A permanent solution to planer snipe! (long)
David F. Eisan
I was just out in the shop kissing my tools goodnight, fondling the 7 cherry
panels I glued up today, when, what in theory seems like a brilliant idea,
hit me, a workable solution to planer snipe.
I had to do a number of cherry panel glues up from really low grade cherry,
and since there was sooo much shit wood to cut around, I couldn't add my
usual 5" to the board length in all cases to allow me to cut off the snipe
after final milling.
A 1/2" solid cherry back panel that slips into a groove on three sides of a
case good I am making needs to be 30" long, and I was only able to make a
panel 32" long. Having ANY snipe on this panel is not an option. I went
forward with the glue up hoping I would find a solution to the snipe thing
that wouldn't be a serious pain in the ass to implement.
This link,
http://www.woodshopdemos.com/plan-pm.htm
Shows how to make a longer planer bed to eliminate snipe. John Lucas seems
like a very knowledgeable guy and what he shows seems to work for him, but I
am sceptical about its efficacy knowing what I know about what causes planer
snipe.
For those of you who don't know what causes snipe, it is caused by
cutterhead tilt. When a board enters the planer and goes under the first
feed roller it causes the cutterhead to tilt downward towards the outfeed
table, sniping or biting into board. When the board goes a few more inches
and hits the outfeed roller, the head then becomes level again, taking a
uniform cut off the board. As the board exits from under the infeed roller
and is only under the outfeed roller, the head again tilts, this time
towards the infeed table, causing more snipe. Measure the distance from the
centre of your cutter head to your infeed/outfeed rollers, this is the exact
distance of snipe you will get on both ends of any board you put through
your planer. On a DeWALLY 733, it is about 2.5" for each end of the board.
Cutterhead locks were introduced to reduce the amount of cutterhead
tilt/snipe, but it does not totally eliminate it.
My first thought was to brad a ~1/4" wide piece of hard maple to both sides
of the panel that were 3" longer on both ends to support the cutterhead for
the total length of the panel. That was the quickest solution, but I know
brads wander, and the thought of my planer blades hitting metal quickly
quashed that idea.
Next idea was to glue the longer hardwood strips to the panel and rip them
off after the fact. I have 7 panels to do, this could be tedious.
All of my panels are the same length, ~32", not real long. Why not make a
40" long sled from 1/2" Baltic birch? I could make some shallow stop dados
to hold the sacrificial cutterhead support rails, mount a permanent rear
fence and feed the whole thing through the planer.
I think this might work....
Thanks,
David.
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Thomas Jackson
changing angles, not the cutterhead. However upon reflection, I can believe
one could have either or both, depending on the planer. The Oliver 299D I
use, only snipes when the pressure from the feed rollers is too high. The
299D is so massive, it is hard for me to believe the cutterhead is rotating.
However, on a smaller portable planer, I can believe that the cutterhead can
rotate. The guideposts are too close together.
As for making and using a sled. I have used carpet tape and hot glue (at
different times) to secure workpieces to a suitably-sized piece of baltic
birch and run them both through a planer together. In my case, I wasn't
trying to avoid snipe, I was planing to get very thin, but wide stock.
Tom Jackson
Engineered Conversion of Woods into Sawdust
"David F. Eisan" <dfe...@home.com> wrote in message
news:xOIL6.128163$HF.31...@news4.rdc1.on.home.com...
Hank Metz
Delta 12" pre- headlock planer that was the subject of much dislike.
I simply pinch the stock as it's being fed into the machine so as to throttle the first 6 inches or so of the cut, it seems that
some bounce occurs before the stock comes under the outfeed rollers, and that contributes to a significant amount of snipe. Using
this technique eliminates it during infeed, while a steady, level hand to receive the milled stock on outfeed completes the process.
--
Hank Metz
"David F. Eisan" <dfe...@home.com> wrote in message news:xOIL6.128163$HF.31...@news4.rdc1.on.home.com...
Leon
closely follow with all your regular boards. As the final board goes
through feed another scrap closely behind to take the hit.
The scrap pieces and closely following regular boards do not let the cutter
head tilt while the good wood is under it.
"David F. Eisan" <dfe...@home.com> wrote in message
news:xOIL6.128163$HF.31...@news4.rdc1.on.home.com...
Howard Lau
snipe is a non issue in commercial shops. It's not worth the time or
money to worry about it. They just accept it and put in longer boards
to cut the snipe off the finished lengths.
That being said, I do take to heart every tip on minimizing snipe that I
can find. I can't afford the commercial practice of just throwing away
the scrap.
rondi
brother in law suggested i us my biscuit joiner to attach some scrape
pieces to both ends. They don't have to be the same width and can be
of any type of wood, even plywood----but they must be thicker than the
wood you want to plane. In the case of 4/4 oak, i can't use 3/4 ply.
This works on my planer, ymmv, but it's worth a try.
hth,
ron
The "E" has been removed from my return email address. Please add an E between the n&t to make .nEt to email a reply.
Dave Mundt
On Mon, 14 May 2001 08:44:41 -0500, "Leon"
<removespa...@swbell.net.> wrote:
>The easiest solution to control snipe for me is to feed a scrap in first and
>closely follow with all your regular boards. As the final board goes
>through feed another scrap closely behind to take the hit.
>The scrap pieces and closely following regular boards do not let the cutter
>head tilt while the good wood is under it.
