# Hammer A3 31 restoration series



## djwong (Aug 2, 2009)

*New purchase and un-crating*

Hello all.

I am a new member to Lumberjocks, but have been reading the blogs and reviews as a guest for a number of months. I really enjoy how members share their various experiences, so I wanted to contribute mine. I am in the tool buying stage, working towards becoming a novice woodworker. As such, I am constantly searching craigslist and reading woodworking forums.

I came across this ad on craigslist for a new in crate Hammer A3 31 jointer/planner - $1500. With such a low price, I immediately called the number and drove out to see it. When I got there, I saw that the crate was unopened, but it had been stored outside the garage only partially covered by the eave. The person selling explained that the crate had been outside for 2 or 3 years under plastic. The owner bought the Hammer from the factory, but his health sadly deteriorated before he could use it. The owner recently passed away, and he was helping the wife sell it.

The crate clearly showed some water damage on top. We opened the top and saw that there was significant rust on the jointer beds. The cutter-head looked clean and the blades were still sharp. I could really only inspect from the top, but the rest of the machine looked ok. The top was rusted, but the rest of the box showed no signs of water damage. The machine had never been plugged in or turned on, so he did not know if it would run. I knew the item would not last long on craigslist, so I took a risk and bought it.

The first problem I had was finding a way to get the machine home. At 800 lbs, I did not want to try to move it myself. I called a few movers, but none of them had the lift gate capacity to handle the 4' x 5' pallet. I was told that I needed to find a truck with a "rail gate". I finally located a mover and two guys moved the crate with a pallet jack without any drama. It was expensive, but worth it for the safety (my own).

Here is the crate sitting in my spacious garage. My eventual workshop will be slightly less than half the garage.




You can see the water damage here.




Rust clearly visible under the oil paper



Removed about 100 staples to get the sides off the pallet.

Did I mention that I do not have 220V in my garage yet?


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## jcame (Aug 10, 2008)

djwong said:


> *New purchase and un-crating*
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I would have bought it too!! Great Deal!!!


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## djwong (Aug 2, 2009)

*Inspection of rust damage*



The A3 31 is shipped on a wood platform attached to two steel bar channels. This in turn is bolted to a wood pallet. I elected to leave the unit on the platform and pallet for now. I'll have to figure out how to get it down at a later date.

There were bits of disintegrated plastic all over the interior of the box, along with lots of dead bugs and spiders.



The rust damage is fairly extensive on the jointer beds. The far end of the bed is where the person selling the unit tried to sand the rust out with a little WD40 and 600 grit paper.



Here is a closer look at one of the jointer beds.



The planer bed is in good shape, with just a little rust here and there.



The rust damage on the planer bed shaft is unfortunately significant.





I took the cutter-head cover off so I could rotate the cutter-head. It rotated cleanly, with visible no rust. Interestingly, the planer roller had wood shaving embedded on it. I guess this was from a test cut at the factory.



I need to clean off the dirt and grime that accumulated around the unit. A lot of the grease seems to have become tacky and hardened. I'll remove that with some mineral spirits. After that, i'll tackle the rust on the jointer beds.


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## a1Jim (Aug 9, 2008)

djwong said:


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Good luck it's going to take some hard work and time but it will be worth it.


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## oldworld124 (Mar 2, 2008)

djwong said:


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I recommend you get some Evapo-Rust to get rid of the rust if you intend to take the machine apart to restore. Evapo-Rust will take all of the rust off the parts because it is better to soak them in the solution. Have fun.


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## djwong (Aug 2, 2009)

djwong said:


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I plan to use Evapo-Rust on the small pieces. On the jointer beds, I will try Boeshield Rust-Free, and Bar Keeper's Friend powder cleanser mixed with oil. Thanks.


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## davidroberts (Nov 8, 2008)

djwong said:


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i guess i'm coming in at the middle of this. i assume you bought it new at a significately reduced price? otherwise, someone gots some splainin to do.


