Hi Dennis, I never really considered the X31 when I bought the
Felders. I had seen them demonstrated and thought that this was a nice
machine for the money asked. The things I didn't like about it were
it's dust collection capability, lack of options,no insert tooling
available at that time, and the slider not close to the blade. Plus I
always got a bad feeling about Laguna's used car sales techniques. At
the Anaheim show, I was looking at the LagunaLT18 with Charlie Norton.
Charlie was considering buying it at the time. I asked the salesman
about checking the machine and making sure that it was ready to go. His
reply was, "we don't that, we're in this for the volume..." So much for
that sale.
The Knapp machine has some good features like Charlie mentioned.
However we were quoted a price of $7000 over what a comparable BF7-41
costs. It also wasn't engineered as well as the Felder, in that adding
options after the machine is delivered did not look possible. With the
Felder what you don't order now can be added later. Case in point is
that John Hartshorne just installed an electric table lift in Rich
McComas's machine. Rich lives in Alaska. The Knapp styling looked
dated, and clunky. It doesn't do anything for me like an Altendorf,
Martin, or Felder.
Take care,
John Renzetti

I have a BF 7-41 and had an opportunity to look at the new Knapp machine
several times (Laguna Tools is not far from our home).

The Knapp machine appears to be a first rate product, with some advantages
over the Felder:
1. The Knapp is built with heavier materials, at least on the frame and
sliding table components that are visible from the outside.
2. The handwheels operate more smoothly, although this may not be an
entirely fair comparison since my machine has been used and has dust on the
mechanisms, and the Knapp was unused.
3. The sliding table is a little smoother. Not a big deal at all IMHO.
There are, I am sure, lots of other more significant items that I have not
covered, yet I'm not sure one can garner those details w/o cutting some
wood.

There is one area where I perceive a tremendous plus for Felder: Factory
support in the US. There is probably nothing more frustrating than paying
big money for a machine like this and then not getting competent support
when something goes wrong. Nothing against Laguna Tools, perhaps they do a
great job supporting these machines, but I have first hand experience with
Felder and Felder US does goes the extra mile for their customers. Felder
has US based people who are very familiar with the machine and can talk you
through issues right on the phone. They also have a good catalogs to help
with accessories and tooling (where the real money is spent!).

That is my 2 cents!

What I would like to know, are for those individuals who owned or were
knowledgeable with the Robland X31, and traded or sold it that replaced
it with a Felder machine. I currently own a X31, and want to know what
differences there are between the two companies products. What pros and
cons comparing the two products? Partially, are there features on the
X31 that you would wish for on the Felder? Is the Felder much, much
better in some other area? Secondly, is anyone familiar with Laguna
Tools new "Signature Line" of combo machines made by Knapp? Laguna is
billing them out as the best, cost no object. They appear to be very
close in appearance with the Felder machines. So any information would
be appreciated. Thank you.

Happy shop-ping,

Dennis L. Jacob

Here are the results of the vote:


Fully imperial
sdhoneyma-@...
ahpn-@...
taylor91-@...
dolsi-@...
leonardsander-@...
Fully metric
mar-@...
pdsch-@...
Mixture of both
nibs-@...
j.renzett-@...
ybe-@...
Transitioning to metric
geof-@...
scot-@...

I made a couple of uploads to the vault today. One is a formula I found
that would help you estimate how many board feet of lumber you could
get from a log. The other is one that Phil Tamarkin gave me about
overarm blade guards and getting a chip free cut, if you don't have a
scoring attachment.
They are in the technical folder of the news info folder(hope that made
sense)

Thanks to John R. for directing me here. I have ordered a planer
(D7-51) and mortiser FD-250. Hopefully won't be the two month wait i
was told but they will get here eventually. I ordered the planer with
the rubber infeed and outfeed rollers. Has anyone used them? Thanks,
looking forward to visiting here often. Steve

New Felder Machines:

I spoke to Wolfgang today about the new machines. The major changes are
for the 6 series, there are a few changes from the 7 series. I think
most of the information is correct, but if not please correct it.

Wolfgang said that most of the changes from the 7 series to the 700
series are minor. It is not a completely new machine, only refining the
7 series. Many of the refinements are cosmetic. You can see the photos
of the new line in the vault. The 7 series is a great machine, so not
too much else could be done to improve it. The standard pricing of the
machines will be a bit lower, but the package discounts will not be as
much. From what I understand, they will be about the same price.

