Well I thought I had found a good close show (Richmond, Va) to go to but seems this was their 1st year and there were only 3 vendors there when we arrived yesterday. One huge area and only 3 vendors. Luckily one of them was The Felder Group and they had some machinery on site. The one that grabbed my attention was the A331, a 12"  jointer/planer and it had a spiral helical head cutter that was new to me. Two rows of cutters unlike others I had seen that had multiple rows, some straight across. This had 2 and were spiraled with cutters side by side across the head. I was skeptical at 1st then the fella edged a hardwood board in several passes then did the face. It runs at 72 db, very quiet but the most impressive part was the finish of the board. If I were going to start sanding the board I would have started at 180-200 grit. It was so smooth and looked ready for finish. I was told the cutters have 4 sides and the current setup has about 4,000 hours  and still using the original 1st surface which seems incredible if accurate. It wouldn't bode well to exaggerate the wear factor.....

 

I figured selling my older Powermatic, dated back to when they were transiting from USA to Asia, and I had installed a Helix helical head on it, I'd get maybe 1/3rd of the machine costs. Unfortunately the figure I was told at the show isn't realistic. I've tried multiple times to nail down the actual cost from the rep I spoke with and I get no response although he had answered the phone Saturday morinng and said he'd call back in 15 minutes. Not happy with the lack of communication, email or phone.

 

So based on what I saw and what I was told it seems like a good piece of equipment but I'm not sure if/how the support really is. I was advised around $4K but that's closer to the price with the 3 knife option. Anyone here using this combo and care to advise on how well it works and support? At this point I'm really disappointed in the lack of communication and don't want to get the guy in trouble. maybe he's new.

While I can understand your (and agree with) feelings about not wanting to get the guy in trouble, the reality is this is his job and he should be doing better. If he's new he will probably just get some coaching on dealing with customers. If he's not new he needs to go anyway...I'd press them on the price and availability. We have one member who has some Felder Equipment (that I'm aware of) and he doesn't frequent this forum very often. It's Richard McComus, and he lives in Eagle River AK. (I think that's the name of the community, near Anchorage.) He flew to Philly to see and talk to Felder reps before he bought his sliding table saw. Point being: he wasn't worried about quality/service with Felder being in AK, I suspect both are really good from the company.

Thanks Fred,

 

The quality of their equipment looks far better then most and the sliding table saw was on display. This was a 12" model but they make it from 10" up to 16" I think and they have a technology that lowers the blade assembly extremely fast without any damage to the blade using proximity sensor type devices.  So maybe better than the SawStop system I have. That was impressive as well.

Be careful buying the sliding table saw.  My brother has one and there is no slot for the miter gauge and he says he is limited on the jigs he can use. 

No doubt the saw is nice but I can see limitations as to what I use my saw for and the jigs I use.  The safety features are a nice touch. I think this design is more of a production type. 

I have their A3-41 and love it. Its built like a tank and a very precision machine. I have chatted with their tech support twice and they were very responsive. They have a mobile service where they will come out and align the machine for you but here in Las Vegas it was pretty pricey due to the travel. The closest guy was in LA. I did the aligning myself and it was very straightforward and with fairly heavy use it has never since gone out of alignment. Mine does not have the helical head but the blade change system is very quick and simple. It takes less than 15 minutes start to finish to do a blade change and there is no blade alignment. The blades are very precisely indexed on pins that correspond to holes in the blades. The blades are relly cheap. They are dual sided so you get two sets of blades for $70 and they are made of German steel which seem to be lasting a long time. I have toyed with the idea of putting a Shelix head on it. I bought it used but if I bought a new one I would definitely pay for the helical head. I have a 20" helical planer so I use it primarily as a jointer.

Paul

Thanks Paul,

 

That seems to be what I've found out online. I was out all day today and got a call from the Delaware location. This may turn into a deep conversation with them......

There was one in Columbus a week ago.  I looked at the "seminars" and decided not to go.  When I first went to them in the '80s, they were shoulder to shoulder, lots of vendors and stuff to see.  I took off a day of work to try to avoid the Saturday & Sunday crowds.   But they seemed in a long, slow decline.  The last one I went to pre-COVID. by about 2 pm the floor was practically empty.   And I miss the "It slices, it dices"  Zyliss vises, and the great little planes that use utility knife blades.

The first few I went to were about 2 hrs drive from home and had plenty of vendors and participants. The advantage for me was the ability to see and feel the equipment as well as learn new to me technique. The only thing I was able to takeaway from this failed show was that Felder was there and happened to have a piece of equipment that I was very interested in and had been for a while. Prior to the show my interest dropped because I was unable to see and feel what I was going to be spending so much on. It was akin to buying a car when only reading and seeing pictures of it. That kind of money needed more to be supported by seeing the actual quality and hearing it in person, or at least for me it did.

 

The show accomplished that and I was convinced that it was a solid piece of equipment and  saw the value in the fact that it should last a very long time and do an excellent job for my needs. It was something that should hold value and be worthy of passing down when the time came. The down side was being mislead by almost $800 plus an additional $400-$500 to ship. To add mobility it required either a kit from them or a mobile base as well as at least one extension if not two. The cost just kept rising...

 

As for the other shows I'd been to they well well worth it as they had demonstrations and well know vendors on-site such as Lee Valley with their full display of Veritas hand planes, Carter selling band saw blades but more importantly it was where I saw "Band Saw Clinic with Alex Snodgrass" which for me was an eye opener and worth the trip on its own. There were tools you could actually try as was true with Lee Valley and the hand planes they sold. While you couldn't by the planes there you certainly got excellent feel and instruction on how to use them as well by having personal demonstration on wood with an advisor. That old "try before you buy" is a great sales point, at least for me. Unfortunately since COVID this show has been canceled but apparently going again but now almost 3 hours away meaning at least a one night stay in a rather expensive area. Maybe next year.....