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## djwong (Aug 2, 2009)

djwong said:


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I bought this from the estate of a private party that had purchased it but never got a chance to use it. It was left in the crate for 2 or 3 years. One of those deals on craigslist that seems too good to be true. See my first blog entry. Thanks.


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## mtnwild (Sep 28, 2008)

djwong said:


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I use a product called "Top saver" really works good on table surfaces and many other things. Will not stain wood or other materials. I use it a lot on old rusty knives mostly, but it's made for machine table surfaces. 
Great find there, lucky you….............


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## charlton (Jan 24, 2009)

djwong said:


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I echo the Evap-O-Rust route…however, if you can't take the thing apart…or are unwilling to do so right off the bat, I would try wrapping paper towel soaked in Evap-O-Rust around the parts the are rusty. Keep a bit of the paper towel dipped in a dish of EOR so that it can continue to wick new EOR as it evaporates (which it does very slowly). If that fails, then take the thing apart and soak it.

It doesn't look too bad and I think you got an absolute steal.


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## davidroberts (Nov 8, 2008)

djwong said:


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djwong - those deals are the best kind. i wouldn't have shop equipment without craig's list. but the level of effort to get the machines into tip top condition can be a chore. i'll post a picture of my jointer some day. a real mess, er challange.


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## djwong (Aug 2, 2009)

*Beginning rust removal*



I decided to begin work on removing the rust on a small section of the outfeed table. The surface of the jointer beds are made up of machined "ridges". I first tried multiple applications of Boeshield Rust-Off. Even though the garage door was open, the fumes were terrible. (I added a fan blowing across the table and that greatly improved things.) I first rubbed off the surface rust with a blue scotch-brite pad. I then sprayed on the Rust-Off, wait 1 minute, then abraded with the scotch-brite for another minute. Finally I would wipe clean with a cotton cloth.

After 6 applications, the surface looked like this…



In the next table section, I wanted to try something without the noxious fumes. I used a razor blade to scrape off all the surface rust. This actually worked better than I would have suspected. I then applied a paste of Bar Keeper's Friend powder and 3 in 1 oil. I used a 3M purple nylon abrasive pad and rubbed over the surface. I cleaned the residue with a cotton rag soaked in mineral spirits. I used 3 applications of the paste.

The photo shows on the bottom the Rust-Off side, and on the top the powder paste side. The Rust-Off seems to have worked better getting between the ridges, but left an annoying gray oxidation layer. Neither method completely removed the rust shadow stains.



On closer inspection with a raking light source, you can see the severe pitting on the surface left by the rust. I don't think this pitting will affect the performance of the jointer table, but I must admit to some disappointment knowing that the surface cannot be restored to an "as new" condition without regrinding.



I am still waiting for delivery of some Evapo-Rust to try (could not find a local source). But based on my experiments so far, I am tempted to just use mechanical abrasion to remove the rust. I think a wire brush on a drill would get rid of the rust between the ridges and leave a shinier surface, but I don't know which type of brush to use. Enco.com has a large selection to choose from (wheel, cup, brass, steel, etc…). If anyone has some advice, I would appreciate it.


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## DaleM (Feb 18, 2009)

djwong said:


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For smaller items, I would have some suggestions, such as electrolysis, but for something this large, the only thing I've removed that bad of rust from is my used snowplow I bought (way worse than that actually). I did use the wire brush as you mentioned, but on an angle grinder which spins much faster than a drill. It worked well enough for what I was doing but probably not to the level you need if you want to remove all discoloration too. I think from the reviews I've seen and read, the Evapo-rust is the way to go. Bar Keeper's Friend I believe is similar to Brasso metal polish which I use for some things, but is so fine that it would take days to remove pitting like that even on softer metals, let alone iron. I have an idea, but haven't tried it yet so maybe someone else can chime in on whether they think it's worth a shot. Electrolysis without immersing the item. Attach the negative terminal to the underside of your tabletop, lay some sopping wet old towels on top of the rusted surface after soaking them in an electrolyte solution (washing powder or whatever you choose to use), then lay some kind of electrode on top of that, I'm thinking a screen, or large flat piece of steel to distribute the charge evenly, and attach your positive terminal to that. I am going to try it but haven't gotten around to it yet but if I do before you get your Evapo-rust, I'll let you know how it goes. Okay, enough rambling. Good luck.


