Jointing away snipe?

[Wade Lippman]

My 15" Grizzly leaves snipe on the front edge, though not at the rear. (if anyone knows how to adjust it out, speak up!) It is not too bad and usually I just plan on sanding it out.

Today I left the board a bit oversized and took a light cut on the jointer. Snipe gone! I realize that the jointer doesn't necessarily take a perfectly even cut, but what I did was so light that I can't see that mattering.
Is there anything I am overlooking in this "cure"? (other than the fact that, the jointer is smaller than the planer...)

[Prashun Patel]

I use a handplane to do the same thing. Your method is fine.

Just be sure that the snipe is truly gone. It may appear gone on the raw wood only to appear when you go to finish (DAMHIKT)

[John Downey]

Yep, that method works.

You can also greatly reduce snipe by checking that the rollers in your planer table are as low as possible, consistent with proper stock feed. That may be the adjustment you're looking for. I forget what I set mine at, 0.01" maybe. I'd have to look it up when I get home. From the sound of it, your front roller is set higher than the back roller.

[Mark Bolton]

Endless board is really the only way to completely eliminate it in most cases. Flexure in the head is nearly impossible to eliminate. Using the column locks (if you have them) can help a bit but its a real PITA to have to lock/unlock them every pass.

[David Kumm]

You should be able to adjust front end snipe out of a 15" planer. Take the bottom rollers out of play and adjust the feed roller and chipbreaker pressure. Also helps to lift the back end of the board when entering the machine to keep the front down as it passes the cutterhead. Dave

[Sam Murdoch]

You should be able to adjust front end snipe out of a 15" planer. Take the bottom rollers out of play and adjust the feed roller and chipbreaker pressure. Also helps to lift the back end of the board when entering the machine to keep the front down as it passes the cutterhead. Dave

Can't for sure speak to how to adjust the Grizzly but on my Makita I have slightly raised the in feed table to eliminate front of board snipe. Lifting the board as David describes achieves the same result but is not as consistent as simply adjusting the indeed (and out feed table for rear snipe).

[Phil Thien]

Endless board is really the only way to completely eliminate it in most cases. Flexure in the head is nearly impossible to eliminate. Using the column locks (if you have them) can help a bit but its a real PITA to have to lock/unlock them every pass.

That has been my experience on pretty much every planer I've used. Even when you think you have it licked, you usually don't and problems show up when you go to (for example) glue-up face frames, etc.

So I either plan on lopping-off the snipe, or if I'm running a bunch of stock through, I make sure each board is immediately followed by the next board. I will sometimes even use a single piece of scrap that I feed in first, and last, to prevent the snipe I'd otherwise get at the beginning of the first board, and end of the last board. I only do this when I have nothing to spare for stock length, but it does work.

[Kent A Bathurst]

I solved the issue many years ago on my Delta DC-380 15" planer.

I got a no-fooling Starrett straightedge. I took my time, and got the two bottom rollers dead-nuts at, IIRC, 2 thou above the table height. Both rollers, both ends.

I never even re-installed the infeed/outfeed tables after my move to Atlanta 10+ years ago. IN fact, sold them to a fellow Creeker some years ago.

The only thing I do is: on the outfeed end, I hold the board up - not so much pressure, as it is being sure it is never below dead-level.

Zero snipe.

Moral of the story, on my end, is to do a good job of adjusting the rollers.

[Peter Quinn]

Can't for sure speak to how to adjust the Grizzly but on my Makita I have slightly raised the in feed table to eliminate front of board snipe. Lifting the board as David describes achieves the same result but is not as consistent as simply adjusting the indeed (and out feed table for rear snipe).


Ditto here. My rollers are set real low for finished work and the tables are both up a bit, helps to keep shorter stock that I can't manually support upwards from snipe. I occasionally get a few thousands snipe, its a quick wipe of sandpaper to eliminate. If you ever plane rough stock having the wheels that low can be a problem. The older industrial and some of the better new ones allow wheel adjustments on the fly, but thats at the deep end of the pool, just keep it in mind if need to plane material that is not flattened. I see no issue with the jointer method assuming it makes a straight edge and you have the room. Mine takes off 1/64" at the upper detent and I'll often use it just for that feature, to clean up an edge post clamping or such.

[Sam Babbage]

It's still no guarantee of a perfectly coplanar etc end result, but you can improve your chances by taking a light pass in both directions (against then with, preferably, the grain)

[glenn bradley]

As others have stated, on my G0453Z I have the bed rollers dead level with the table. The times I experience snipe is when the reference surface is not jointed or not as well supported on my planer sled as I think it is.