Planer snipe

[Anthony Yakonick]

I'm building a stand for my Delta bench top planer and wondering if the infeed and outfeed tables were shortened by two inches each if I would have a bigger problem with snipe. It seems to be about the same with or without the tables anyway. Your thoughts?

Anthony

[Tom Hintz]

I would keep the tables as long as I possibly could. Making fold-down tables should be easy enough to keep them out of the way when not in use.
By the way, I know this sounds weird, but if you introduce the stock to the planer at as big an angle as possible and let the planer straighten it out as it pulls it in, most often the snipe all but goes away.
I have an old cabinet maker who works with me on my site that gave me a long complicated explaination about why that works (They had to do it all the time on the early planers), but it does seems to work.

[Jim Becker]

I agree with Tom, Anthony. Those tables are the only thing that supports the weight of the workpiece as it passes through the machine, except for the help you give at the beginning and end of the pass with your hands. Bigger is better in this case. If you need to bag the factory tables, no problem as long as you do fold-downs as Tom suggests to replace them. You can get a very compact cabinet/stand that way without sacrificing the support you need for the tool. In fact, you'll end up with longer tables that way which is even better.

[Todd Woodward]

I would keep the tables as long as I possibly could. Making fold-down tables should be easy enough to keep them out of the way when not in use.
By the way, I know this sounds weird, but if you introduce the stock to the planer at as big an angle as possible and let the planer straighten it out as it pulls it in, most often the snipe all but goes away.
I have an old cabinet maker who works with me on my site that gave me a long complicated explaination about why that works (They had to do it all the time on the early planers), but it does seems to work.

It's actually not long or complicated. Your basic planer has two feed rollers. Infeed and outfeed. When you put the wood in, when it first enters it is only being moved by the infeed roller. With all the leverage and weight of a long board, the end in the infeed roller is actually raised (leverage and gravity check good). It works the exact opposite when coming out. As the outfeed roller is the only roller moving the wood, the weight of the board pushe down on the unsupported edge and forces the end under the roller to compress the rubber roller a bit and raise itself off of the bed and into the cutter head a little bit, thus causing snipe.
the problem lies in that I keep seeing people say they have snipe when in actuality the don't, and they certainly don't understand and know what snipe really is. Not so in the case above with the table question. HTH

[Jim Hill 2]

Anthony,
Do you have a bench? I built one and made it the focal point of my shop. I am building rolling cabinets for all my power tools including my bench top planer. My plan is to not build folding outfeed tables for any of the tools, but build the cabinet so the outfeed tables are only a 1/4" to half in taller than the bench. I will roll the cabinet up to the bench and when the stock comes out the back of the planer it will be fully supported. I do have this setup for my table saw and router cabinet and love it. Next is the planer followed by a combo cabinet for the drillpress and morticer and one for the miter saw. When your tight on space reuse is key, at least for me. Good luck whichever way you go!

Jim

[Robert Ducharme]

I am a little confused. OKAY, a lot!!

On my planer, the table adjusts up and down based on the thickness I am planing or sanding. I understand the fold down beds making the assumption they are still attached to the bed of the planer. However, if talking about a bench or rolling cabinets, don't you need some way to adjust their height so it matches the planer bed height :confused: Portable adjustable roller stands seem a viable solution.

[Dan Stuewe]

Some of the portable planers adjust the tables (Makita?) others (most based on a quick look at toolseeker.com) adjust the cutterhead (Delta, DeWalt, Ridgid). From what I've read there are pros and cons to each.

Do most of the floor models adjust the tables or cutterhead?

[Anthony Yakonick]

the problem lies in that I keep seeing people say they have snipe when in actuality the don't, and they certainly don't understand and know what snipe really is. Not so in the case above with the table question. HTH
Please explain!?

[Anthony Yakonick]

Anthony,
Do you have a bench? I built one and made it the focal point of my shop. I am building rolling cabinets for all my power tools including my bench top planer. My plan is to not build folding outfeed tables for any of the tools, but build the cabinet so the outfeed tables are only a 1/4" to half in taller than the bench. I will roll the cabinet up to the bench and when the stock comes out the back of the planer it will be fully supported. I do have this setup for my table saw and router cabinet and love it. Next is the planer followed by a combo cabinet for the drillpress and morticer and one for the miter saw. When your tight on space reuse is key, at least for me. Good luck whichever way you go!

Jim
Due to the fact that my shop is small as is my bench, this won't work. Also my shop is dedicated to turning and when I start a production turning run all the "flat" tooling must be tucked out of the way. Have you ever seen the mess that 15 hollow vessels make? Thanks all, I have the stand made and I'll work on the tables later this week.

[Dale Thompson]

Anthony,
None of the portable thickness planers will eliminate "snipe". Some of the newer ones will "reduce" it. Table height or adjustment, within reason, are also not a factor. When the "infeed" roller "collapses" at the end of a board, "snipe" will occur. The only solution which I have found is to "butt" the boards that you are planing so that the "infeed" roller doesn't have a chance to "collapse". The last board should be a "sacrificial" (scrap) board which will absorb the inevitable "snipe".

Just my $.02. SOMEONE has to be at the bottom of the food chain!
:( :o

Dale T.

[Jim Hill 2]

Sorry Robert and friends to cause this confusion. I have only had my benchtop planer for a year and when I was looking it came down to the Delta 2 speed and the Dewalt. Both had fixed height outfeed tables and adjustable cutter head height. Since this is all I have experience with I assumed they were all like this. This setup works great for me since my bench is 2 foot wide and almost 7 foot long.

Anthony I'm hoping to get into turning within the next year or so and guess I'll find out what you mean by a mess when I get there. Enjoy the shavings!

Jim