Planer Snipe

[lowell holmes]

I disagree with Popular Woodworking about planer snipe.
They have a video on line about planer snipe.

I find that when I feed into my Dewalt 734 I can eliminate snipe by lifting up on the tail end of the board.

And then, by lifting up on the end of the board on the out feed side, snipe is eliminated.

Try it!

[David Eisenhauer]

I can most certainly greatly influence snipe (to the good) by doing exactly as Lowell describes. I have not inspected close enough to fully guarantee that I have totally eliminated snipe by paying attention to how I support the wood going in and coming out, but it definitely works to eliminate the greater most of it. If I have not left the wood length longer than required (for subsequent cut-off of any snipe) before planning, usually a swipe or two with a hand plane gets rid of the remaining snipe (that is more felt rather than seen). The process is more apparent on heavier pieces that I run through the planer. Lighter pieces typically do not show any snipe at all, but do typically get finish planed at some point during the project with a hand plane.

[Brian Holcombe]

Lifting does not fix a short outfeed, it just moves the undulation inward from the end of the board. Supporting probably helps where lifting just levers the board into the cutters.

[lowell holmes]

I think lifting keeps the board flat to the table. The DW 734 tables adjust to accomplish this. They however do not completely eliminate it.

My first planer (Delta) did not have this adjustment. I was able to minimize it by lifting like my post said. I wore that planer out.

[glenn bradley]

I'm not sure what Popular Woodworking said. I know a lot of folks here and on other forums just accept it as a fact of life. I have an ordinance against it in my shop along with bandsaw blade drift. You are not required to tolerate either one.

[Lee Schierer]

On most lunch box type planers, the in feed and out feed tables are made of sheet metal and they flex when weight is applied. If either table flexes you get some amount of snipe. I eliminated snipe on my Delta Lunch Box planer when I mounted the planer in a table with a 18 inch in feed table and 30 inch out feed table in addition to the folding tables that came on the planer. Both are exactly level with the base table of the planer. For longer boards I add additional support on the in feed and out feed.

[Matt Day]

It's all about proper material support and a properly tuned machine. IMO, lifting the board is a workaround that may work, however personally I'd look into ideas like Lee suggested.

That being said, I had a dw734 for years and didn't have much if any snipe after everything was dialied in and the cutterhead locked. On longer boards (over 3' or so) I'd walk to the outfeed and support it as it came through, never had to lift it. or setup a roller stand, though those never seemed to work right.

[Darcy Warner]

I didnt get any snipe when i ran a dw734 through my 30" Buss.....

[Art Mann]

The Ridgid planer, which I sold after 10 years and a zillion board feet of oak and maple, came with instructions that said to slope the infeed and outfeed tables upward at the outer edges so that there is the thickness of a dime between a precision straight edge and the bed when it is stretched from one end to the other. That eliminated my snipe problem permanently. Lifting the far edges of the material as it first feeds into the planer and just as it exits is essentially the same thing. It is also possible to eliminate snipe on a Jet 16/32 drum sander by lifting the trailing edge on the input side and the leading edge on the exit side just as the work piece enters and exits, respectively. It must be done ever so slightly or you will get a worse problem.

[Justin Ludwig]

I didnt get any snipe when i ran a dw734 through my 30" Buss.....

Did you wear hearing protection?

[Warren Lake]

you have an infeed and out feed roller your board is in then going out its past the outfeed roller its now tilting and snipes so that bus about supporting it makes perfect sense.

[Dave Zellers]

I think a snipe problem on a lunchbox planer is different from a snipe problem on a heavy planer, even a 15" Delta/Rockwell old school planer. And supporting is different from lifting on the outfeed side. Pronounced snipe on a heavy cast iron planer is a setting issue, assuming the board is supported properly on the outfeed side. I have both the original Delta lunchbox and a Delta 15" cast iron planer and while I call it "support" on both, I do give a teensy bit more lift on the lunchbox than the 15". I don't have room for outfeed tables, I have to cradle every board as it leaves the planer. I wouldn't have it any other way as we all basically cradle every piece of wood from the beginning right through to it's place in the final project.

But a lunchbox planer and a cast iron planer are two different animals.

[Randy Heinemann]

I own a Dewalt 735 planer and have adjusted the infeed and outfield extension tables upward at the outer ends as Art Mann has suggested. For this particular planer, when the tables are adjusted to slope upward, there is no snipe; at least nothing that creates a problem. I have done this for years based on information in one of the woodworking magazines. Periodically I must readjust the tables because vibration apparently loosens the mounting screws and the tables then change position. Only a very slight upward tilt of the tables to the outside ends is necessary wit this planer.

[lowell holmes]

Did you wear hearing protection?

Yes, I do.