I do not know the 6 series much, so I will note the changes from the 7
series.

The machine is going to be replacing the 6 series, and soon replacing
the 7 series, so that there will only be one line sharing table
saw/shaper components. The 6 series replacement will have the smaller
planer/jointer 310 mm. All couplings will now be F style.

The length of the table saw support is between the F and X size. I am
getting the F series, so the machine will be a bit larger, but the
sliding table will be the same size.

The outrigger is mounted closer to the front of the machine. It also
appears to be a bit stronger.

The saw guard is longer, and will move easier when feeding wood. I
think that it is about 4 or 6 inches longer in the front, thus the wood
has more leverage to lift the guard up.

They are still making both lines, but will be phasing out the 7 over
time. Felder has to change all the production lines over for the new
line, and this will take some time. Felder is really busy now (thus the
delay in my machine), since they have to make new machines for all the
showrooms worldwide.


1. "S"- chassis type
Instead of the existing chassis types F and X, the S chassis will be
the only chassis type for sliding tables 2450 mm, 2800 mm and 3200 mm.
All S models will have the 2450 mm table as standard, and 2800 and 3200
available as option. These changes are applicable for following
machines: the BF 7-41 F and X, the KF 7 F and X and the K 7 F and X.
The new models will be the CF 7-41 S, the KF 700 S and the K 700 S.

2. Square coupling system (F-style) for table extensions
The square coupling system for the table extensions was also
incorporated in the series 700 machines. This ensures that a universal
coupling system can be used on all FELDER machines. The round steel bar
for the rip fence is only available on K and KF models.

3. Chassis Design
A new chassis design is used for all machines of the series 700. The
chassis are built with a innovative bending technology which results in
more round corners. This new production technique reduces the amount of
necessary welding which again provides more stability for the chassis.

4. Decorative facings with contrast color
Not only the chassis design but also the visual appearance was enhanced
with decorative facings. The contrast color distinguishes the design of
the 700 series clearly from the 7 series.

5. Tilt mechanism with 1° per revolution
All series 700 machines are equipped with a new tilt mechanism. Instead
of the previous 2° increments, the new version will tilt with 1° per
revolution. This allows for easier tilting and a more precise
adjustment possibility on all saw and spindle units. With the new
decorative facings, the tilting hand wheels have been reduced in size
and are much better integrated in the whole chassis design. Since only
hand wheels are used now, no more handles, the digital indicator for
the tilt can be directly fitted in the hand wheel. A new digital
indicator suitable for the 1° increments is available.

6. Outrigger table 1300 and 1500
The "industrial" outrigger tables 1300 mm and 1500 mm are designed with
a new mounting system on the chassis. This provides a much better
stability in all positions of the sliding table. The telescopic arm is
wider which results in higher stability as well as a improved visual
appearance.

7. Saw guard EURO II
The new saw guard EURO II features a 50 mm dust extraction outlet
versus the old type with 25 mm. This saw guard is part of the standard
equipment for all saw units on machines of the series 700.

If you have anymore questions let me know, I will post a review of the
machine as soon as I get it (with photos)

Scott Slater
scott@...
www.studiouw.com

I spoke to Wolfgang at Felder regarding the new machines, I have the
details/changes made from the 7 serie and 6. If anyone is interested,
email me an I will forward them. scott@... (use scott not
scot_).

Scott

There a thread at Badger Pond about vanity license plates, got me to
thinking that FELDER just fits on plates. Rich

开云体育

Over at Badger Pond woodworking forum www.wwforum.com power tools
section there is a friendly argument going on about stand alone vs
combination machines. So far Paul Jordan, Steve Jenkins, and myself
have jumped in. Anybody else that would like to is more than welcome.
I'm also glad that the Felder West Coast rep found a picture of the new
machines. I could have sent him the ones I had. :)
John Renzetti
Chadds Ford,PA

Not wanting to be shown up by our "East Coast Rep", I too have posted
an Adobe photo of the new CF 741 S Professional. Just a quick preview,
with more information to follow soon........

John,

Its not easy being green!

Regards - Seth

For those of you who like to trade in their Felders as well as your
cars every 3 yrs, check out the vault under new machines.
Take care,
John Renzetti

I just found out that in order to send a direct email to another member
you have to click on the members name from the members list, then click
on the "email user" button. then you can send the email directly. For
security reasons everyones email address is muddled up a little. This
should work. Let me or Geoff know if it doesn't.
Take care,
John Renzetti

Thanks for the invitation to join this site, and possibly the users
group.