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## Timbot (Jul 11, 2009)

djwong said:


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I just did quite a bit of rust removal from an old craftsman table saw I'm restoring, and wire brushes worked wonders. I didn't need to use them on the top itself, as there was actually little rust on the table. However, they blasted the surface rust off the sides in an afternoon. I initially started with a corded drill, but gave in and used an angle grinder. If you've got a Harbor Freight nearby, you can pick up an angle grinder for under $20. For just general grinding and cleaning applications, it does just fine. I actually purchased two awhile ago, so I wouldn't have to switch between cut off discs and grinding wheels. This allowed me to install a cup brush on one, and a coarse wire wheel on the other. Between these two, I stripped all the rust off in an afternoon. I picked up both brushes from HD for around $16 each. Both are Milwaukee, American made, and very high quality by what I can tell. Fair warning though. The wire wheels on angel grinders go much faster than those on power drills. Those wires can and will break off and smack you. Be sure to cover up, and at least wear some good eye protection. They left a beautiful finish after I was done, though, which saved me literally hours of sanding. I was very impressed by how aggressive they were, but how clean they left the surface. Good luck in your rust removal!


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## craftsman on the lake (Dec 27, 2008)

djwong said:


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Evaporust works wonders but I've only used it on tools I could soak them in a container. pink naval jelly works well too and can be picked up at any automotive store. It too has fumes issues though.


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## charlton (Jan 24, 2009)

djwong said:


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Patience, my friend. Wait for the EoR before trying any mechanical methods. Don't be limited by your imagination. You don't necessarily have to take the parts to the EoR. For example, if the paper towels method I mentioned earlier doesn't work, you can always get some putty and plastic containers and form a container right on the surface of the jointer bed to contain the EoR.

Mechanical means can certainly work (that's what I did with my jointer bed but that was before I was informed about EoR) but there is also potential to screw things up a bit.


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## JimF (May 20, 2009)

djwong said:


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An important thing to remember about angle grinders is to be certain that the wire wheel or any attachment is rated for the speed of the grinder. There can be a catastrophic failure if the wire wheel/grinder/cut off wheel is not rated for full speed. Also, when using a wire wheel at high speed, a full face shield, rather than just safety glasses is necessary. A wire moving at high speed can really do some damage and a ricochet could get to your eye from the side.


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## MarkM (Sep 9, 2007)

djwong said:


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David,

I can tell you that the Evap-o-rust works wonders on tools. I did a hand plane with it quite a while ago and I blogged about it here and on my blog. I think that may have been the original introduction of Evap-o-rust to the woodworking community - many people are using it now with great results! I got mine at an auto parts store.

I have not tried Evap-o-rust on a horizontal surface like this, but I'd bet that if sprayed or sponged on and left to work it will do the job. It will not remove the pitting completely if the metal is already eaten away, but it will remove most if not all of the discoloration. You might want to try a random orbit sander with a scotch-brite pad attached to the velcro if you want a mechanical means of shining the surface. I'd probably go that route before resorting to wire brushes in fear of doing damage to the table with too aggressive a brushing. Don't forget a good coat of paste wax on the surface after you've cleaned it with the evap-o-rust.


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## a1Jim (Aug 9, 2008)

djwong said:


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I have used sand paper starting at around 120 up to 1200 then rubbing compound and buffer .It's worked on some super rough surfaces.


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## oldnovice (Mar 7, 2009)

djwong said:


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David,

Since you live in the bay area you have access to quite a number of machine shops, on either side of the bay, that can re-grind if you feel that is really needed.

It probably won't be cheap but still much less than a new combo joint er/planer!


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