Why am I getting huge chunks the width of the cutter taken out with my planner?

[Adam Herd]

I have tried 2 different boards and keep getting these huge chunks taken out. my planer has practically brand new blades, I put them in last fall and may have used them once or twice before winter but not positive that they were in fact used. This is the first time i have used it since last fall. Only thing I can think of is maybe I put the blades in upside down? I have no idea if that would cause this. I am only taking off very tiny amounts at a time with the planer. I have tried flipping the boards around to see if it was a grain direction problem and that just put a big deficit on the other end giving me one on both ends. any help is appreciated thanks in advance.

[Alex Tonin]

It looks like you're getting snipes. The board is lifting up as it exits the cut and is only being held down by one pressure roller. Check their alignment first, and if they're still good, you might want to try to using sacrificial scrap pieces before and after your good piece, and see if that helps.

[jack forsberg]

Most likely a pressure roller or pressure bar problem but not knowing the machine type it’s impossible to remedy a legitimate procedure. If what you have is a lunchbox planer check that chips have not packed under the bearing blocks of the neoprene feed rollers and this is not allowing them to travel down onto the board with pressure . This is a very common problem on planers that have been run without dust collection And is often a telltale sign when making light cuts. It would be interesting to see if the snipe disappears with heavy cuts To prove the point

[Adam Herd]

I have no idea how to check the alignment of the rollers. I have just a ryobi bench top. Jack are you just saying that I may need to just clear all the chips out from the machine? I did notice that I have a large mount of chips every where in the planer. But the table was free of any dirt or chips so I figured that wouldn't be a problem. I have chips off to the sides of the table and other normal places.

[William Young]

I have a feeling these boards might be rather thin. If so, they are likely flexing upward into the cutters. You will need to stick them down to a thicker board with double face tape in order to plane them further.

[Adam Herd]

They are actually over an inch I was trying to get them down to 7/8" I just need it for a spacer for my vice.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Are you using dust collection with your planer?

[Matt Day]

Also make sure you have outfeed support. If there isn’t, the weight of the board will create a leveling effect and lift the trailing end of the board into the cutter, making a deep cut like you’re seeing.

[Ray Newman]

If you need the manual, Ryobi has on-line manuals available: https://www.ryobitools.com/power-tools/support/manuals

[johnny means]

Definitely snipe. Support your boards better on entry and exit.

[Bill Dufour]

measure the distances between the cutter head and feedrollers and compare that to the distance in from the end of the board to the deep trough. If they are the same it is snipe after the infeed roller is no longer touching the wood.
Looks like snipe to me and the distance looks about right.
Bill D.

[Marshall Harrison]

Definitely snipe. Support your boards better on entry and exit.

That's my thought too. But I have never seen it that bad. One of those boards appears to have a gouge out of it. Maybe where the board slapped the cutter head when roller tension was lost.

[Steve Demuth]

A couple of questions that may help lead you in a helpful direction:

Is the gouge on the leading or trailing end of the board?

Does your board "hang up" as you feed it into the machine shortly after the planer starts cutting?

With the machine set up to cut can you "rock" the upper head assembly on the elevator screws? That is, with upward pressure on the head assembly where the board feeds in, will the whole assembly move up perceptibly? Ditto for upward pressure on the outboard side?

[lowell holmes]

I would try Alex's suggestion. It makes sense to me.

[Bill Dufour]

I had issues with my NTM planer. the bronze bushings for the feed rolls were worn and allowed the feed rolls to move up and down in a random manor. Replaced the bushings and all is well.
Bill D.

[andy bessette]

Cheap planer?