As I review the emails that have been sent, it looks as though this is
going to be very informative, and fun.

I have one of my engineers researching the Kay Phasemaster. We sell
several phase converters, but not the Kay line. How old is the unit?
If it came with the machine, I am surprised the bearings are giving you
any problem. If this was purchased after the machine, and not a
matched system, you could possibly have a converter that has an ODP
motor, (open drip proof), and not a TEFC, (totally enclosed fan
cooled). The difference is obvious, dust can get into the windings,
bearings, etc. in the ODP, and they have dried out.

Also, as you look at the end-bell, on some motors you will see a small
"tapped" hole. Most will have a simple plug in it, this can be taken
out and a "zirk" grease fitting can be installed. Thus eliminating the
need to disassemble the motor to grease the bearings.

If you would like to send the manufacturer name and frame size of the
motor, I would be happy to see if I can help further. I might even have
one of those fittings. (In addition to selling electrical equipment,
we have 7 motor repair shops on the east coast.)

Once again, thanks John for the invitation.

Rick Strom

开云体育

Just a reminder for those new to the group:

If you are getting overwhelmed with the number of messages from this e-mail
list, most e-mail programs let you sort incoming mail into separate folders
based on the subject. In our case, you would set up a filter that looks for
"[felder-woodworking]" in the subject line. If you need help setting up an
e-mail filter, check the built-in help.. and if that doesn't do much for
you, send me a private e-mail (geoff@...) and I'll try to lend a
hand.

There is a shared web site we can upload pictures and articles to:


If you don't have an eGroups password, you'll be prompted to create one.
It's easy, fast, and free - just follow the instructions presented. Once
you're set up there, you can access our web site features such as the
document vault, poll, shared calendar, message archive, your subscription
settings, etc. It's also surprisingly easy to upload your pictures/etc to
the document vault - there is an upload button that will bring up a "Browse
for File" window on your computer. Just make sure to let the group know
you've uploaded something so we can go have a look.

--
Geoff Shepherd

We're up to fifty members today. I guess now is as good of a time as any to
"go around the room" and introduce ourselves. No pressure, though... this is
just an idea.

I recenly purchased a barely used '97 BF6-31, AF-22, and Kay MA-1 rotary
converter... it is a long story (like nine months), but I'm extremely happy
to finally have a Felder in my shop. My previous machine was a Shopsmith Mk.
V 510 (actually it is still hanging around for other uses), so this is quite
a step up.

Woodworking is one of two or three serious hobbies - one other being
renovating my ca. 1915 Craftsman-style Bungalow. My shop is in what at one
time was a separate alley-access Model T garage with an attached wood shed.
The previous owners had updated this into a short 2.5 car garage (17'x26'),
which before the Felder arrived actually garaged a small car now and then in
addition to my woodshop.

My day job is designing software for PalmOS-based (remember the Palm Pilot?)
industrial bar code scanners. Actually, that's just what's current. I've
been programming computers for almost twenty years now - first as a hobby,
then professionally for the last six years or so. I also play the piano, but
only for my own enjoyment.

Some time in late 1996 is when I sparked an interest in woodworking, partly
out of necessity for restoring some of the built-in architectural details in
the house and also out of a desire for building period furniture with
lusterous fine finishes you just want to touch. Being a perfectionistic
technologly/gadget freak, well, the Felder was a natural.

My current projects involve working on the "systems" of the house... I just
finished replumbing (installing new bathroom fixtures tonight), and for
quite some time I've been retrofitting radiant hydronic floor heat which
will also be extended out to the shop. Presently my shop is in a pretty
sorry state of afairs, which is only magnified by the sparkling new machine!
I plan to spend a good deal of time building shop cabinets, finishing my
workbench, and finishing the shop itself. After the workbench, my next
furniture project will be a bed so I can get some sleep.

OK, next!
--
Geoff Shepherd
Everett, WA

Thanks for your response, John. I'll take a look at converter ASAP. Not sure
where to purchase the right grease - the manual calls for Chevron SRI. I'll
try the local industrial suppliers. This converter generates enough heat to
supplement my portable electric space heater, but it's about what I would
expect for a device consuming 4.6A @ 245V (about 1100 watts) while idle -
the energy has to go somewhere. Given our relatively cheap electricity in
the Northwest, that costs me about 6-cents or so per hour to run.

..Geoff