My Review of the Felder AD 941 Jointer Planer 

Thanks for sharing. It bought a 951 six years ago and have never regretted it. The accuracy coupled with the ergonomics puts a smile on my face when I have a big pile of rough sawn timber ready to start a project.

I’ve just taken delivery of an AD941. Awaiting commissioning next week so a very useful video. Thank you

That is a fantastic machine that will give you exactly what you need in regards to precision. I'd love to ditch my jet combo machine for a cheaper Felder. I can't dial my jet in the save my life and when I get close it loses its settings. Nothing more frustrating than chasing a combo machine lol. Thanks for sharing!

What a machine, Darrell! I’m so glad you got it ok and love using it.

Darrell, I'm looking to up size to an AD 941 from an AD 531. I had a Hammer A3-31 that just wouldn't work so Felder allowed me to upgrade to the AD-531. The AD 531 is a bit quirky in that it's the only planer jointer in their whole lineup that doesn't have spring assist tables. But besides that, I'm completely happy with the upgrade, Felder planers are by far more robust than the Hammer series. The spring joint is how they adjust cutter head relative to the outfeed table. On traditional planers/jointers the cutter head is set just above the outfeed table, not so on this style of machine. The same effect of the cutter head being just above the outfeed table is obtained by lowering angle of attack, if you will, of the infeed table. The board ends up going up and over the cutter head from the infeed table onto the outfeed table. Not knowing or understanding this, might be why you struggled setting up the Hammer. And yes, the adjustments are very, very touchy. Often the final adjustments are made to the bolts without loosening the lock nut, but instead just tweaking it with the lock nut in place. I know this because the tech spent many hours on several return trips working on my Hammer resetting the table alignment and spring joint because it just wouldn't hold it. I bought the tech setup on the Hammer at half price, ask when buying to talk to service as they may approve of the discount on new purchases. And like you, I like a small spring joint of about 0.005" or so, not the 0.020" they spec. But you do need one, otherwise, like a standard planer, you risk having the cutter head below the outfeed table that will cause "Banana" boards. 😜 All the Best, Chuck

Thanks Darrell for sharing your experience with this machine. Its my dream machine..love it..

Would love to know details on problems with initial setup that you mentioned and how you approached them. Great video!

Glad you got a machine up to your standards. A quantum leap from the Grizzly.

Nice video. I had my commissioning done and the young tech spent a good deal of time getting the machine right. After he left I somehow messed up the planer calibration when I was trying to shift from metric to imperial and, as you said, the manual is pretty much junk so here I am on RU-vid right now looking for videos on how to do the "20mm calibration" on it. If anyone with an AD 941 who has done this could chime in, it would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Hi Darrell - great addition to the shop. It is ashamed that Felder went away from the 4 post system on the AD741. I have a 2005 model AD741 with the Digi-drive and it has the 4 post system. This 17 year old jointer/planer has never needed adjustment and has been dead on its entire life. Steve

Glad your new machine is 100% Awesome

Wow what a beaut Darrell! Great review.

Darrell, awesome review. In watching I am curious if the slight low spot in the in/out feed tables is due to the hinge mount on the machine maybe causing some deflect? Hard to tell as the fence covers that area when you test with the gauge, but almost seems like it lines up close to those dips. Regardless, it seems to be super solid and within your tolerances. Jealous of the wide jointer capacity!

Thanks for the great review, Darrell!. Definitely a nicer machine than my 741 (though I don’t really have any complaints). May need to add that fancy guard and outfield table. Really hate the way the guard sticks out a mile when the fence is pulled in.

I have planner ENVY. Beautiful machine. 🇦🇺👴🏻

Nice review. I wish you could enlighten us to what the tech did to change from spring set, feel It’s a heavily guarded secret(nothing in manual).I purchased the KF700s,FB510,AD741,AF22 and the Hammer HS950 last year none of which were set up correctly, most arrived broken and tech/agent absolutely useless. Great machines but having saved up for twenty years very disappointed with service.

Thanks for the review, and for mentioning some differences from the Hammer.

Wow, thanks for the review!

Great machine, i have the format4 dual 51

Accuracy of the planer when new is rarely an issue. The problems accrue over time as the machine settles and dust starts to creep in to the lift screws, bearings etc. Because most machinery makers don't season their cast iron anymore the casting has not settled and movement can occur after machining. This type of machine because of its design, will over time loose its initial factory dial in. Especially the table's but also the planer bed. Once the wear sets in its incredibly difficult to redial. I have dialed in quality older machines to good as new but these sheet metal hybrid types. Can't be done. Uneven chain wear, screw wear, sprocket wear etc It all adds up. Those rubber boots eventually crack and let the dust in. Dust is abrasive.

0.002 feeler gage and an aluminum straightedge. Are you measuring the table or the straightedge?

