Hammer ancilliaries

[modernist]

On the subject of Hammer ancilliaries which has been aired elsewhere, I though I's include this pic of my bridle jointing set up this weekend.



Not content with making you twirl the thumbscrews for ever as they are about 25mm long the flanges don't quite line up with the tapped holes in the table so you have to flex the cover while fixing. Having done all that it's a bit disappointing to see the amount of dust which escapes the clutches of the resulting setup

How much extra would it cost to make it a quick realease system and contain the dust more effectively. I cannot help thinking there is an element of marketing at work here.

Brian

[engineerone]

frankly i don not think it is marketing, it is rather oh f**k, now they want extraction. let's pretend it will work, and we can charge extra for it.

too few manufacturers take any view outside the box to see what other aerodynamic info is around to ensure that they can
remove dust properly and effectively.

be it a big machine or hand power tool, almost none seem to have the ability to properly control extraction.

paul

[dirtydeeds]

festool have dust extraction sown up quite well on carpentery tools

[engineerone]

i agree that festool are better than most, but even they are not perfect.

seems that ex is only ever thought of as an afterthought, and rarely designed in from the get go.

having tested both the festo random orbital and my bosch, they seem similar in ex capability, and the fein works quite well too, but they are in the minority, and very few static machines work very well.

paul

[modernist]

In this case the dust actually escaped between the two sliding parts of the hood. I have already taped over the slots in the front cover.

The dust extraction on the 4400 band saw consiust of a 120mm port in the base and nothing else. There is little perceptible suck at the throat and most of the dust escapes elsewhere.

I didn't set this up but have just come up from our works where the thread on the rip fence lock has stripped on the 1.5 year old panel saw> Not exactly rocket science or a rarely used component - or costly to make last forever. the current one runs in a Riv-nut - nuff said.

Whilst on the subject I'll take a picture of the locking screw on the bridge guard on the planer. The person who designed it could never have used it.

As I have said before these are basically sound machines with some nice engineering spoiled by a very un-Austrian and careless attitude to detail. And I suspect a dose of snobbery towards their big brothers. If someone ever gets it right they will have a very successful business on their hands.

Brian

[modernist]

Said bridge guard locking screw - try tightening that



Perhaps not the best angle but the bulges on the knob foul the edge of the planer fence - design

As I said they cannot possibly have tried to use it

Brian

[engineerone]

why would the designer use the machine he has lai dout, that would defeat the object ;D

years ago in the experimental department at gm, we were given a couple of jobs involved in retro fitting radios to a vauxhall viva.
got a beautiful drawing down from the designer. so we cut the hole in the facia where he said

unfortunately he had never looked at the car or a cross section,or he would have seen that there was another bulkhead where he wanted the radio to be

sadly it seems nearly 40 years later, people still don't look at the whole job, just the small sections they are working on

anyway you will probably find that knob is a stock item so cheap to use and who cares what helps the customer

paul

[modernist]

The snag is Paul all this is on a £6k machine not some cheap and cheerful. Hammer said the C3-41 Universal was discontinued because it was too close to the Felder - which is why I bought it - both wrong then.

I wouldn't mind if it was all C & C but the mechanisms and accuracy on all main functions are excellent which is what makes it so frustrating.

I notice from this months F & C that the "proper" Felder 741 is a mere £11864 - serious money for a Universal. I think I would be going for good separates if I was spending that.

Brian

[engineerone]

said it before, still think the robland range is worth serious consideration.

but i do agree brian, with so many tools they are spoilt by penny pinching in the wrong area, as if we don't notice.

paul

[modernist]

I did actually take a serious look at the Robland, having had one previously, and it was good but the organisation seemd disinterested in selling me one - so they didn't. Wrong really but human nature.

Brian

[woodworker]

modernist said:

Hammer said the C3-41 Universal was discontinued because it was too close to the Felder - which is why I bought it - both wrong then.

The main reason the C3-41 was dropped was poor sales, the version with the 310 P/T sold better, but both machines are nowhere near the Felder 700 version there're light years apart. Felder ditched the Felder KF7-310 and brought out the 500 series which uses some parts from the 700 series.

I thought at the time Felder would drop the hammer range altogether and have the starting point at the new 500 series as sales on the Hammer were slow, but have now picked up & are selling well.

I had the Hammer AD-410 P/T for a year & sold it due to ongoing problems from new, which took Felder 7 months to resolve .

[modernist]

The poor sales were probably owing to the considerably higher price but I thought it was worth it for the bigger P/T and tilting spindle, which it has been.

I share your confusion about where they are going with their marketing, the 500 range seems good but limited in available configurations if you look closely, e.g. no long sliding tables, and not very exiting value either.

The Hammer range has been relentlessly plugged by F & C amongst others with very limited attention to the obvious limitations. There again Felder are major advertisers in the journal so no surprise there.

I have also had dealings with their after sales service and it is dire. I have not placed a single order for spares or accessories without it going wrong in some way.

I keep coming back to the obvious -why not sort out a few simple problems and go for it with integrity. As Paul says "as if we wouldn't notice".

Brian