How Long a Bed for Eliminating Snipe?

6892 Views 32 Replies 15 Participants Last post by sreilly, Mar 27, 2020

sreilly

Discussion Starter · Mar 22, 2020

4

So I have a 13" Cutech spiral head planner and end up often getting snipe in the ends of the boards. I built a rolling cart to mount my planner that has an extended drawer that pulls out like a drawer and has a roller for the wood to exit with.

The 1st image shows the front and I could easily build a hinged wing at least the height of the cabinet to add to the planners infeed table.

In the 2nd side view image you can see the outfeed table is above the table and again a framed platform the same height of the outfeed table could be made.

The 3rd image shows the extension fully extended with the roller at the end. The extension can be adjusted in length from closed to fully open.

The last picture shows the folding side tables that are on both sides for aiding in sliding the wood back and forth when being planned.

The main objective is getting the least amount, or better yet none, of the snipe on the boards ends. Open to suggestions as always.

See less See more

Reactions: 3

1 - 20 of 33 Posts

Herb Stoops

· #2 · Mar 22, 2020

My guess would be the roller has to be beyond the mid point of the board so that the weight of the board is closer to the planer than the outboard end.
Herb

Reactions: 3

Cherryville Chuck

· #3 · Mar 22, 2020

Some planers come with column locks that are supposed to lock them in place and they can help but don't necessarily eliminate snipe. If you measure the length of the snipe and then check the distance from your front and rear feed rollers to the planing head I think you'll find that they are the same. What I think is happening is that when the board goes under the infeed roller it lifts that side up but the outfeed side stays the same which is lower than that. The the board gets to it and both sides are lifted evenly. Then the board passes the infeed roller but is still under the outfeed roller so the infeed side drops down and the outfeed side stays up. That's where the problem is and a longer bed won't necessarily help that.

Reactions: 4

sreilly

Discussion Starter · #4 · Mar 22, 2020

Herb Stoops said:
My guess would be the roller has to be beyond the mid point of the board so that the weight of the board is closer to the planer than the outboard end.
Herb

That was my guess and I have used roller stands on much longer boards which seem to help very little. The longest boards I have run are about 10-12'. Depending on the project I may cut those shorter but usually only layout the board after planning and seeing the grain/features.

Reactions: 1

sreilly

Discussion Starter · #5 · Mar 22, 2020

Cherryville Chuck said:
Some planers come with column locks that are supposed to lock them in place and they can help but don't necessarily eliminate snipe. If you measure the length of the snipe and then check the distance from your front and rear feed rollers to the planing head I think you'll find that they are the same. What I think is happening is that when the board goes under the infeed roller it lifts that side up but the outfeed side stays the same which is lower than that. The the board gets to it and both sides are lifted evenly. Then the board passes the infeed roller but is still under the outfeed roller so the infeed side drops down and the outfeed side stays up. That's where the problem is and a longer bed won't necessarily help that.

Thanks Chuck, but not what I wanted to hear. Shucks Chuck, there has to be a way to minimize it. What I have found is that the thickness setting on this planner works very well. I've tested at 1/4", 1/2", 3/4" and 1". If set to the desired thickness on their preset control it will be as wanted. Now I just need to eliminate the snipe. I don't remember having that on my 15" planner back in the '80s, can't remember the make but took 4 stout guys to get into the basement shop.

Herb Stoops

· #6 · Mar 22, 2020

When I was on the farm in my younger days we had a 5hp. 12" wide Parks planer and it had a 8'long roller bed outfeed table like a Radial Arm saw. We were planing up to 20' long dimension lumber one piece at a time and rarely encountered snipe. Someone was always at the outfeed end supporting the board and stacking them as they came through.
Herb

Herb Stoops

· #7 · Mar 22, 2020 (Edited)

I had a 15"Delta planer that had spring loaded bottom rollers on the cast iron bed. As the board fed through the bottom rollers depressed 1/8",and as the board fed beyond the cutter head it had to pass over a spring loaded roller under the out feed roller. It was terrible for snipe.
I think you will like your CuTech, I like mine.
Herb

See less See more

Nickp

· #8 · Mar 22, 2020

Steve...are you getting snipe on the front and the back end..?

If you are, I think Charles hit it on the head...

I assume you've installed the feed and out rollers so that they create a level path with the Cutech's tables...? And the Cutech's in and out table and the two sets of rollers are level to each other and the surface under the cutter head...?

...just thinkin' out loud...you may have done that already...

Reactions: 4

Marco

· #9 · Mar 22, 2020

You can build a Planer Sled with a front and back block that holds the piece in place. Having the blocks/chucks with the same grain direction as the work piece helps. Securing the blocks especially the back can be a problem. People have used screws from the bottom, dowels, glue, double sided pin nails etc etc. When the blocks hold there is no snipe on the work piece, when they don't.... major kick back.

Reactions: 2

Herb Stoops

· #10 · Mar 22, 2020

Steve here are some thoughts...
Herb

https://woodgears.ca/jointer/planer_snipe.html

https://www.bestplaners.com/truth-planer-snipe/

https://www.thewoodwhisperer.com/articles/dealing-with-planer-snipe/

Reactions: 3

Herb Stoops

· #11 · Mar 22, 2020

As @Marco pointed out.

