Having your machine perform well makes for a very satisfying project. I really hope you find the video helpful. If you run into any issues just hit me up in the comments and I will try and help out. Best of luck on your project.
Thanks for creating this video! I received my K3 winner 14 days ago. The manual is structured rather simply, but with your presentation and explanation and it becomes a lot easier. Thanks again and greetings from Austria: Theo
Very interesting. I have almost the same machine. My problems were with making consistent 45-degree cuts. For the 90-degree cuts there is a hard stop with a cam or screw against the fence (like you show in your video), but 45 degrees is just lining up against a mark on the sliding table. I found it practically impossible to line it up the same way every time. I recently borrowed the graduated mitre-fence attachement that can be locked out for certain angles and this has improved things a lot. It also means you don't need the fiddly cam/screw stop. Overall, I am very happy with my Hammer K3 - but wish I had the workshop space that you have :-)
I have found 45 degrees to be difficult as well. I hear the outrigger table and miter index is the cats meow for those precision cuts, but I never invested in that option. I will have to try out their indexing miter gauge one of these days. Most of my miter cuts are over a shorter width, so I can usually get away with those cuts at the miter saw and shooting board. The extra shop space is a recent development (I am very lucky) and I am excited to fill it up over time. Thanks for watching and sharing your experience. I learn a lot from folks on here.
Thanks! I’m glad you thought it was clear. It really is what I was going for! I tried to include sufficient detail for most folks to get through the calibration without making a super long video.
That will help me a great deal when I get my K3, hopefully at the beginning of next month! Thanks! One question/request: when you tilt your blade to 45 degrees, will it still be parallel to the sliding table? If the axis of tilting is not perfectly parallel to the blade, tilting will throw alignment off. That affects the quality of the cut, of course. I’d be curious how this more tricky calibration is done on this saw!
It should still remain parallel to the sliding table. It’s true that the tilt could be slightly off, but it has performed really well for me at numerous angles, so I expect that they have everything excellently machines. I have to admit that I have not considered that possibility before, but all has been well. Congrats on the new tool purchase. If you have not owned a slider before then you are in for a real treat. Crosscuts are infinitely easier with a sliding table.
Great clear and concise demonstration and explanation. Mine comes in a couple of weeks and I'll be referring back to this video. What do you use for your clamp on the slider? I saw what looked like a quick clamp but couldnt tell beyond that.
I use a DeWalt clamp. It’s the same clamp that they make for their track saws. It really is an effective, inexpensive option. www.amazon.com/DEWALT-DWS5026-TrackSaw-Track-Clamps/dp/B001J31PJM Best of luck with your new saw. Once it is tuned up it is a pleasure to use.
Great video - thanks for posting. I have a C3-31 and will refer to your other video for the A3 as well. Question - what brand t-track clap are you using? I like how quick it is to set up.
I’m glad you found it helpful. These machines really work well once they are tuned. The clamp I use is by DeWalt. It’s originally designed for their track saw. The Amazon link is below. www.amazon.com/DEWALT-DWS5026-TrackSaw-Track-Clamps/dp/B001J31PJM
Great video. I am in the process of tuning my K3 as well and I realized I have a hallow in the case iron. I understand this is an older video, but several people here have said they have Hammer K3 machines. When measuring for the cast iron flatness, what sort of tolerance are you guys getting and what tolerance is allowed by Hammer/Felder?
Would be interested to know how you deal with the sliding table being coplanar with the cast top...or do you have the sliding table proud of the cast as felder recommends? When you hand tighten the bolts to get the sliding table parallel does that affect the height?
Great video. How high is the sliding table above the cast iron table? I have seen they want 2 thousandths of a inch. When you said hand tighten the 6 bolts when you adjust the sliding table for coplanar to blade are those the ones that raise and lower the table or the ones that are in the saw it self. I was showing to adjust the fence to the sliding table for squareness. And that’s always worked for me. I have really been dreading to do this procedure.
My sliding table is basically flush, with the cast iron table, but .002 is fine as well. Hand tightening the six bolts refers to the the sliding table bolts. You want to be able to adjust the sliding table as needed to achieve coplaner, but you don’t want too much slop. Otherwise, once you have everything set up perfect, it could move on you prior to final tightening.