.865 .... not gonna lie, 22 mm or whatever sounds so much nicer 😊 sweet machine. The thicknesser table seems very short? My old Löwer has a table 1m long for thicknesser...helps feeding in. Did it ever bother you?

Hello, thank you very much for sharing. A question from your experience. Do you recommend a indutrial planer with an up or down motor? They told me that the ones with the upper motor have more problems but I honestly don't know. thank you so much

I recommended to you to get the single function Felder machines. I don’t believe in a combination machine. I had one of these before used it for 4 years or a ours and as you found out they are finicky when they go out of whack. I have the A951L. The good thing about where I live the agents are less than 15 miles away. So I can get them over fast. The thing I wasn’t able to sort out yet is dust collection. These are beasts that need lots of airflow and need 6” ducts rather than the standard 4” most of us hobbyists have. Even with a 5hp collector I have to keep using the air compressor to keep things clean inside

Excellent review

Do we have to be so detailed to create beautiful pieces i think sometimes we go overboard i think we should hone our skills more than how we hone these tools

Darrell, thanks for the info. Any problems with snipe on the planet?

Thanks for your information about the hammer you originally had which is currently what I just received the C 3-41 It sure is a heavy beast and came with many discrepancies and parts of the machine out of calibration But my jointer surface out of all has been the most particular and difficult to calibrate What exactly is the spring joint we’re all talking about

Nice review! How much more money as this than the hammer a3 41? I just received an A3 41 and feeling a strong sense of buyers remorse. The outfeed table isn’t flat. The beds weren’t coplanar from the factory and adjusting them accurately is next to impossible as they every time you tighten the nuts to lock the height adjustment bolts in place the compression on threads throws out the table adjustment a lot. Terrible design and not what I expected for the money.

Nice looking machine, I’m looking to selling my single machines and picking a combo machine at some point just to get a wider jointer.

Great review thanks for the info

What is the price

Thx for the video! I‘m interested in this machine too! Which motor would you choose? Also is the power drive a recommended upgrade? Greetings!

Hi Darrell, Is the accessory outfeed table for the planer about the same width as the planer bed? Did you get the rubber or segmented infeed rollers? When removing the machine from the pallet there are two bolts that get inserted into the lower back area of the machine housing, did you receive them as standard equipment or did you have to order them? Thx

Hi Darrell. Fellow AD 941 owner here and I concur it's an absolutely fantastic machine. My question to you is have you ever had to do any maintenance or adjustments on the infeed roller? I've been doing some planing of reclaimed boards recently and the machine would often stop feeding at random times despite having a clean thickness bed.

Hi again Darrell, had another question for you regarding the auxiliary fence they offer as an option. Did you get this fence and have you used it? I’m still a bit confused how it assists you with thinner materials. But this is what Felder says to describe it; [ When processing thin or narrow workpieces the new tiltable auxiliary fence attached to the jointer fence, guarantees a safe and comfortable planing operation.] Thx

Great review. I have the same machine and will have it commissioned next month. Did they send you any sheets or anything related to what they would do to the machine? Also wondering if they attached your outfeed table, adjusted it, etc. Thanks.

Darrell, thanks for great video. Could you offer an approximate “working width” needed to operate the machine, I,e, the machine width + required offset from a wall + width needed for you to pass alongside the machine? I’m a little tight in my shop for width, length is no problem.

Hi! I am getting an AD941 and wanted to see if you had any dimensions for the length and usual width of the machine? I think the manual says 2360mm (~93 inches) and width at max 1360mm (53.5 inches) I did not know if that was accurate based on your assessment as the manual is a bit spotty as you mention.

Hi Darell, many thank for this review. Lot of information about the machine! Can I ask you the price for this machine? I ‘m looking for a purchase the AD741 ( 12800€/ 13500usd) Regards

Is that 90* elbow a Felder part? its a 120mm to 6" elbow I assume?

Dear to test single table is one thing, most important is adjust the planing amount to nearly zero and test with ruler acroos the spindle where there is no cutters, this is affact real flatness, to make single table accurate is very easy for any metal processing

🤔 I don’t get it, you checked the surface of each table that you couldn’t change even if you wanted to, but you didn’t check the tables in relation to the blade & one another ?

The other downside to the big machines is that there is a minimum length one can run through them which is like 10” long. So doing small pieces is a big NO NO.

Price how much

Woodworking simply does not require the planer tables to be flat to .002 - 2 thousandths of an inch. Put the straight edge on it if it's not flat it will show to the naked eye. .002 feelers gauges is just anal. There must be some Felder employees who watch this video to have a rather rueful laugh. 10:50 I can't watch anymore.

Why the f would you spend on this thing. Overkill😊

Darrell, thanks for the info. Any problems with snipe on the planet?