Snipe when running rough lumber

[Glenn Samuels]

I have my 15" planer set so that the infeed and outfeed tables are raised 1/8" off the main bed. Unfortunately, the rollers in the main bed can not touch the lumber and I have them raised to the maximum level. When running finished 4/4 lumber, it works out fine. However, I have 8/4 and 16/4 mahogany and the lumber gets stuck in the planer after it clears the infeed roller. (Jointed the lower side first). I got it to go thru the first couple of times and then it began to get stuck in the machine. I have to stop the machine and lower the table. Maybe the weight of the lumber is too much without the main bed rollers touching the lumber? I could lower both tables to be more level with the main deck and run longer lumber beside it, but then I am using up good lumber. Any suggestions about planing rough lumber?

[Jim Foster]

Usually, this happens to me when the wood is cupped or warped at the end in one way or another.

[Bill Huber]

I think it would help other if you told us what planer you have, each one is a little different.

[Glenn Samuels]

Be glad to. It is a Shop Fox (same as Grizzly) 15" planer. I am using blades as the spiral cutterhead was too expensive for me. It's a floor model and weighs quite a bit. It has a cast iron deck as well as both the infeed and outfeed table. I believe that it is 3 HP (but not home to check for sure)

[Prashun Patel]

Try cleaning the deck and rollers with alcohol and then waxing the deck. Lowering the tables is also a good idea if that doesnt work.

I have this problem all the time on heavy lumber.

[Stephen Cherry]

If you joint the bottom first, you want the bed to be super waxed, and all the rollers down level with the bed. Raised rollers can cause nothing but snipe. Loosen up on the springs, and when you are close to the desired thickness, tighten up on the bed locks.

Think about it- there is only one way to make a board with a uniform thickness, it's when the bottom of the board is referenced to the machine table. Any deviation from this is no good.

[Mark Wooden]

Be sure to support the lumber as level with the table as possible on the out feed side. The weight of the material is using the out feed bed roller as a fulcrum and increasing the depth of cut to more than the machine can do.
Since you've flattened you stock on the jointer first, you should be able to drop your bed rollers to just barely contact the material.Wax your bed and polish it it well.

[Cary Falk]

I have my rollers even with the table and the extensions level. I don't have a snipe problem anymore.The board should go through the jointer first so I can't think of a reason you need the feed rollers.

[Mel Fulks]

The "normal" adjustment would be all tables level and the table rollers up 5 or 6 ( ?) thousandths .The more complex machines have adj rollers so that rough lumber can be planed without facing it,that's handy for sub floor material etc.

[glenn bradley]

As stated, I have the Green version and have the tables dead flat with the rollers even. Obviously the lumber should be face jointed before planing.

[Rod Sheridan]

Bed rollers are only used on wet or rough material.

If you're using your planer for conventional furniture making, lower the rollers below the bed and joint the material before planing.

Snipe is caused by insuficient structural strength in the planer, or mis-adjustment of the planer.

I suggest that you adjust the bed rollers, infeed, outfeed rollers, pressure bar and chip breaker as per your planer manual. Normally that would require a dial indicator and block.

The raising of the additional tables masks the real problem, you should be able to correct the snipe with proper calibration..........Regards, Rod,

[Chris Fournier]

I had a similar planer to this years ago. As others have mentioned you could change the set up to reduce snipe but there is a "have your cake and eat it too" option too which is what I did with my planer.

Take a piece of melamine and cut it to match the size of your planer bed plus 2" in length. The extra 2" is where you will screw a cleat that holds this melamine sheet in place against the front of your planer bed. Before you screw the cleat on mark out where your bed rollers are on the edge of the board. I used my TS blade, raised 0.060" and cross fed this melamine sheet over the TS blade to create clearances for the bed rollers. Now fasten the cleat to the board and wax it if you like but the melamine face does a good job of providing a slick surface. Place this board on the bed of your planer and you are aready to go. This fixture really improved that old planer and I could just pull it out of the planer and my rough set up was ready to go.

[Jim Andrew]

I don't understand why you would raise the infeed and outfeed tables 1/8". I have the same planer, set my in and out tables level with the center table. If you joint the boards flat, the only reason they catch is that the top side is a little uneven. I planed some wood last week that occasionally caught, I just lowered the table a turn or whatever it took to let the wood go through, then reset it back to the thickness originally and ran it through again. Rough sawn can vary a little in thickness. Agree, you should not have to have the feed roller set high when you joint your boards flat.

[Glenn Samuels]

Thank you all for your excellent suggestions. The reason that I raised both tables was advice that I got from a previous thread. If you raised the outfeed table and the board passes the infeed roller, hopefully the extra angle on the board will push the back end down into the table and avoid the knifes from grabbing the end and causing snipe. At least, that was the suggestion at the time. The extra angle was the reason why the boards were binding up. I will go back to getting everything perfectly flat. If I get any snipe on the last couple of passes, I will glue runners on either side that are longer than my good board. That should allow the good board to pass the knives before the runners pass the infeed rollers.

[Stephen Cherry]

I think that the whole idea of setting the infeed and outfeed rollers high relies on the machine roller springs being able to bend the board flat onto the main table.

As the board gets over 1-2 inch thick, it's not going to bend for anything, and any height on the tables goes directly into snipe.

[Don Stephan]

Snipe can be reduced by taking the thinnest possible cut on the last passes. There may still be snipe, but it's much less pronounced.

[Glenn Samuels]

These are very good suggestions. Thank you very much!

Glenn

[Myk Rian]

Thank you all for your excellent suggestions. The reason that I raised both tables was advice that I got from a previous thread.
What might have been suggested is to raise the ENDS of the tables 1/8". Not the whole table. This is common to do on planers such as the DeWalt DW 735.

[Glenn Samuels]

That is correct. I dropped the inside edge by 1/8" and raised the outside edge by an equal amount. As someone here wrote, it works on thin stock but not 8/4 and 16/4 wood. It jammed on the outfeed because there was too much pressure pushing up on the wood.