Do my infeed and outfeed table wings on my Grizzly planer have to be dead accurate?

[Michael Yadfar]

Today I'm finally assembling my Grizzly planer. I'm relatively new to owning my own equipment, so I don't know a whole bunch about the importance of accuracy yet. Today I installed the wings for the infeed and outfeed, and it isn't dead accurate. In case you aren't familiar with the planer, the wings are secured with 3 bolts and leveled with set screws. My biggest issue was when I fully tightened the bolts, the wing moved slightly, so I had to guess the set screw position. I measured the level with a straight edge, and the best I got was maybe only a paper thin gap in the middle of the ruler. I assume if you are that close, the rollers should keep the piece flat enough

[Frank Martin]

When it comes to setting up machinery I am on the OCD side. However, I found this to be necessary as it significantly improved my results. I am sure other will chime in and say just run it and see how it performs and even claim wood moves and not to worry.

[Roy Harding]

I'm not familiar with your particular planer, however, as a general principle the infeed wing needs to be perfectly level with the table, the outfeed wing can be a smidge lower, but that will result in snipe.

Look at it this way - a finished piece of woodwork is the result of many processes, and each process has tiny potential errors that can creep in, the earlier in the work the tiny error occurs - the more noticeable it will be, or harder to fix, in later processes.

For that reason - if you're aware of a potential problem, take the time to fix it - in this case you only have to get it right once, then the machine will not have that tiny error in it ever again - and you've eliminated a potential tiny error in one of the earliest processes of any finished piece you make.

[Yonak Hawkins]

... as a general principle the infeed wing needs to be perfectly level with the table, the outfeed wing can be a smidge lower, but that will result in snipe.

Now you've got me wondering, Roy. What is the reasoning for that set-up ? I slightly elevate both my infeed and outfeed to help mitigate both infeed and outfeed snipe.

[Roy Harding]

Now you've got me wondering, Roy. What is the reasoning for that set-up ? I slightly elevate both my infeed and outfeed to help mitigate both infeed and outfeed snipe.

As I said in my original post - I'm not familiar with this particular planer. On my planer (a Felder combo, on which I installed extension tables for the bed of the planer table) if the outfeed table was higher than the bed of the planer, the wood would catch on it - this may not be the case on the OP's planer. I used to have a Delta "lunch box" planer, and recall just living with the snipe on both ends - that is no longer the case, although I do occasionally get snipe on extremely long (over 8') lumber.

As far as the adjustments on this particular machine go - I should probably just shut up and let those familiar with it give advise - the remainder of my post remains valid for all machinery (and hand tools, for that matter.)

[glenn bradley]

I have mine dead flat and have the bed rollers just below the surface. This setup along with controlling the stock gives me snipe-free performance. As stated, on my lunchbox machine I would elevate the tips of the table nearly an 1/8" to cure snipe but, apples and oranges there.

[Mike Chalmers]

Brings up a point I often wondered about. On a planer with rollers which are above the bed itself, why would perfectly true matter? As the board goes over the first roller, it would angle slightly up onto the blades. As it exits, and has all gone over the first roller, it will tilt down slightly. This, logically, would lead to snipe. So whether the extensions are perfectly level or not does not seem as important to me as one might think. In a planer with no bed rollers, absolute precision would be very important. In a planer with bed rollers, not so much.

[Tom Clark FL]

All I can say is I used this planner for 15 years and thought snipe was just something you have to put up with.
Then we moved from Florida to New Mexico a couple of years ago, and I re-leveled the rollers because the movers had knocked them a bit out of line. The planner now cuts far smoother than before. Guess I just never leveled them properly when first got it. What a nice little machine.

[Jim Finn]

When you run a board through your planer you may get snipe. If you lift the end of the board as it enters and as it exits the planer you will see how the snipe goes away. This will show you how to adjust the in-feed and out-feed tables so they will lift the board for you. I now have zero snipe with my DeWalt planer.

[cody michael]

On my grizzly the out feed table has only one roller, and it is at least an 1/8 higher then table, this was setup by previous owner, it works great no snipe etc. If it doesn't cause snipe I would be okay with it

[Larry Browning]

There are many machine adjustments that require a very close tolerance to perform properly where just the tiniest of adjustment can make a huge difference in how well the machine performs. However, the infeed/outfeed wings of a planer is not one of them. My experience has taught me that the wing should create a slight incline so that it creates upward pressure on the board which helps reduce or even eliminate snipe. As a matter of fact, I always try to lift the board as it goes into and exits the planer while only one of the rollers is holding the board. I hardly ever have any snipe at all using this method.

[Larry Browning]

On my grizzly the out feed table has only one roller, and it is at least an 1/8 higher then table, this was setup by previous owner, it works great no snipe etc. If it doesn't cause snipe I would be okay with it

How does that work with only one roller? My planer has 2 rollers, one just before the cutter head and one after. I cannot imagine how a single roller would even work. Or am I confused about what you are saying?

Oh, wait, you said the OUTFEED table has only one roller. I guess my confusion was because the only rollers on my planer are the rubber feed rollers. Sorry, I'm an idiot!

[Michael Yadfar]

My experience has taught me that the wing should create a slight incline so that it creates upward pressure on the board which helps reduce or even eliminate snipe.

In the case of this theory, my infeed wing is actually good then, because it's on a slightly elevated angle; the ruler when placed between the table and wing has a slight gap in the middle meaning it's slightly elevated. On the actual table of the planer, there are 2 rollers on the underside and I don't know what their importance is rather than just a slat table or if they adjust.

[Larry Browning]

I would say it should probably more than a slight incline. It should be that once the infeed roller grabs the board there is enough upward pressure on the front end of the board to keep it firmly pressed against the table. Once both the infeed roller and the outfeed roller are engaged with the board the upward pressure has little effect. But when the board has passed beyond the infeed roller, then upward pressure on the outfeed side will be needed to keep the back end of the board pressed firmly against the table as well.

[Cary Falk]

I had a Delta 22-580 that I kept the ends of the infeed and outfeed tables about the thickness of a quarter above the table. I now have a G0453Z and the tables are dead flat and I have no issues with snipe. I also have moved the table rollers below the table.