Thickness Planer Snipe

neal560sl · Post by **neal560sl** » Tue Oct 07, 2014 11:47 am

I have a Shopsmith mounted thickness planer and seem to get, what I feel is way more snipe than I should. What should I be checking to eliminate this as much as possible? It seems to happen as much on 2' long pieces as 8' long pieces.

Thanks for any help you may give me!

WmZiggy · Post by **WmZiggy** » Tue Oct 07, 2014 12:44 pm

The SS Planer troubleshooting guide under snipe lists two causes for snipe:

1) Stock improperly supported while feeding into or coming out of the planer.
Solution is to not let stock 'droop'.

Or

2) The roller pressure is too light. The solution is to increase roller pressure.

JPG · Post by **JPG** » Tue Oct 07, 2014 2:13 pm

As the workpiece exits the front feed roller the support it has been providing stops. The far end of the workpiece will tend to drop sending the workpiece higher into the blades. It can be minimized by pulling up slightly on the workpiece as it exits the front roller until the workpiece clears the blades. The soft rubber feed rolls I believe are worse.

neal560sl · Post by **neal560sl** » Tue Oct 07, 2014 2:48 pm

Thanks for the reply, I'll have to try increasing the spring tension a little to see if it will make a difference.