Shopsmith Forums

I've recently rebuilt a Mark V mounted planer, sharpened the blades, etc. I turned it on tonight and I'm happy to report that it largely worked and I'm still alive!

However, I think I'm either not doing something right or it still needs some adjustment. The issue I'm having is that the start and end of each board I run through is getting dished out, with things being pretty smooth in between. See attached photos.

Anyone have an idea why I'm getting this and how to fix the issue?

Thanks!

Some googling and I've now learned this is pretty common and referred to as snipe: https://fixthisbuildthat.com/6-ways-to- ... ner-snipe/.

As that article outlines, is this just a thing you have to deal with or is there something about the shopsmith that makes this worse or gives me options to address it? I would think with a flat, one piece bed that snipe would be minimal, but I may not be understanding the physics of what's going on here.

Thanks again for any suggestions.

Eliminating snipe can be aided by insuring the ENDS of the board remain in contact with the bed. A gentle uplifting of the exterior end when both entering and exiting the planer MAY make the snipe disappear.

This forces the workpiece to pivot on the feed roller thus forcing the end against the bed.

eagspoo wrote: Thu Oct 13, 2022 1:51 am Some googling and I've now learned this is pretty common and referred to as snipe: https://fixthisbuildthat.com/6-ways-to- ... ner-snipe/.

As that article outlines, is this just a thing you have to deal with or is there something about the shopsmith that makes this worse or gives me options to address it? I would think with a flat, one piece bed that snipe would be minimal, but I may not be understanding the physics of what's going on here.

Thanks again for any suggestions.

It looks like you found the problem, but I disagree with the article that it is just something you have to deal with. The article does show in item #6 what JPG describes above. I do the same procedure that JPG outlined and it works very, very well for me using my Shopsmith Mark V mounted planer. Typically I get no snipe or snipe that is so minimal that the final sanding will easily remove it. The only thing that I do different from what JPG describes is that I have a small, round bubble level in my shop (think it came with a sat dish installation kit one time). Anyway, when planing a long board, e.g. 6' long, it can be hard to exactly see how level am I holding the board as I feed it in. Before the board catches and engages the feed rollers of the planer, I keep a few degrees incline in the board by watching the bubble level that I place on top of the board. Once the feed rollers fully engage the board I let the board fall to a level plane and then I remove the bubble level as the board is planed. On the outfeed side, I just make sure that as the board is almost about to exit the planer that I lift up on the board as it exits to prevent snipe on outfeed exit. Before this I tried infeed/outfeed rollers, etc., but for me I found that keeping my hands on so that I could feel the board angle and feed roller engagement worked much better. The addition of using the bubble level on the infeed side just helps me to minimize snipe in case I don't hold the board at the right angle before the planer engages.

Of course, I am just a hobbyist and wood is very expensive for me so eliminating snipe is important to eliminate waste. IF I was running a production shop then I would just setup roller stands and keep feeding the lumber into the planer sequentially to minimize snipe and cut off the snipe from the beginning/ending board ends.

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