Setting bed rollers on a 15" planer to eliminate snipe.

[Bob Feeser]

Ok so my saga with the Shop Fox 15" planer has come to a close and now I am onto fine tuning the setup. By the way I planed some sample boards tonight and this thing is nutso quiet and smooth. My Craftsman planer is like a Boeing 707 coming in for a landing, ear protection is required. My newer Powermatic 60B 8" jointer is ok for running without ear protection until you joint a board and then you need ear protection. Get a load of this and I am not exaggerating, this Shop Fox 15" planer is so quiet when planing a board I seriously will not be bothering to put ear protection on unless I am running a lot of boards, but even for that you probably don't need any. I could only imagine what it would sound like with a spiral blade.

I planed some hickory which had some nasty tear out on my Craftsman planer, and thanks to the slower setting of 16 feet per minute and doing final passes with only a small amount being taken off I got zero tear out and glass smooth wood. (New blade never used)

Ok so onto my question. The owners manual on the Shop Fox states that the bed rollers should be set at .002" for smooth pre-jointed boards, and set it at .020 for rougher stock. So I set it to .002 with the Multi-Gage and the dial caliper attachment. I spent a bunch of time getting it perfect as the manual suggested. Then I took a piece of hickory that I had planed over 6 months ago and erroneously assumed that it was flat and just ran it through. The leading edge got some snipe and I remembered what a fellow SMC member said, "Lower the rollers down out of the way" so I did that, and the snipe got worse. The board didn't like cruising over the chasm where the rollers are and not having any support. So then I decided to set the rollers perfectly flat and even with the bed. That is the last thing I did, and then ran the board through after jointing it, and I got a very near perfect board, but after several passes there still is a little bit of snipe. Not anything that a ROS wouldn't take out.

So I guess my next step is to go back and set it for .002 the way the manual says, and this time start off with a board that is jointed on one side and see how that does. So if anyone has any input on roller settings for absolutely snipe free work, or any other tips on doing that I appreciate the input.

[Peter Quinn]

Set the roller at .002" or flush as you desire, it will not change the situation. Check the chip breaker setting and make sure that is correct. Check the roller height settings. Beyond that nothing can be done on these small import planers. Some stock will snipe some of the time. There simply is not enough pressure applied by the chip breaker on these planers to control wood that wants to rise up. So when it hits the outfeed roller or leaves the in feed roller, you get snipe. Usually the outfeed roller will hold stock flat to the table, so the distance between cutter and outfeed roller ismyour most typical snipe area. Beyond setting all mechanisms to factory specs relative to the cutting arc, thereis little youmcan do to improve e situation. Just part of the deal.Luckily it's rarely a serious problem on most stock. As you noted it can easily be removed with sanding. A bit of up pressure on the stock as boards enter and leave the planer may help, as might a slight cant up to the tables to helpmkeep things down on the table near the cutter head. This is not a guaranteed method but a possible way yo improve the situation. Also, planing bowed stock crown up can IME help.

[Stephen Cherry]

I have a 15 inch jet, and a while back I tried to get the snipe out. First of all, I always work from a jointed board, so theoretically, the board should have the ability to lay flat on the bed of the planer. I reduced the pressure way back on the infeed and outfeed rollers, and I make sure to tighten the locks on the bed if I don't want snipe. These machines are not super rigid, like some of the heavier planers.

Plus rollers down, and plenty of wax

[Jeff Longley]

Hello I have tried to adjust my PM 20" byrd helical planer as well to stop snipe but still get a little. The best way I have found is to butt your boards end to end when feeding them through. You will get snipe on the first board but not the rest. That method works for me.Jeffi

[david brum]

1) Wait--I thought you got a 20" planer.

2) You can't eliminate all snipe, as stated earlier. You might try reducing the feed roller tension. It seemed to help on mine. Also, try tightening the cutterhead locking knobs (on the posts) and taking a lighter cut on the finishing pass. It helps to hog off most of the waste initially, leaving a few thousands for a final pass. I get most snipe while taking heavy cuts.

[Don Wacker]

Joint a long board or use a long straight edge. It needs to be long enough to reach from the end of the outfeed all the way to the end of the infeed. Lower the bed rollers flat to the table. Wax the table real good. Adjust the angles of the in and out tables so that they lift the long staight edge off the bed 3/16" evenly all the way across.Check for snipe. If you still have visable snipe raise then a little more.The infeed roller on the 15 is to weak, raising the tension doesnt help. Its the coils used on the off brands the pm uses a variable coil. The 15 does not have a pressue bar so suffers the same flaw as the front. You dont get a pressure bar until you go up to 20". No variable coil in the off brands and the pm coils dont fit even though the machines appear the same in pictures they are not. Raisng the angle gives you a sort of mock varied pressure.Don

[Jay Runde]

1) Wait--I thought you got a 20" planer.

