Preventing Snipe?

I have a 12" Hitachi F1000A Planer/Jointer.

The few inches on each end of a planed board have a slight "snipe" I guess due to the lumber not engaging both rollers on each end.

One way I guess to eliminate snipe is to feed a longer piece then necessary and cut off the snipe. I hate to waste lumber like that though and also sometimes I cant avoid having a piece already cut to length that needs planeing

Any secrets you can pass on? thanks!

Reply to
trs80
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No personal experience, but I have read that feeding scrap boards end-to-end before and after your main piece will solve that problem.

Reply to
Charlie M. 1958

The infeed and out feed tables should slant up away from the cutter so the farthest out edges are a little higher than at the connection to the machine then board is held up against the cutters. The other approach is to lightly hold the end of the board up on the outfeed side as it exits to keep it engaged.

You should be able to minimize snipe to the point it can be sanded out.

trs80 wrote:

Reply to
SonomaProducts.com

Yep, continuous feeding also avoids the jump as material exits roller hold down system.

Charlie M. 1958 wrote:

Reply to
SonomaProducts.com

I have a 12 1/2" Delta planer and have had the same problem...

To avoide it, when I start the board, I keep the tail of the board lifted (just enough to keep the nose down) until it starts thru the rollers. Once it's started and coming out it goes with no problems. I do the same thing with the nose (little upward pressure) as it finishes. This helps prevent the snipping on the end... I've used a roller for the outfeed and that works too.

Hope this helps.

Reply to
bremen68

This planer has bed rollers, so go there first, and adjust them In Accordance With the manual. If the rollers are high, it can contribute to the snipe problem. The other thing to look at are the feed roller springs. If an older machine, they might be a tad weak, and not exerting enough hold-down on the board. Or they might have been compressed fully resulting in slipping and tipping. Manual is mum on this, but you might want to see that they are pressing down as they should be. It doesn't have a pressure bar/chip breaker on it, as I recall.

Reply to
George

A simple fix for the lunchbox planer is to create a extra long feed table. Rip a piece of melamine or other similar material down to slightly less than the width of your planer.

Make the piece extend out a foot or more from the front and the back of the planer. More is better in this jig so be as long as you can. Keep it "balanced" in length.

Glue a couple of cleats to the bottom that keep the piece in the bottom of the planer.

Insert this in the planer.

Plane your stock as usual and you should see a major decrease in snipe.

trs80 wrote:

Reply to
Pat Barber

trs80,

All good responses from others but there are several things you can do to practice the suggestions so you develop a good feel (skill) for how to feed a board - long or short. Your infeed and outfeed tables are assumed to be flat with the bed of the planer. If not - adjust.

  1. Tape a dime to the center of the in-feed table and using a piece of scrap, feed a board over the dime and let it enter the cutters. Need at least 2' of scrap.

  1. If the board comes out with snip on the leading edge, (bigger gouge) move the dime back away from the cutters about 1/3rd the distance and do it again.

  2. The above will give you an idea of about how much "lift" you need on a long board. I've read posts where some guy's lift the board from 1/4" to
3/8" off the infeed table. Seems a bit extreme and either they didn't prep their stock or their planer has a problem or they were not using a portable planer that was in good condition.

  1. Once you have eliminated snipe on the leading edge, you can work on the trailing edge but don't tape the dime to the outfeed table. If you have adjusters on the outfeed table and place a dime on top of them to raise the outfeed table (as on the 733/4 Dewalt) do it and see how much that raises the table - quite a bit actually but you'll only need about 1/2 that so turn the adjusters up on the outfeed table and remove the dime.

  2. Now when you run the scrap thru, as the leading edge comes off the edge of outfeed table, place a couple of fingers under the board and hold it - lightly so that when the trailing-edge is just going under the rollers, you have about the thickness of the dime of space between the edge of the outfeed table and the board.

  1. Short boards or ones already cut to length should be fed in behind a piece of scrap wood that is at least 12" long. Here's a tip to extend the life of those scraps. As you mill your wood to thickness, the scraps are also milled to the same thickness so they're essentially useless for the next batch. Simple fix. Add a pieces of "blue tape" along each edge to build up to the approx thickness of the next piece to be run thru. (blue tape - face down obviously).

Snip is usually about .001" to .002" for the first/last 2-1/2" inches on most planers. You can use the above techniques, as well as making both tables slightly higher (.003 to .004") at there edges compared to the bed. It also helps to feed the wood at a slight skew.

If none of the above works, then you should be looking into tearing the planer apart and making sure it is adjusted to factory specs. There are adjustments on some models for the small in-feed/ out-feed rollers. Inspection and cleaning of the rubber rollers is critical as well as insuring that the blades run parallel to the bed. If this is a DeWalt 733, make the measurements with the bed liner (the shinny metal liner) removed and use the base as the reference - then replace the shinny bed liner.

If you do a Google search, you will find a number of other ideas and advice along these same lines. But when you read some of those posts, you really have to ask what some these guy's are planing.... rough sawn, skip-sawn, or almost finished pieces - how long/short, wide and thick. Being consistent in your methods of work will help you develop a feel for doing something that requires a skill rather than just pushing it thru a machine.

Bob S.

Reply to
BobS

However, this is NOT a lunchbox.

Reply to
George

The method I have most success with is an extra long feed table.

A piece of melamine board shelving about 12 feet long does a great job .

Reply to
marks542004

Exactly what I have done for years. Snipe is never a problem in my shop.

SonomaProducts.com wrote: >The other

Reply to
Mapdude

Thanks for the tips all. Its probably most precise for me to use the suggestion to run some narrower long scraps (identical thichness) overlapping front and back with the board to be planed.....to keep the board square to cutter along its length. Slight pressure on the in feed and out feed can work too when above wont work.

THe F1000A isnt a lunch box planer. Its a beast and must weigh 250lbs min. I guess at that size one would have hoped it had the multiple rollers to prevent snipe. thanks again

Reply to
trs80

When I was a tenderfoot scout, they took me snipe hunting. I never did see any snipe. :-)

On my Delta, I can lift up on the piece when I start it in and that helps; also helps as it comes out.

Reply to
Lowell Holmes

If the board isn't to wide try feeding it into the planer at a slight angle.

Reply to
Bigpole

You can do that with a lot of boards, turning to the direction which will provide clearance on the feed after the cutterheads engage. Which begs the question somewhat. If you're holding on to the board to turn it, why not lift?

The planer in question is equipped with rollers on the in and outfeed side which can be set, and I believe are recommended to be set a sixteenth above the level of the bed rollers.

For the speculators.

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Reply to
George

Sorry...I have never seen or heard of a Hitachi planer. The 12" size did throw me off. The principle remains the same with a longer outfeed/infeed table.

trs80 wrote:

Reply to
Pat Barber

Preventing Snipe?

Use a twelve gauge Remington 1100 loaded with 7.5 shot; magnum; plug out. :>)

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Reply to
LQQK

When my dad was still alive and living on the farm, he had a old Foley Bellsaw planer that had a hudge motor on it that required 220volts, and was about 15 or more inches wide. Had a rip saw in it too if you wanted to plane and rip at the same time. We used to plane these 15 foot boards all the time, I would feed and he would catch it as it came out, hold it up so no snipe. Couldn't do that by your self though.

Lowell Holmes wrote:

Reply to
Mapdude

If you have more than one board, get a helper. As one board is near the end, get the next one right up to the end of it to follow it through. It does not have to be close alignment laterally. With short boards you can do it yourself, but for long ones, it is good to have an assistant.

Reply to
Edwin Pawlowski

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