>
This is a good way to do it, true enough... If one is short
on scrap though, I have had fairly good luck with grabbing the outer
end of the boards and lifting slightly as the wood enters and exits
the planer. This upward torque seems to keep the wood "Flatter" on
the planer bed..and cuts down or eliminates snipe.
This was, by the by, on a fairly light duty, 10" Ryobi planer.
In conjunction with this, I also made sure that I had VERY sharp
knives in it, and, I was taking fairly shallow cuts.
Regards
Dave Mundt
Andrew
Do you have any trouble managing the infeed and the outfeed stock? Can you
do this by yourself or do you have someone help you?
"Leon" <removespa...@swbell.net.> wrote in message
news:OjRL6.18502$Zh5....@nnrp1.sbc.net...
George
guess helps even it out. Most boards are also around 6" or more over
specified length to compensate for this, so there's really no great loss.
That said, I've got a cast iron planer with bed rollers and adjustable
roller pressure, so I don't get snipe unless I screw up. The one up at the
school is also iron, and the kids can snipe it all the time, where I don't.
Good work habits will prevent almost all snipe.
"Howard Lau" <hl...@mitre.org> wrote in message
news:3AFFFACC...@mitre.org...
Leon
one to help me as before. I do not use in feed or out feed supports other
than the ones on the planer. With out support the long boards tend to start
bouncing. Remember to keep each board butted up against the previous board
when feeding.
"Andrew" <n...@na.com> wrote in message
news:tg0a81n...@corp.supernews.com...
Alan Bierbaum
need two extra pieces, several inches long to make the system work. Start
with an "extra" panel (any scrap wood) and then feed your good panels
followed by another scrap panel thru the planer. Butt the panels together
with hand pressure so that there are no gaps and run the group thru (might
help to have someone catch the panels on the outfeed side so that you can
make sure there are no gaps on the infeed sid). This works for me. The
scrap panels get the snipe and the good panels are treated as if they are
the center section of a long board.
--
Alan Bierbaum
Web page: http://www.users.qwest.net/~bca6587
"David F. Eisan" <dfe...@home.com> wrote in message
news:xOIL6.128163$HF.31...@news4.rdc1.on.home.com...
jimfer
rollers on the last pass. I have seen planers with a lever for just this
purpose.
--
Jim Ferrill
The Ellaville Bed Co.
http://www.sowega.net/~jimkim/index.html
http://members.nbci.com/jimfer/index.html
"David F. Eisan" <dfe...@home.com> wrote in message
news:xOIL6.128163$HF.31...@news4.rdc1.on.home.com...
> Dear All,
>
(snipe) er... I mean (snip)
Broccoli Puffs
>The only way I have been able to eliminate snipe is to lower the feed
>rollers on the last pass. I have seen planers with a lever for just this
>purpose.
I thought about trying that once. This may not be the same thing you
meant?
I mean, give the cutterhead height adjustment a quick, small turn to
raise the cutters slightly, as the stock hits the cutters, then the
same thing as the end passes under the cutters.
This is obviously guesswork or do I mean desperation-inspired.
I've had so much trouble with snipe with my Delta 12 1/2", I've
sometimes regretted the money I put into it. Good to know I'm not
alone. I guess the magic touch is important.
Sometimes, I get it so one end has no snipe at all, but the other end
does and I can't seem to eliminate that.
Grant P. Beagles
about lifting the boards on the outfeed side before they are beyond the
cutters.
John
I use the Delta 12.5 and as long as I lock the cutterhead, feed the
board in flat, and support it flat on the way out, no snipe.
John
Broccoli Puffs
Whoops, my mistake. I have the Delta 12", not the 12 1/2". Meaning, I
don;t have the cutterhead lock option. I have tried adding washers
under the planer as others have suggested.
Otherwise, what you all have been saying is correct.
>Same here,
>
>I use the Delta 12.5 and as long as I lock the cutterhead, feed the
>board in flat, and support it flat on the way out, no snipe.
>
<snip1>
>
>>The only time that I have a snipe problem with my DeWalt is if I ame careless
>>about lifting the boards on the outfeed side before they are beyond the
>>cutters.
>>
<snip2>
Bill Reynolds
>Same here,
>
>I use the Delta 12.5 and as long as I lock the cutterhead, feed the
>board in flat, and support it flat on the way out, no snipe.
I have never locked the cutter head and always supported the board on
the outfeed and never got snipe.
In the '30s when I was a pup, I remember dad telling me to lift the
board as it came out of planer. To me, that is the secret of success.
>
Don Levey
When the board is fully under both rollers, it's held flat. However,
when just entering, or just leaving, it's held by only one roller. As
a result, the end still in the machine wants to tip up into the
cutterhead as gravity brings the other end of the board down. Fully
supporting that board through the whole process means that it's angle
does not change, remaining constant with relation to the cutterhead.
This the same (but oppositem if you know what I mean) thing that is
happening with non-locked cutter heads. In such an instance, the head
itself tips (as has been explained elsewhere). Either way, when the
two planes (board surface and rollers/cutterhead) are not parallel
you'll probably be in for some snipe.
I suspect that having a full-length infeed/outfeed table will also
alleviate the problem; for long boards I usually call a friend and
have him support one end.
-Don
On Fri, 18 May 2001 18:32:43 GMT, jra...@idirect.com (John) wrote: