Hammer C3 41C Comfort Unpacking, Movement, and Assembly
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- Опубликовано: 6 май 2022
- In this video I talk about my purchase of a Hammer C3 41C Comfort woodworking machine, and what was involved in receiving it, unpacking it, and getting it into my basement shop. I had a lot of challenges in getting this machine where it needed to go, including a 29” doorway and a flight of stairs into my basement. I thought for many years about getting a piece of machinery like this, but always struggled with the issues of not having a garage or an exterior entrance to my basement. I debated building a garage, building an exterior stairwell to my basement, renting shop space, and a lot of other options, but in the end I decided to make it fit into my basement. Felder sells the machine and you can request them to split it in half for shipment (yes, you get to pay extra for them to disassemble the machine that you paid for them to build in the first place). In the end, this worked out well for me and I was able to get the machine down to a 28” width to fit through the doors and down the stairs. Be careful! This isn’t for the faint of heart.
Also, I talk a little about what accessories and options I chose to purchase and how things are working out in the first week or two after I got the machine. It’s a long video, but hopefully it provides some information that I couldn’t find when I was making my choices. 
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Very nice machine, I’m saving up for it 💪
Thank you for taking the time to post this. I very much wanted to buy the Felder 300 mm Jointer/Planer but was put off primarily by the complexity of getting it into my shop and set up, but also by the price, even though I know it's a higher quality machine than the $5-6000 competitors. I bought a lesser machine and although it does most of what I need I sometimes have regrets. Watching you move yours into the shop and set it up helps console me that I made the right choice. Felder offers a set up service but it cost $1000 or more. I'll always wish for a more precise machine but know that life doesn't always bring us all our wishes, no matter how much money we have.
Making the choice to put that machine in my basement literally took me years, and although it was the right choice for me, I certainly wouldn’t advocate anyone doing it lightly. And although I’m pleased with the machine, it has its peculiarities. I’m actually going to post a video in the next week or two on my experience so far. But I’ll be the first to say that the shop I used to work in, which produced very fine work, had an ancient 15” cast iron jointer and a kinda junky 20” Bridgewood planer…so it’s not the quality of the equipment that determines the quality of the work, it just makes life a little easier to get there.
When I had to move my Wadkin surface planer I took off both bed's, the entire fence assembly and anything else that could snag. So much easier and safer that way.
Sliding tables are easy to remove.
My advice is always strip it down as much as you need to to make it easy. Most woodworking machinery is relatively very simple to break down if you have to. No point busting a nut if you can reduce the moving weight and bulk.
What Id really like to see is you moving a 4x8 sheet good to your basement to cut it down.
@dwarden3 I could get a 4x8 into my basement if I really needed to, but I would usually cut it down with my Festool track saw before taking smaller pieces down to the basement as needed. Also, this machine has a stroke of 7' on the sliding table, so it wouldn't be ideal for processing 4x8's the way you might with a larger sliding table machine. With that said, I have crosscut, ripped, jointed, and planed 8' pieces of solid lumber several times already, and I have used the slider to straight-line rip 7' pieces. I'm not running a production shop, so I've compromised some efficiency of operations to fit this thing in my basement.
very nice to see
Great respect! I had it much easier with my little Hammer A26 to bring it into my workshop.
Thanks!
Thanks a lot for this video. Gives a lot of usefull clues. I am expecting an A3-31with the comparably minor challenge of getting it through a slightly too narrow garage door. Would have been interested to see how you fit the wheel kit. Will try to operate the pallett truck on the pallett itself. That should do the job. Thanks again. Stay safe.
Good luck with yours, and I’ll post a follow up once I get the wheel kit, which I am still waiting for. I would think the A3 31 should be the corresponding roughly 4” narrower, although I’m not 100% sure.
@@theoccasionalwoodworker Thanks for reply. Too may abbreviations: mine will be a C3-31... Take care.
OK, well let me know if there’s anything you need to know and I’ll try to help. It’s a great machine and so far, quirks aside, I’m quite happy.
I don't know how much it costs, but I don't like the guide for the material on the saw. I have the impression that it twists on one side. It's much better on the fielder.
Yes, I actually retro-fitted the longer and stiffer Felder rip fence to my machine, and I'm happy with it. I agree that the Hammer should come with a better rip fence for what the machine costs.
Thanks for posting this! This is the video I have been looking for. Am considering the combo machine for my small ish basement shop and was really not sure how to get it downstairs. Did you happen to video the actual move down the stairs?
