Planer Snipe Attack

[Stephen Cherry]

Lately I noticed snipe in my Jet 15 inch planer, one of the Tiawanese clones.

I've always done the lifting at the beginning and end, but that didn't help, so naturally I did on a search of Sawmill Creek. THis post by Rod (Thanks!) really helped:

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?149527-Getting-Rid-of-Planer-snipe…-How-G0459Z&p=1529980

This lead me to believe that the problem was flex of the machine.

The solution was two parts, first I released most of the tension from the springs on the infeed and outfeed rollers by unscrewing the 4 allen screws over the roller springs at the top of the machine. Next, I made sure to really tighten down the height adjustment locking knobs; not just snug, but tight.

The result- I can't feel any snipe. I think that these springs are tightened down a lot when the machines are shipped so that it does not look like something is loose, but with a well waxed bed, you do not need quite so much tension.

PS- Thanks to everybody for sharing all they know, and HAPPY NEW YEAR!

[Mike Cruz]

Good point Steven. When doing the adjustments on my Grizzly 20", I noticed that the manual said these allen heads should be sticking up something like 1/8" or something. Seemed odd, but agreed, very little to no snipe.

[glenn bradley]

The format of these planers call for adjustment for varying conditions of materials. My 15" also showed up with extremely high tension on the springs along with a generous amount of room between the cutters and the chip breaker. This would be more correct for really rough stuff getting the first treatment on its way to becoming the type of stock I put on the lumber rack.

I really narrowed the difference between the feed rollers and the BDC of the cutters. I also backed off the spring tension. My machine has no pressure bar. This will change if I set up to do a run of really rough material but, most often I am working stock that I have already prep'd and racked. I can take pretty light passes and not get feed roller marks and snipe is a rare visitor.

Even with the pressure backed way off from the factory settings, the machine still has a grip like an alligator; you couldn't stop the material one the feed rollers have it to save your life. Stephan makes another testimonial to the positive result in taking the time to align/adjust your machine for the type of work you are doing and not the factory default.