Hammer A3 (-26 -31 -41) Combo Machine Review

[wtnhighlander]

Just how low does it need to be? My box store roller stands bottom out near 24" from the ground, if I recall correctly.

[bglenden]

For 5” thick, it needs to be about 26.5” high. So maybe it’s not so hard to find. (The lowest height of my current roller stand is about 27.75”)

[Mick S]

41 minutes ago, bglenden said:

For 5” thick, it needs to be about 26.5” high. So maybe it’s not so hard to find. (The lowest height of my current roller stand is about 27.75”)

Here's one at HD that's 26.6" minimum. https://www.homedepot.com/p/TOUGHBUILT-Roller-Stand-TB-S200/300753810

And another on Amazon with a 26" minimum. The rollers can tilt to 45 degrees also. https://www.amazon.com/Shop-Fox-D2272-Tilting-Roller/dp/B00004TQEU/ref=sr_1_34?dchild=1&qid=1591644539&s=industrial&sr=1-34

 

[pkinneb]

I use one similar to what Mick shows above (first one listed) with my A3-31. Not going to lie though my Roubo bench is the only time in 12 years I have ever wished I had longer beds  

Having said that milling those slabs sucks...but its worth it I love the bench.

[derekcohen]

On 6/8/2020 at 1:13 AM, bglenden said:

Sorry for a reviving an old thread, but since this is the post resulted in me buying my very own Hammer A3/41 in 2017 (very happy with it!) I thought I'd try here.

I finally decided to build a Roubo workbench, and consequently will have to be planing long heavy fairly thick things. My current roller stand does not go low enough to support pieces thicker than about 3" in planing mode (I'll need 4.5" maybe 5"). This can't be the first time someone has encountered this, so my questions:

1. Does anyone have a roller stand that they really like that can go low enough?

2. I currently have the unsupported (no leg) short extension table. The long one with a leg seems kind of spendy, but if it works well I'd consider it. But is it even long enough(for 8'+ boards)  and does the log shorten enough?

Any other solutions this group came up with would also be welcome!

 

A stand is not going to work for thicknessing (planing). For the simple reason that the height would need to be constantly adjusted as the cut progresses. If the in- and out feed support is not coplanar, there will be extra pressure on the rollers, leading to snipe.

There are two options: the first, and best, is to add the extensions offered by Hammer. The second is to secure a long, stiff (and wide enough) board through the thicknesser for the work piece to run along.

Regards from Perth

Derek

 

[LanceC]

Do you really need infeed/oufeed support?  Looking back over the blog post from that stage of my build, this is what I did...

Quote

Those halves are HEAVY. I had intended taking a scale into the workshop and weigh them, but forgot. The process went something along the lines of:

• Carry the top and rest it on the table saw.
• Turn on the dist extractor and the thicknesser.
• Carry/stagger the stock over to the thicknesser and rest one edge on the table bed.
• Monkey-monkey my way to the end and hold it as close to level as possible.
• Feed it through till about mid-way, then walk briskly to the other side and pull/support it on its way out.
• Carry it/stagger back and put it on the table saw.
• Check the result, and raise the bed 0.5 mm for another pass if required and repeat the whole process again.

For reference I was planing my hardwood top in two halves which each measured 12” x 4” x 7 foot.  As long as you are able to carry/shimmy one end onto the table of the machine, this should be entirely manageable on your own.  Alternately, this operation goes pretty fast, so if you can find a helper, they only need to spare ten minutes to assist.
 

Kind regards
  Lance

 

[Mark J]

The table extensions might be nice to have, but I think the buddy idea LanceC suggests might be the most efficient solution, especially for something this unwieldy. 

And the beautiful thing about buddies is that when the job is done they go home, so you don't have to rearrange your shelves to find new storage space .  

[RichardA]

30 minutes ago, Mark J said:

 

And the beautiful thing about buddies is that when the job is done they go home,  After beer 30.      

Fixed it.