Reducing Snipe from ProPlaner

[dusty]

Over on Lumberjocks there is a discussion about eliminating snipe at the ends of boards being surface planed.

I occasionally have snipe but it most frequently occurs when the board is longer. I have always attributed it to lack of support or support not in the same plane as the table surface.

I have never given much thought to height adjustment of the rollers with respect to the cutter head.

What say you? Do you suffer with snipe? Have you found a way to eliminate it?

[pennview]

I agree with you, Dusty. Long boards without adequate support at both the infeed and outfeed ends is the primary cause of snipe. Inadequate pressure from the feed rollers also can contributes to snipe. Most of those lunchbox-style planers will give you a bit of snipe regardless, but less so with adequate support, i.e., the support rollers or stands need to be on the same plane as the planer bed. I've had good luck with the Shopsmith planer regarding snipe.

You need to constantly adjust those rollers or stands, or at least ensure they are in line with the planer bed on finishing passes. I don't have one, but the Delta planers (not the lunchbox type, but the 15" and earlier 13") have a fixed bed and the cutter head moves up and down, which means you don't have to constantly adjust your support rollers or stands.

[algale]

Rather than building in feed or out feed supports for the planer or using stands that have to be fussed with to ensure they are coplanar with the planer's bed, one can simply lay a flat, waxed board (or melamine shelf) of some length on the planer bed and then put whatever stock you are planing on top of this board. A cleat on the bottom of the the shelf/board on the infeed end will prevent it from being drawn along by the friction/pressure being applied to the stock that is being planed. If rigidity of the board/shelf is a problem, I imagine that a thin torsion box could be built out of hard board and narrow strips of wood or made out of a flat plywood hollow core door and this would ensure that the ends would not droop. If you are planing stock that is already as thick as the height (depth?) capacity of your jointer, this won't work, but I rarely find myself planing stock so thick.

[cincinnati]

I own the Shopsmith Pro Planer and snipe is a non issue. If I do get snipe, It is so shallow that regular project sanding is all it takes to remove.

[JPG]

The rollers are spring tensioned, not 'fixed'. They can be raised/lowered , but all that does is change the pressure, not the position. i.e. they float.

With the one piece bed, the only thing that can cause snipe is the workpiece end raising above the bed. Weak roller pressure spring could cause snipe, but the workpiece still gotta raise to create it.

Now if the workpiece is bowed etc. the workpiece will move after roller pressure is removed as the workpiece passes off the roller.

TTWISI:)

[michaeltoc]

To reduce snipe you can lift up on the board until the out feed roller grabs it. At the end of the cut, again lift up on the board just before it clears the infeed roller.

[robinson46176]

To reduce snipe you can lift up on the board until the out feed roller grabs it. At the end of the cut, again lift up on the board just before it clears the infeed roller.

That is what I do on my Foley/Belsaw planer. I usually lift the board well above the level of the table during the last 8" or so and it comes out perfect. If I just let it hang it will snipe about 3 or 4 inches of the end. It is no trouble to lift the ends, I'm standing there anyway.


.

[JPG]

To reduce snipe you can lift up on the board until the out feed roller grabs it. At the end of the cut, again lift up on the board just before it clears the infeed roller.

Doing so forces the end of the workpiece approaching/leaving the cutter head against the bed. This will eliminate snipe at the 'edge', but I question what happens between the end and where the workpiece was when that force is applied.

It does reduce the tendency of the workpiece to raise above the bed(after all you are countering the droop force of a long workpiece.

If it works, I cannot knock it! I just have not done enough on long workpieces to have to try it. I concentrate on the workpiece being flat to the bed at entry and exit to the cutter with the shorter pieces(<2') I have done.(the opposite of what you have suggested;))

[algale]

Doing so forces the end of the workpiece approaching/leaving the cutter head against the bed. This will eliminate snipe at the 'edge', but I question what happens between the end and where the workpiece was when that force is applied.

I do this on my DW735 (which doesn't have the extension tables). In fact, I did it today repeatedly on some work pieces about 60 inches long and it absolutely works. Like you, however, I have wondered why this doesn't cause other problems. But it hasn't. Mostly, I just put a hand under the piece as it comes off of the bed and try to stop it from drooping. As it comes to the end, I lift up slightly. I also lift the end slightly up when I feed it in, until the roller catches and then I let it down flat. Has worked for me for whatever reason.

[charlese]

I'm in the same camp with algale Same machine and same method. Haven't worried about other things happening, but I classify the lifting as receiving the board rather than lifting. It works!! But the thinner boards like 1/4" or 1/8" still have snipe. Above that there's none (almost).