A seriously great video, thanks for making it. At 1:40, you show the 2 middle bolts for the sliding table bed, and your K3 looks like my C3 -- no obvious way to access the bottom nut to loosen them. How were you able to access the bottom 2 nuts on those 2 middle bolts?
Very interesting video Preston. I have both a K3 classic and a A3-31. I also bought the optional precision mitre guide (code 503-167). The problem is to maintain the setup each time you have to remove the crosscut fence. I did some repeatability test without good results. Each time the fence doesn't give the same result. Do you have any problem with the standard system each time you remove and reposition it? About the calibration disk where did you buy it? I didn't find it in the catalog of Hammer. Best regards. Luigi
I have had some problems in the past based on removing the crosscut fence. Those problems have been greatly rectified by upgrading the crosscut fence stop. I think I mention it in the video, but it doesn’t have as much play as the cam model. Marius Hornberger did a RU-vid video on the stop and it is very good. I bought my calibration blade from Forrest Saw Blades. It was a custom order, but it was an easy phone call.
Very interesting video. It helped me a lot. I still have one question though: you didn’t show how you calibrated the run out of the blade. I have that problem with my bernardo basic 2000 and can’t figure out how to align the blade again. It is 1mm off in 15cm, which is ruining all my cuts. Could you please tell me how to adjust it? Do you have a video on this specific point? Thanks!
Are you asking how to correct blade runout? Unfortunately, there is no good way to correct blade runout. Runout is typically due to a combination of blade flatness and motor arbor inaccuracies. Correcting it requires replacing with better machined hardware, which is cost prohibitive. That being said, some runout is normal and to be expected. Also, this runout creates a more or less even wobble that can be accounted for. That is, the inaccuracies from the wobble effectively cancel each other out, which is why you rotate the blade when measuring for parallelism between the blade and sliding table.
Hi Preston you are making great videos. I have a B3 basic and just bought two small extension tables to put at the front and the back of the saw table. I want to mount the original included extension table on the side of the sliding table like you have it, but I can't figure it out how to fasten it. Been in contact with my felder agent here in Sweden but no one can tell how it will be mounted. Are you able to explain it for me? Many thanks Sara
Thanks so much for your detailed explanations. I’m thinking of getting the Hammer K3 basic but will have to remove the sliding table and potentially some other pieces to get the machine into my basement. Do you have any thoughts on how difficult it would be to strip the machine down to the chassis or even to remove the motor to lighten the weight of the machine? Thanks.
I don’t believe removing the sliding table would save you much weight, but it would save you some in a pinch. You could definitely handle the re-mounting calibration. Removing the motor is another beast altogether. I would avoid it if I were you. I think you would have to take apart the whole trunion, but I can’t recall from memory. Can you use an engine hoist? Reference Marius Hornbergers delivery video. I believe that’s what he used when getting his K3. m.ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-f8c9-BGJLeM.html
@@prestonhoffman5695 thanks for the insight re removing the motor. I did see (and was amazed by) how Marius Hornberger wrestled his saw into his shop. He disclosed having to remove some parts of the saw to do so. I didn’t know if there was something obvious I was missing. I will look into an engine hoist. Thanks again!
hey preston, thanks for this video; i plan on buying this machine. if i'm correct there is no actual screws or anthing to set the runout/toe-out as you show around 4:00th minute (adjustment screws are only for setting the sliding table height if i'm not mistaken?). Thanks!
I just read in the felder adjustment guide that you can make adjustments by loosening the bottom bolts (where the sliding table is attached to the chassis). and then slightly move the sliding table.
Yes, you can adjust the toe out on the sliding table portion. Runout on the other hand is associated with the rotating piece of equipment (I.e. lathe, drill, table saw arbor - wherever there is a motor). Runout measures the inaccuracies in the spinning.
At 5:07, you mention adjust for toe-out. Does that mean as you push the sliding table past the saw blade the wood is slighly moving away from the blade (left)? And if you use the fence, is toe-out moving away from the blade (right)?
That is correct. It’s particularly important with the rip fence (so you don’t create an unsafe pinching situation when ripping boards. It’s also a good practice for the sliding table side as well.