Glad you’re finding this useful. I do have some video from actually lowering it…I didn’t include it because it may or may not include some cursing LOL…but I’ll try to edit it to something reasonable and post it. Don’t hesitate to ask any questions if I can help.
i have a c3-31Comfort model with 2 metre table i don't need anymore hardly used ,needs a attention in the overload switching department and as soon as i get it solved it all fires up on all 3 motors in selection by pressing contactors ,suspect it the brake module circuit board Felder don't want to help so i will sort it out ,and it comes with a A22 brand new extractor
So you want to sell this machine?
once i get the parts @@theoccasionalwoodworker
i also have a massive collection of great spindl heads and cutters@@theoccasionalwoodworker
where are you located?@@theoccasionalwoodworker
A few years back looked into this combo machine but decided against it when I found it can't do dados and the blade arbor is 30mm Vs 5/8" so all my saw blades would be no good, that guard over the jointer cutter would drive me nuts.
Yes, it definitely has its peculiarities. For me, the saw blades aren't an issue. I didn't own any 12" blades, and the blades I am most likely to buy are Forrest, which makes compatible blades for the Hammer machine. I will say I don't care for the jointer guard either, but for me, the advantages of the machine are worth it.
It can do dados. You have to specify that when ordering but it does have dado capacity.
Have you bought an addtional fence for the jointer as well? When I bought mine I only got one fence, the fence you have for the saw.
My understanding (I may be wrong) is that the C3 31 only comes with one fence, but the C3 41 comes with both. Mine came with both. I have to say, if it only came with the one fence, and it was the jointer fence, I would be pretty disappointed. The jointer fence is fine for jointing, but would have too much play to be a table saw fence. The table saw fence is not anything to get excited about, but it does do the job. I have also purchased (but not yet received) a longer fence extrusion for the table saw fence. The one that comes with it is adequate but not really long enough, in my opinion.
Thanks for the video. What’s the width of the machine with the cross cut fence not extended out? Trying to see if I can fit this in my garage stall.
Sure, I will check it later today. I assume what you’re looking for is the dimension from the right edge (as you’re looking at the infeed side of the saw) of the jointer/planer to the tip of the crosscut fence when it is not extended?
OK, I'll try to be as specific as I can. My machine, a C3 41 Comfort, with the telescoping fence extension collapsed, is 93" (2362mm) from the tip of the crosscut fence to the handles that protrude from the jointer/planer (the handles I refer to are the handles you engage to lift the jointer table up to use the planer). The telescoping fence extension is an accessory that doesn't come with the basic machine, and it adds 4" (101mm). If you didn't order the telescoping fence extension, the machine would be 89" (2261mm) in width.
I don't want to insult your intelligence, but keep in mind that the basic C3 41 (not the Comfort or Perform) has a shorter crosscut fence, and so would be less wide, and the C3 31 would be 4" less wide because of the smaller jointer/planer bed. Also, you need some space to the side of the jointer/planer to be able to operate it.
Last, one thing that helped me a great deal was that I requested dimensioned drawings from the Felder salesperson. They sent me a PDF with fully dimensioned drawings of the machine. If you have trouble getting them, I could send you the ones I have.
Have you put on the rolling carriage? Which way is it installed? I am about to get a C3 31, used; I wished it was 41. Need to figure out if I should get the rolling carriage or a different mobile base solution. Thanks.
I just got the rolling carriage today after being sent the wrong one when I bought the machine. I’ll try to do a quick video of the installation, although I think it’s pretty straightforward. There is an axle that goes through holes in the frame and bolt holes for attaching the hook that the wheeled pry bar fits into.
every american "i have very restricted space", every european, looks at their huge workshops...laughs.....
Hahaha very true, it is all relative.
I have a 29.5" door. I was seriously experiencing brain freeze (not nice) when I realized , despite the hours of interior planning and narrowing this down to SNC or felder/Hammer, ,,, "It's not going through the door,,,,,,this is not good." I am going back to the rep that said, "Nope, it can't be broken apart."
Question - so how much did you have to pay to get this shipped in the two components?
I don’t have the invoice in front of me, but I believe it was $250-$300. Let me know if you have any questions or issues that I don’t address in the video. For what it’s worth, I dealt with Dale at the Felder HQ in New Castle, DE. Good luck with what we you decide! Aside from some relatively minor complaints, I’m very happy with my machine. Just got done milling and shaping parts for 6 windows and a door.