Some members have made a board 6' long and attached a cleat on the bottom so the board extends 3' beyond the cutter head and 3' back from the cutter head. The board stays stationary and the material feeds thru supported on both ends. There is a loss of 3/4" height in cutting depth that has to be compensated for on the height gauge.
HErb

Reactions: 4

sunnybob

· #12 · Mar 22, 2020

The rollers have to be lower than the cutting head, or they wouldnt be able to push the board through.
The problem is caused by the head tilting as it climbs up onto the wood and slips back off at the ends. If the machine has a lock lever, that will help a lot by stopping the head tilting.

If you have a locking head and still get snipe the only other ways to deal with the snipe is to either just add that much to the board length and cut it off afterwards, or inserting sacrificial pieces of wood at the start and end so that they take the hit rather than your precious board.

Reactions: 4

Gene Howe

· #13 · Mar 22, 2020

Herb Stoops said:
As @Marco pointed out.

Some members have made a board 6' long and attached a cleat on the bottom so the board extends 3' beyond the cutter head and 3' back from the cutter head. The board stays stationary and the material feeds thru supported on both ends. There is a loss of 3/4" height in cutting depth that has to be compensated for on the height gauge.
HErb

That's what I use in a Dewalt 735. Even so, sometimes I'll lift the exiting end a bit as it gets close to the end. But, I rarely go deeper than a 16th...if that. The depth gauge isn't a problem. I don't rely on it anyway.
A laminate covered shelf from the big box makes a great sled.

Reactions: 4

chessnut2

· #14 · Mar 22, 2020

Herb Stoops said:
Steve here are some thoughts...
Herb

https://woodgears.ca/jointer/planer_snipe.html

https://www.bestplaners.com/truth-planer-snipe/

https://www.thewoodwhisperer.com/articles/dealing-with-planer-snipe/

I've been looking into the problem also. I've also seen the idea of making those spacers that would work for specific thicknesses, although it makes me a little nervous to think about how to securly attach them to the planer.

I've also seen an idea for hot glueing thin sacrificial strips on the sides of your board that are enough longer that they're holding the rollers up a couple of inches before the cut and after the cut. For example, 28" strips on each side of a 24" board.

I've usually been able to get around the problem by using a blank that is 4 or 5 inches longer than the finished piece needs to be, then sawing off the sniped ends. But sometimes you don't have that luxury if you don't have anything on hand that has that much excess.

I'll be glad to hear everyone's ideas on the subject, and maybe should bookmark this thread to check back periodically.

Bstrom

· #15 · Mar 22, 2020

I gave up depending on the table and rollers to prevent snipe. I use a piece of MDF inside the planer bed to extend the overall working length by a foot on the outfeed end. A slow workpiece intro and shallow cuts gives me excellent results. The rest is operator error...

Reactions: 3

chessnut2

· #16 · Mar 22, 2020

Bstrom said:
I gave up depending on the table and rollers to prevent snipe. I use a piece of MDF inside the planer bed to extend the overall working length by a foot on the outfeed end. A slow workpiece intro and shallow cuts gives me excellent results. The rest is operator error...

Could you post a picture? thanks.

mgmine

· #17 · Mar 22, 2020

Besides death and taxes, the third thing that you can count on is snipe. You may not always get it but if you always cut your boards at the finished length before planing then you are tempting fate. It's better to square up your ends after you plane the wood. In the process of squaring the boards you are also cutting off the snipe. As an added bonus if you do as you mentioned and run the boards say 12 long then you are only dealing with a very little snipe on one board. For me, the only purpose of an outfeed table is to hold the weight of extra long boards.

Reactions: 3

Gene Howe

· #18 · Mar 22, 2020

mgmine said:
Besides death and taxes, the third thing that you can count on is snipe. You may not always get it but if you always cut your boards at the finished length before planing then you are tempting fate. It's better to square up your ends after you plane the wood. In the process of squaring the boards you are also cutting off the snipe. As an added bonus if you do as you mentioned and run the boards say 12 long then you are only dealing with a very little snipe on one board. For me, the only purpose of an outfeed table is to hold the weight of extra long boards.

Sound advice. Although, a longer outfeed table, such as the sled provides, supporting the weight is the purpose. Thus, eliminating the snipe.

Reactions: 2

sreilly

Discussion Starter · #19 · Mar 22, 2020

Nickp said:
Steve...are you getting snipe on the front and the back end..?

If you are, I think Charles hit it on the head...

I assume you've installed the feed and out rollers so that they create a level path with the Cutech's tables...? And the Cutech's in and out table and the two sets of rollers are level to each other and the surface under the cutter head...?

...just thinkin' out loud...you may have done that already...

That was done when I 1st got it several years ago. I'm on my second set of cutters now, having replaced the HSS ones for the carbon cutters.

sreilly

Discussion Starter · #20 · Mar 22, 2020

Bstrom said:
I gave up depending on the table and rollers to prevent snipe. I use a piece of MDF inside the planer bed to extend the overall working length by a foot on the outfeed end. A slow workpiece intro and shallow cuts gives me excellent results. The rest is operator error...

My passes are no more than a 1/32" even though I could go deeper. That's a 1/2 turn of the depth handle. I have plenty of time right now.......>

Reactions: 2

1 - 20 of 33 Posts

This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.