Question about snipe on Grizzly GO453Z planer

[Michael Yadfar]

I have a new Grizzly GO453Z planer with a spiral head, and I ran some thin strips of pine through (7/8") and I'm getting some snipe in the beginning and end. I can actually hear it take a bit more off at the end. I'm also getting some chips compacted into the board.

In the troubleshooting in the manual, it says that some snipe is expected, but the causes listed are sloped outfeed table, bed rollers set too high, chip breaker not set properly, and unsupported piece. All of the following aren't issues except possibly the bed roller higher. Right now the bed rollers are set at .005", and in the manual it says that you set them between .002 and .020". I don't know if I should set them down to the .002 or if there's potentially another issue. Everything is factory set except the table wings I put on which are good.

I didn't look up the compacted chips in the manual, but I see that it's a common problem from online reviews. It's not a major issue though

[glenn bradley]

I have a new Grizzly GO453Z planer with a spiral head, and I ran some thin strips of pine through (7/8") and I'm getting some snipe in the beginning and end. I can actually hear it take a bit more off at the end. I'm also getting some chips compacted into the board.

In the troubleshooting in the manual, it says that some snipe is expected, but the causes listed are sloped outfeed table, bed rollers set too high, chip breaker not set properly, and unsupported piece. All of the following aren't issues except possibly the bed roller higher. Right now the bed rollers are set at .005", and in the manual it says that you set them between .002 and .020". I don't know if I should set them down to the .002 or if there's potentially another issue. Everything is factory set except the table wings I put on which are good.

I didn't look up the compacted chips in the manual, but I see that it's a common problem from online reviews. It's not a major issue though

The conditions of "sloped outfeed table, bed rollers set too high, chip breaker not set properly, and unsupported piece" are all an invitation to snipe. They don't mention trying to plane stock that has not had a good reference surface jointed onto it and that is certainly another thing that will foul your feed path. My bed rollers are a thou or so below the table surface. My extension tables are dead flat to the main table.

There is some technique involved with planers although it isn't discussed much. Your stock needs to be controlled until the cutter and outfeed roller are well engaged and control it at the exit to avoid a poor feed path. Understanding that snipe occurs when the material is allowed to raise, uncontrolled, into the cutter head instead of following a true path makes it easier to visualize what you should be doing. Until the outfeed roller has control and once the infeed roller no longer has control of the stock, you should be controlling the material. The ability of a single feed roller to maintain a reliable feed path is questionable IMHO ;-)

[Alan Marchbanks]

I have the same planer. I have the bed rollers set at table level. I have found that if I send the stock through at an angle it will get little or no snipe. On wider stock I have best luck with a thinner cut. Hope this helps, it works for me.

Alan

[david brum]

A few things to try:

1) Lower the rollers below the table surface. They're mainly for very rough stock and a waxed table should be plenty smooth. You can always raise them to .002 later.
2) Reduce the spring tension on the infeed and outfeed rollers. Try backing them off all the way, then tightening just 1/4 turn. Page 43 of your manual.
3) If that doesn't do it, you might have to adjust the pressure bar also.

You should definitely be able to eliminate 95% of snipe with adjustments and good technique.

[Justin Ludwig]

I plane everything 1/32" at a time on my G0453Z. My rollers are at .002. Everything else is set per the manual. I check it often as I don't fully trust Grizzly machines to keep the settings. Case in point: 2 weeks ago I reset the outfeed roller and table rollers. I changed the gear oil today and checked them again this afternoon as I have 400 bdft of QSWO to plane tomorrow. The outfeed roller was .025 (instead of .020) and the table rollers were .007 instead of .002. Sounds minor, but I got snipe on a few boards of knotty alder I just ran yesterday when I usually get no snipe.

Play with it. I'd start with the recommended minimums.

[Cary Falk]

I have my bed rollers all the way below the table. My infeed and outfeed tables are dead flat with the table. I have reduced the pressure on the feed rollers. The chips falling on your work is due to a foam seal/gasket ( part number 26 on the diagram). Remove the top lid like you are getting at the cutterhead and remove the foam strip that is in there.

[Michael Yadfar]

A few things to try:

1) Lower the rollers below the table surface. They're mainly for very rough stock and a waxed table should be plenty smooth. You can always raise them to .002 later.
2) Reduce the spring tension on the infeed and outfeed rollers. Try backing them off all the way, then tightening just 1/4 turn. Page 43 of your manual.
3) If that doesn't do it, you might have to adjust the pressure bar also.