I’ve just ordered one for my smaller shop. Is yours the 6.5 stroke? What is the actual fore and aft clearance needed for the slider? The sales tech said 14 feet but I want to double check with a user. Thanks for your time
Yes, I have the appx. 7' stroke sliding table. The total front to back clearance required is 13' 6-1/2", but that is a literal measurement, 14' would certainly be a little safer to assume. I was able to get a PDF from the salesperson that had pretty comprehensive measurements, basically a copy of one of their engineering drawings. If you don't have that, ask them for it. If they don't provide it, let me know and I can send you the copy I got.
@@theoccasionalwoodworker perfect. Thanks so much. I appreciated your video on the rip fence as well. Something to tackle once it gets here I suppose.
Thanks for the motivating video. I am in the middle of a crisis before I order C3 31. How dick is the wood plate on stairs?
I used 3/4 or 18mm plywood as the ramp that I laid over top of my stairs. I didn’t have any problems but I did reinforce the stairs themselves to make sure they were strong enough. I will also say that I used 1/2” plywood previously to move a heavy toolbox down the stairs, and that was not strong enough. I was also careful to make sure the leading and trailing edges of the plywood were supported. The pieces are heavy enough to snap off the plywood if you expect it to support all the weight without something behind it. Does that make sense? I also used a 2x4 laid between the plywood and the wall to act as a rail preventing the machine from going down the ramp crooked. I hope that explains it well. I have some pictures I can upload if you would like.
@@theoccasionalwoodworker Thanks for the info. Yes, of course it shed light to an unknown world for. I am bit concerned to transport it myself. Though having it transported and set it u by the Felder Group it costs around 1700€. Freaking expensive. I would be more than happy to have some photos :-)
What’s the name of the magnetic block you put behind the fence?
I bought a Taytools magnetic base on Amazon, although it seems to be currently out of stock. There are a lot of others like it, though. To be honest, I haven’t had to use it much with the stock 800mm fence, which is fairly stable. If I ever get the longer fence i ordered from Felder, I could see needing to stabilize the far end on critical rips.
(Magnetic Base without Adjustment Arm, Metric M8 x 1.25 Tapped Hole, 132 Pounds Force, 2.125 Inches high x 2 Inches wide x 3 Inches deep MB a.co/d/bjVyJLE
Your ability to get that thing in the basement is more impressive than the machine.
Thanks, I appreciate that. It certainly was a challenge, but it’s been worth it to me.
You comment that there are plenty of reviews on your machine out there. Except for your video, I’ve seen nothing on an actual user of the c3 41. Can you post links to such reviews?
Mark - Here's a few links below, and maybe I misspoke slightly in the sense that I consider the reviews of the C3 31 and the A3 41 to be reviews of this piece of equipment as well, since this machine is really just the A3 41 jointer/planer and a K3 slider/shaper bolted together (for the most part). I also don't believe there is very much difference between a C3 31 and a C3 41 except for the width of the jointer head. There may be some minor differences that I'm not aware of. With that said, I have considered doing a video of my impressions a few months in. Is there anything specific you wanted to know? I'm happy to help with anything that I have experience with.
ruclips.net/video/-UTXKbSgZqs/видео.html
ruclips.net/video/o9Oiv65XbhA/видео.html
ruclips.net/video/J551NV1a794/видео.html
@@theoccasionalwoodworker Got it. Thank you.
Can you tell me the dimensions of this? There is virtually no documentation online. You can’t even download a spec sheet or a manual. Are you still happy with your purchase? I’m thinking of buying one.
Sure, I can try to help you. There is a PDF that I got from Felder that is basically their dimensioned engineering drawing, which is what I used to figure out if it would fit in my space. You can contact Dale at Felder USA in New Castle, DE and he can help you, or email me at lockout_knurled0f@icloud.com.
As far as whether I'm happy with it, the short answer is yes. I'm going to do a follow-up review today if I have time. Like any machine, it has some quirks and things that you wish the manufacturer would change or do differently. I have a video about the rip fence, as an example. But for what I bought the machine to do, and what I have used it for, I am happy.
@@theoccasionalwoodworker This is very helpful--I will email you today. Thank you!
How much is the price?
I paid about $14k for the C3 41 Comfort model, and then some of the accessories were purchased additionally to that price. Keep in mind, I made the order two years ago, and I’m sure prices have gone up since then. Like a car, you really have to see what options and accessories are being offered to make a direct price comparison.
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