Check out the other thread for an explanation: http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthre...m-sander/page3

[Steven Wayne]

The previous owner of my Delta DC-380 had a MDF chunk with cleats on each end sitting in the bed of the planer. I **think** he said it was to reduce/eliminate snipe. I don't have any that I can see with it in place.

I suppose I should snap a photo or two..

[Bob Feeser]

I did some more playing, I mean planing. :-) and by lifting the board up as it enters the machine, more specifically after it clear the first roller and before it hits the blades and then go around to the back of the machine and lifting the board as well when it exits I achieved absolutely zero snipe on one side of the board, and on the other side I got zero snipe on one end, and almost impreceptible snipe on the other end. A gentle glance with a long board with 150 grit on it and it is totally true.
Even my first runs without lifting the board that gave me a little more snipe would disappear with a dual drum sander. I just like to get each stage as perfect as possible.

[Matt Mackinnon]

I'd go through the section in the manual about how to setup the unit. Have you done all the adjustment to the roller height? There probably is a section about the feeder roller, chip breaker and pressure bar height. From the factory those are pretty good but they could have moved in transit and if they are out, then you will get snipe. It's best to go over them all to see if they are out by a bit. As you have found that raising the board on in and out feed, that would suggest that the pressure on those items are out, and it's causing the board to raise up into the cutter head.

Matt

[Larry Frank]

I went through this with my 15" Jet Planer which is probably identical to yours. I tried setting the feed rollers and the input and output table in various combinations and found one that worked well for me. However, I could not get to a setting which completely eliminated some snipe. By this I mean, I could always measure a difference of a couple of thousandths. I set mine up with precision blocks and feeler gauges. I know that there are a few that have said that they have been able to eliminate all snipe but I have not figured out how to do it.

You might try a search on threads with snipe and see what others have tried.

The best result for me is to run boards back to back with the ends touching and have the first and last be a scrap board. This has worked well with me and did eliminate any measureable snipe.

[Bob Feeser]

I'd go through the section in the manual about how to setup the unit. Have you done all the adjustment to the roller height? There probably is a section about the feeder roller, chip breaker and pressure bar height. From the factory those are pretty good but they could have moved in transit and if they are out, then you will get snipe. It's best to go over them all to see if they are out by a bit. As you have found that raising the board on in and out feed, that would suggest that the pressure on those items are out, and it's causing the board to raise up into the cutter head.

Matt

Matt,
Thank you for the information. I am going to do just that. I had adjusted the roller height according to the manual, but then not being accustomed to a planer with bed rollers I lifted the board and that caused it to catch on the rear wall of the front roller and then the infeed roller with nasty teeth did a number on the board. (Another thing that I am not accustomed to whereas my Craftsman had a rubber coated roller) So when I saw the groove created by the infeed roller, I assumed erroneusly that the bed rollers were part of the problem so I right away adjusted them below bed level as someone had suggested, and then that was even worse. So I carefully adjusted them just level with the bed which helped a lot. Is that a long way of saying, you could be absolutely right, and maybe the 20 minutes I spent setting them exactly at .002" with a dial micrometer was the best solution.
To tell you the truth with the rollers exactly set level with the bed I am more than pleased with the results however I have to lift the board on the way in, and lift it on the way out. Getting a perfect roller height, if that would eliminate that would be a great idea.
The feeder roller, chip breaker, and pressure bar height are additional things I plan on looking into. Thanks again for your help.
I'm also going to call Shop Fox and let them enlighten me as well. Any other comments are more than welcome.

[Matt Mackinnon]

Also remember after doing about 20 hours of cutting, you need to change the gear oil on the unit. I'd also strip off the chain covers and clean all the chains and re-oil them too. also remember to oil the bushings on your posts. These bigger cast iron planers will last a lifetime but do require quite a bit more maintenance that the lunchbox throw away jobbies.

[Bob Feeser]

Also remember after doing about 20 hours of cutting, you need to change the gear oil on the unit. I'd also strip off the chain covers and clean all the chains and re-oil them too. also remember to oil the bushings on your posts. These bigger cast iron planers will last a lifetime but do require quite a bit more maintenance that the lunchbox throw away jobbies.

You're great. I will do all of that. Mind ya I may be asking you some tips on doing those procedures. First time takes a lot of time, and second time is a breeze. If you listen to someone who has already done it, first time can be done better too. So any tips up front on how to change the gear oil are welcome. I have to go and get the different oils the manual calls for. Does the gear oil drain out cleanly, or do you need a special pan etc. ? I should get the gear oil right away because they are advising to check the level even before the first use as well. I didn't do that for the first test board or two which were about a little over a foot long, and only a few passes. Am I going to get this down to where the snipe is virtually non-existent without having to lift the boards?