You should definitely be able to eliminate 95% of snipe with adjustments and good technique.

The GO453 doesn't have the pressure bar, that's only the 454 20". That's actually a good point, because I actually unscrewed the spring tension caps completely because I thought they were oil caps (stupid me) and then I put them back to their relative position. I only did this for two, and I did read that in the manual, I just forgot to accurately adjust them

[Michael Yadfar]

I plane everything 1/32" at a time on my G0453Z. My rollers are at .002. Everything else is set per the manual. I check it often as I don't fully trust Grizzly machines to keep the settings. Case in point: 2 weeks ago I reset the outfeed roller and table rollers. I changed the gear oil today and checked them again this afternoon as I have 400 bdft of QSWO to plane tomorrow. The outfeed roller was .025 (instead of .020) and the table rollers were .007 instead of .002. Sounds minor, but I got snipe on a few boards of knotty alder I just ran yesterday when I usually get no snipe.

Play with it. I'd start with the recommended minimums.

How accurate were your feed rollers straight from the factory? I tried to check them with the dial indicator, and I was able to find the BDC of the cutter head and outfeed roller, but I had trouble finding the BDC of the infeed roller

[Rod Sheridan]

I have a new Grizzly GO453Z planer with a spiral head, and I ran some thin strips of pine through (7/8") and I'm getting some snipe in the beginning and end. I can actually hear it take a bit more off at the end. I'm also getting some chips compacted into the board.

In the troubleshooting in the manual, it says that some snipe is expected, but the causes listed are sloped outfeed table, bed rollers set too high, chip breaker not set properly, and unsupported piece. All of the following aren't issues except possibly the bed roller higher. Right now the bed rollers are set at .005", and in the manual it says that you set them between .002 and .020". I don't know if I should set them down to the .002 or if there's potentially another issue. Everything is factory set except the table wings I put on which are good.

I didn't look up the compacted chips in the manual, but I see that it's a common problem from online reviews. It's not a major issue though

A properly designed and adjusted planer has zero snipe.

Snipe is caused by the work tipping into the cutterhead when only one feed roller is in contact with the wood.

There are a few reasons for this

- use of bed rollers in situations where they're not needed. (never needed with jointed material).

- planer not rigid enough to resist flexing (design issue)

- feed rollers with insufficient spring tension (design or not adjusted properly.

- feed rollers, chip breaker, pressure bar not set properly with relation to cutter circle (do you measure this when you put smaller knives in (after grinding).

I suggest you set the bed rollers below the table and measure the items above.

My planer has zero snipe, neither measurable nor discernable by feel......................Regards, Rod.

[Justin Ludwig]

How accurate were your feed rollers straight from the factory? I tried to check them with the dial indicator, and I was able to find the BDC of the cutter head and outfeed roller, but I had trouble finding the BDC of the infeed roller

I don't know - I'm thinking they were .01-.015. After cleaning all the gunk off for a few hours I calibrated everything from scratch. I'm pretty sure everything was good to go, except my table wasn't coplaner to the head. It probably got banged around in shipment. Material would "walk" across the table as it was being fed. The left side was taking just over 1/64" more material. I loosened the jack screw Allen bolts, gave it half a turn and heard it settle with a slight "pop". Tightened everything back up and checked all the tolerances. I ran some test pine and got snipe, so I played with the rollers it until it quit.

[Jesse Busenitz]

Are you using a DC on your planer? That should eliminate chips on the board.

[Michael Yadfar]

Are you using a DC on your planer? That should eliminate chips on the board.

Yea, but apparently there's a foam piece I have to remove

[Michael Yadfar]

Today I lowered the bed rollers down below the table and set the roller spring tension properly, and still had snipe so my infeed/outfeed rollers are most likely misaligned. I was measuring my cutter head, and panicked because I was getting different readings on each side, and here it was because I didn't have the table locked and it shifted a bit when I shifted my weight on the other side to measure. What I ended up doing since I got my first project started was I sent the stock through on a slight angle and got zero snipe. Based on reviews, I should eventually get zero snipe going straight, so I will play with those rollers as soon as I get the chance

[Kevin Barnett]

Cut, do not remove entirely, the foam piece. It needs to keep chips out of the internals.

[Michael Yadfar]

Cut, do not remove entirely, the foam piece. It needs to keep chips out of the internals.

I ripped the whole thing off but it's still intact so I can glue it back on. How much should I cut off? It actually did make a huge difference and eliminated the chip compaction entirely, but I don't want to mess up the internals