Hammer panelsaws and combi machines, K3, B3 and C3 series 

Excellent, thanks for sharing the differences between the machines and classification.

Thanks for the walkthrough!

Truly great to get that sort of overview! Full marks.

Amazing comparision, thank you!

Hi Alastair, great video. As you say at the end, I wish I could've found videos like this when I was buying my machines. Like Felixstowe carpentry said, the problem with combination machines is that you lose a lot of efficiency in having to change over. It's not just the time physically changing the machine, but sometimes having to set up the exact same cut again if you have to switch to the other function part way through a process (which will happen no matter how much you think you won't make the mistakes!). Also, as you have several staff, it means that only one person can use the machine at a time, which is less of an issue if you work alone. As regards the Hammer machines, I've worked with the stand alone thicknesser and was very impressed. The spiral cutter is a dream, but maybe not worth the money with the kind of materials you use, although if you can afford it I would get one! I know a couple of guys with the A31 planer, and they are more than happy as well. One thing to consider with Felder is that, I believe is still the case, spares etc. generally are shipped from Austria, so can take a little while to arrive. Worth considering regards down time if something brakes. I have to say, that since I found your channel a couple of weeks ago, I've been working my way through your videos, and I find your honesty and openness about all aspects of running a woodworking business and also how it interacts with/effects the rest of your life, to be some of the most insightful and helpful information I've come across, your posts on FTG also. Good luck with these exciting plans for the future! 👍👍👍

Very interesting. Thank you.

Great video. The best comparison video that I have seen so far.

Perfect video, Thankyou very much

Wonderful video... Thank you...

Great video - I am also considering the Hammer K3 Winner and with so many options faced similar issues visualising what I need. Good also to see the Felder comparison ....... I’m sure everyone would prefer the obvious Felder quality improvements but few can afford the extra cost. I have no doubt the Hammer K3 Winner is more than adequate for my needs based on my satisfaction with my high quality A3/41 spiral cutter machine. Thanks for sharing!

Fantastic job! Thanks for sharing your personal experience with this product, which I am slowly liking better than the typical American table saw. The 2 in 1 or 3 in 1 option also intrigues me for saving floor space. Unfortunately, here in CA the Bay Area, we don’t have a dealer with all these options available for testing. Thanks again for the fine work you did in this video.

really good video many thanks adrian

Thank you as this is exactly what I was looking for you and same as you could not find any video on what you just showed

I just ordered today a B3comfort... an now as I have seen your video, I'm gonna change for the cast iron version of the fence ;-)

Yep I have all Hammer kit its great, I dealt with Russel who is a great salesman Could not afford the Felder range but still very happy with my Hammer kit.

Thank you great video. Very informative.

I was first introduced to Felder combinations some 40 years ago when I visited a building trade exhibition in Dutchland. All components like fences and extensions were cast iron. At the same show a few years later, most of those components were aluminium. Just not the same.

I bought a Felder k700 with the larger outrigger table (no choice on the machine I chose)I have a very small workshop and was concerned about space around the out rigger table. I was convinced I would be removing it at times but I never have. Sometimes I remove the arm, but I generally slide the whole table out of the way if it’s in my way. The best add on I bought was the remote start so you don’t have to crawl under and around sheets to turn the machine off and on. Anyone who can’t afford the felder scoring blade (dado type blade) go to Whitehill who do spindle moulder cutters and ask them to make them up for you, now they have done it for me they have the specification for the adjustments and it will save hundreds of pounds off the cost.

I have the KF 700 saw spindle molder and AD 741 with spirai head perfect all round , had combination before was a pain changing from saw to planer

I have a smaller K700 (no digital control, mid-size table, always-on scoring blade, fine adjust on the fence, dado-capable arbor). I also have a Hammer A3-41 jointer/planer with the silent-power insert head. The options for all these are crazy. It really is helpful to come in and check it out. It's one of the few times when I think working with a good sales person makes a lot of sense. But the tools are REALLY good. I've been thrilled with mine. My shed workshop, that has both of these in it, is quite small: 11 feet by 15 feet (3353 x 4572). I typically run without the outrigger on the saw. For that reason, I also have a smaller fence at the other end of the table that I use for almost every non-rip cut. I can post a link to photos, but I know that makes the message show up as spam, so I'll only do that in a reply if you want. Did you make a decision? What did you go with?

Thanks for this helpful video. I wanted to go to the open day but couldn’t make it. Just discovered your channel through Peter Millard today, enjoying what I’ve seen so far. I’ve looked at a lot of Felder/Hammer kit and it is generally good stuff but as you say, the lines and options are confusing. I know of a one-man workshop who had a Felder 741 combi for years and he was very happy with it but upgraded to the bigger unit for greater capacity and more bells & whistles.

Great video thanks! ;)

🙏🙏🙏 Thank you for the video

Hi Alastair , I had the same problem when I was looking at buying a new saw. I’d brought a Axminster panel saw first and wasn’t happy with the build quality and that the sliding table was only 1.6m so no good for full sheets. I was looking at 2nd compared to new machines for the same money . I saw Felder at a trade show and tbh I was impressed with the build quality of the hammer. The Felder machines where much better but I could afford the higher price tag hence why I was looking at 2nd after a long time looking and asking on a few fb group I brought the industrial series Axminster which they now call the trade series, I’ve had it about 18months and love it, it feels. The same build as the Felder, I paid under £4K for it because they were changing the name and colour , think they’re about £6k now . If I had to pay the new price I’d probably be considering the Felder . I’ve used combo machines in the past and my advice would be if you’ve got the space to have separate machines buy them , you’ll send so much time changing over fences and moving guards out the way etc you’ll waste so much time and it gets really annoying , also sometimes u need to leave the fence set on say the panel saw while quickly running something over the planner .

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Thank you for the overview. So, any chance of a follow up on the machine and the first impressions after some use?

Nice video! I can't believe how well of a good job you did with the selfie video. What kind of camera did you use?

I am a young serious woodworker and have bought several hammer and felder machines over the last few years. Hammer is by far the best quality you can buy for the price. Is it cheap? No, but you will never regret buying it. Hammer is more then enough machine even for most proffesionals, i made about a 100k worth of furniture with my hammer a41, still runs as good as ever, got the silent power cutter, only rotated the cutters once so far. The people at felder are topnotch too!

One thing I would say is that if you can get a sliding table at least 2.5 meters. The way to cut an 8x 4 is on the sliding side not against the rip fence. make cross- cut the fence on the slider your registering point and trim sheets or boards this way. You can then use the rip fence for the parallel cut. for smaller pieces look into Fritz & franz - a jig (easily made) for holding smaller pieces on the sliding table. I managed for a good few years on a Hammer before upgrading to a Felder for increased efficiency. My only regret was that I didn't buy the Hammer with a long enough slider.

Have you seen the Sunnybeeches channel on the CU300 Smart? His series on using all the functions is invaluable.

Anyone on here , short of space but hate switching over from thicknesser to planer, could consider the Woodmizer MP160, or Logosol, or Moretens H410 (different badges) all Swedish. There is no need to adjust the extraction port, or move the tables. A simple elegant solution, which I have no idea why others do not copy. The extraction is much better than other combination thcknesser/planers I have used. I have the Moretens badged one, with 4 cutters, 410 mm wide thicknessing table and about 300 mm for the planer.

Very helpful video. Somehow many woodworking companies are not as great at explaining as they are at building machines. Did you end up buying a Hammer machine?

Hi Alistair. I'm new to your channel. I was in your boat just over 6 months ago. I ordered and have a K3 Winner with lots of extras but not the big out rigger. Simply due to space in my shop. Overall I am super happy with my purchase. I have the upgrades that you want. However this is what I have found so far. The rip fence isn't square!!! It says in the manual I can adjust that by turning a nut, 'only available on the K3 Winner', no nuts are there. It seems this is affected by the dial that allows you to slide the fence back and forth if ypu tightened it up and dont get me wrong im just making ir secure not over cranking it, it will go out of square. When i do get it square the fence is too lose ans slides a bit. I fixed it by placing masking tape on the cast iron part behind the fence to act as shims. For the money I paid this is crap! But it does work. I'm going to email my supplier about this problem. Another problem is the small fence, the one you want to use to process smaller material. The positive stop that is supplied as standard is very fiddly to adjust and does not stay square. This is covered very well by Marius (I think that's his name). Check it out it's on you tube under hammer basic table saw. I paid for the upgrade. Which is way better but the fact I had to pay for it sucks. Fielder are aware of this issue and yet they still supply it with the original component! I do wonder about the abuse a saw like this can take. I'm a one man band so it's only me using it. So I am very careful with it. Sometimes staff just don't care and will throw sheets down on it! The bigger machines I think can handle this. I am still super happy with my saw. Very accurate and each cut is a pleasure to see. I'm still getting to know but that's my opinion so far. Hope that helps.

Some lovely looking machines. I'm a non entity wood worker really but if I was running a workshop I'd never have combination machines. Time lost all round changing setups, re-setting up for common operations. Just not efficient at all.

I would consider the 300 minimax.

Hello, thank you very much for the video. I own a Hammer machine and over the course of my work I have come to know more negative things than positive ones. Therefore, the price-quality ratio is high. I mean, they're not worth that much money for what they did. I would advise anyone to think carefully between Hammer and Felder machines.

Fantastic video!! Thanks a mill, I'm also looking at getting a Felder panel saw... rep calling out to me on Monday. I'm in Ireland so no showroom 🙈 also want a spindle but can't decide on either a combination machine or to wait until I can afford to buy it as a separate machine. I'm worried about ending up with a machine that doesn't shine in either category.

Minimax all the way. They sell as standard what Felder would consider "add ons", the machine comes with a separate rip fence as standard. The Hammer range is amazing, please look at Minimax before you spend.

Cheers for this. I know it's 3 years old but was exactly what I was looking for. Looking at a couple of your more recent vids, seems you didn't go with Hammer in the end. Much like you were, interested in the compact panel saw spindle moulder combo. Or at least the saw with that upgrade path. Was that a Hammer pillar drill in the background? Anyway, cheers for the vid 👍

Thanks for a very nice video, which one did you get?

Which did you buy in the end? I bought a B3 in 2018 and as a hobbyist it has been quite a frustrating experience. If I were to buy again, I would certainly consider a Felder, but I would also shop around a bit more as well. The calibration of the Hammers is too finicky and there are quite a few pitfalls which can scupper getting accurate repeatability. For instance if you remove the rip fence or the outrigger, which is often a requirement in a small workshop, you have to be very precise when reattaching in order to not disturb the calibration. In practice this means ensuring things are reattached in a very precise manner, and doing things like tightening knobs in the correct order. This isn't what I was expecting. These machines are the babies of the range, but they are still expensive and if they cannot deliver accurate repeatability without faff, what is the point. I want to love my machine, but the reality is I have more faith in my MFT and track saw.

They have a confusing array of machines. On their website they don't evan have a compare feature. You have to check the online catalog to find the differences. You should also check out SCM brand.

drool...if only my workshop was big enough...

A second hand saw is the way to go, I bought a nice Altendorf for a good price

excellent review. which one you ended up buying that time?

Alastair, well done video. As a professional furniture maker of 47 years, and the Director of a fine woodworking school, I can give you very simple advice on hammer machines: don’t buy them. not only are they vastly overrated, and overpriced, but the notion that you’ll have to someday deal with your customer service, and I guarantee you will, should give you nightmares. After bringing them into the school, we turned around and sold them as quickly as we could. It’s like paying for a Porsche. and getting a Ford Taurus. You will be disappointed.

Would you recommend the k3, I'm a joiner by trade, I'm currently drifted away from the trade, but would like to do wee projects, might only be used twice or three times a year, prob b using 8 x 4 MDF sheets.

Sliders are new to me. Can you split a 4x8 sheet of ply widthwise one one (like into two 4x4 sections), would you need a bigger arm?

Hi good video.. currently looking the market to find my big purchase... did you take the plunge and buy one in end

As far as price is concerned. Do you save a lot of money by going with a combination machines.

Very interesting - I hope Felder bought you a cup of coffee in recognition of your having done their job for them! Was that fence bar really cast iron? Steel seems more likely. It was potentially fatal budget-wise to lay hands on the Felder sliding table after handling the Hammer. I'm a combo user and like the idea of being able to replace the spindle hood repeatably. Another useful feature is being able to retract the spindle complete with tooling below the table.

Hi, what is the difference between the C3 31 and the A3 31?

Dont take your outrigger off to RIP sheets mate ,its just the cross cut fence you want to remove and make sure it's going to go back on bang on square without any faffing about, you dont want worried that it will need resetting it everytime you take it off because you'll end up making excuses not to and break down sheets in a different way like I did when I had my old Axminster ,no such problems with my new Itech sicar-Sega 300 , cross cut fence comes of in 10 seconds and goes back on precisely square again everytime . Fast and no stress . The other thing you want to look at is how easy is the scribe blade to set and raise and lower when not needed , again needs to be hassle free or going to loose time again or simple not use it .

Great video mate. I've ended up purchasing A3-31 with spiral cutter and K3 winner "special" with Format sliding table, cast iron fence, scoring unit and a large sturdier 1100 outrigger, hoping to have it set up over the next few weeks, it's currently in storage at Felder HQ in Melbourne. Another thing I did get is the dado tooling option, does anyone have any experience with Felder dado set? It's a pricey bit of kit, my Felder rep suggested buying cheaper set and have the mounting holes drilled out to suit the arbor. I think I read/heard Joey from KingPost Timberworks talk about this type of arrangement and wasn't too impressed with it.

I have the same machine

So what did you buy?

What price ?

Felder really suck on making videos about there machines. Tnx for the info!

I hope they give you discount for selling their products.

How much is it? I'm in Thailand How to order?

So this is what the old Steve Rogers do now after retiring from the Avenger's??!!

I would like to see more of the machines than the presenter.

Terrible after sales sold me a dangerous 900 spindle moulder only interested in quoting high price for repairs they don’t even look at

I looked at all these as I needed a small saw that could be craned into a house from a barge. I ended up with a Woodfast ts315, and it’s a bloody little balltearer. It was a QUARTER OF THE PRICE of a hammer saw and does the same job and I’ve had absolutely no issues with it in 2 years. www.woodfast-group.com/products?cid=465

Its too bad they dont have one lower hp 120 Volt for those that do Not have 220 volt