Hi, I have the exact same saw. I even upgraded it with the jessom guide based on your video in the past. Now you have a bigger shop do you think you will upgrade your saw to have the out rigger and longer sliding table? I'm thinking of doing this. Now I have a slightly bigger shop.
I’m not sure. I think I eventually want to upgrade to a Felder, but I have so many other tools that I’m interested in. Also, when this tool is dialed in, it does a great job.
When you calibrated the table you said the saw blade or whatever you are using for calibration has a wobble in it when it rotates, hence you marked a reference point. My first question is if that wobbling comes from the blade itself being not perfectly flat, or from the the whole set up of the blade on the arbor that makes the blade rotate not in a perfectly zero tilt axis? Second question is when you calibrated the squareness of the crosscut fence, you did not care about the wobble in the blade while putting the triangle square against it, does that not affect the calibration? Thanks
All great questions. I will do my best to address each one. First, it is possible and very likely that the blade is not perfectly flat. It is also possible and likely that the arbor does not run perfectly true. I can tell you from my experience (I have measured it) that the main contributor to that error is the arbor and not the blade, although I will admit that the blade is also not perfectly flat. The reference point helps account for the blade not being perfectly flat (albeit very close) and the arbor not being perfect. In regards to my crosscut fence calibration, your interpretation is correct. The triangles ability to calibrate squareness is greatly hindered by the flatness of the blade AND the wobble contained in the arbor. This is why I use the triangle to only get me close. The five cut method is the best way to ensure a square crosscut fence. The five cut method accounts for the wobble of the arbor and dimensional inaccuracies of the blade. I am not certain if you had a chance to view the video in it’s entirety, but I do review the five cut method. If you have any questions than please feel free to ask. It is my pleasure to help out.
@@prestonhoffman5695 Thanks a lot of the reply. I did watch the full video before, and just re-watched the part where you calibrated the crosscut fence (you said "I will move now to the 5 cut method..."). I kinda missed that when I was just thinking of the blade itself. Thanks again！
I don't understand what you did. When it came time to adjust the slider to get it parallel to the blade, you skipped past whatever you did in the video. That was the one thing I needed to see! Thanks for the tips on leveling the slide to the cast iron, but how to get it square? You leave us with lower bolt hand-tight, then you discussed your calibration blade, runout on the blade, etc., but never did get to adjusted those bolts to make slider parallel. (Crazy that it doesn't come square, for 5K, eh?)
Sorry about that. Video editing is not something I have much experience with. To get the sliding table parallel to the blade, just follow these steps. 1)keep the bottom nut hand tight on all 6 bolts (as stated in the video). 2) Measure for parallel using a dial indicator across the entire width of the blade (as shown in the video) 3) Make small lateral adjustments to the sliding table by tapping (I like to use a rubber mallet) the sliding table on each end as necessary to get alignment (this was not shown, my apologies). 4) check your work. Repeat step 2 above and 3 above until your sliding table is parallel to the blade. Expect to repeat these steps a dozen times or more to get it dialed in just right. 5) Once everything is aligned, fully tighten the bottom nut on all 6 bolts and check your work.
Preston, I've had my Hammer K3 Winner for over 5 years now and the fence has been my biggest issue. I have the side table adjusted and the big bar measured and set but the saw fence does not glide across my table smoothly like the Hammer set up video produced by Felder. It would be great is I could adjust the small wheel underneath the fence slider mechanism. I keep the cast iron top clean and waxed. Can you tell me if you have had issues getting the fence to glide smoothly and if not, how did you remedy the problem
Unfortunately my fence does not move as smooth as my old beisemeyer fence that is typical for American cabinet saws. It’s pretty choppy. I wish I had more to offer in that respect. That being said, I have found it’s accurate when in use.
@@prestonhoffman5695 I think I figured out my issue - the aluminum piece with the distance scale (distance from the saw blade) on it was slightly above the cast iron table. I removed it and lowered the "L" bracket that the piece sits on. I got it sitting just below my cast iron table and and my fence was still dragging on the table so I pulled the heavy cast iron mount for the aluminum fence and raised the small wheel. Voila - now it runs smoothly across my table except when the wheel runs over the slight gap between the cast iron table and the small table the bolts to it.
