adjustment when you receive the machine and it won't bother you either.

In terms of how Felder explains the operation of the machine, really the only thing that I would point out as a shortcoming is the feed roller mechanism. Had there not been a youtube video on it (I watched every youtube video out there and read every review on the machine before I bought it (I even set up a google alert for "Hammer A3")), I could have missed it altogether. If you're buying one of these, you should know that it is important to disengage the feed rollers whenever the machine is in "jointing" mode. This fact is barely mentioned in the manual, and the "sticker" on the machine isn't immediately intuitive. It's a minor issue , and if you seach youtube, there is apparently a way to build your own "alert" system in case you forget. I'd gladly pay for someone to make one for me :).

I hope that this comes as a well-balanced and objective review with suggestions and not as complaints. As it was, post adjustment, the machine is very close to perfect. It is well constructed and produces fantastic results. For my purposes, it is exactly what I need. It tucks away nicely when not in use, and is the absolutely only way that I'm going to get a 12" jointer (let alone a planer) in my garage. By the way, do you need a 12" jointer? Well, I'm on my first project after getting the machine squared away, and I've already used at least 10" of that width, so I'd say absolutely! The Hammer A3-31 is a very impressive machine and is certainly capable of producing fantastic results. What's more, I don't even have the spiral cutterhead, so if you order the machine with that option, you're likely going to be blown away.

Some of the above may seem like a lot of minor nitpicking - because, by and large, it is minor nitpicking. If you're buying the machine for results, you're buying the right machine. If the machine is so great, why did I only give it four stars? The answer is simple, but it may seem petty. The machine itself gets five stars, and it would have sustained that five star rating even though I did end up having to meet with the technician. But, during the process when Felder and I were sorting some issues out, one of their employees sent an email about me to another customer. Without going into the subject matter of the email, it was that email that lost the 5th (and almost the fourth) star. You probably won't have that happen to you, so in all likelihood, it will be a five star machine for you. Happy woodworking!