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Thread: General 130 planer - anyone been able to eliminate snipe?

  1. #1

    General 130 planer - anyone been able to eliminate snipe?

    I've had a General International 15" planer for about 20 years. It has served me very well. Over a couple of setups, I have managed to all but eliminate snipe on this planer, even when planing very thin/small boards.

    I recently was able to pick up a General 130 planer for a very good price, and installed a new 3 hp Leeson motor in it (it came with 3 phase motor).

    I've played with all the settings on the Canadian made General (for hours and hours), and have been unable to eliminate snipe. I typically build smaller pieces, so prefer to have boards come out of the planer almost perfect, without having to cut off 3-4" each end to remove snipe. On the GI, a little sanding will eliminate the almost invisible snipe marks.

    I have the infeed/outfeed about .030 below cutterhead, knives are within a thou of planer bed, bed rollers are flush with table, infeed/outfeed table rollers a few thou above bed, pressure bar about .001 above cutterhead knives. Still getting snipe.

    Any thoughts or suggestions?

    Thanks in advance.

    Jon

  2. #2
    Hi Jon, I just went through this with mine.

    When you feed stock through, can you see your chip breaker lift a little bit? Also can you hear your rear pressure lift and drop a little? Those are actually supposed to be a little bit below the cutting circle but I found when I set it according to the manual (x # of turns ) it jammed up, so I started with the chip breaker and rear pressure about 0.001 above the cutting circle and slowly dropped them JUST till they wanted to grab the stock a little too much, then raised them a smidgen. Worked pretty well for me, though I need to file my chip breaker as it's not perfectly parallel to the bed. It also helps to check both the chip breaker and the rear pressure to make sure there are no rough spots or burrs on them that make them want to catch more than they should. Also, wax them so the wood slides under them nicely. I actually used lapping film on mine to make them nice and slippery.

    Hope this helps,

    B
    https://shorturl.at/mRTU3

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Feb 2011
    Location
    Central WI
    Posts
    5,666
    First I would lower the bed rollers to take them out of play. Is snipe at leading or trailing end or both? Once you have adjusted the PB as stated above, feed roller pressure is the next step. I don't know how the 130 adjusts that but you generally want only enough to move the stock when the beds are waxed. The 130 is a superior machine to the GI so it should be a matter of trial and error. Dave

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Feb 2011
    Location
    New Brunswick, Canada
    Posts
    324
    Got mine set so that you can barely see the leading end snipe unless you let the light cast across it. Easy to remove with RO sander. Nothing on the trailing end. Most times I plane my pieces end to end . I really don't see how you can completely eliminate snipe to some degree. Keep the beds slippery as well. Really enjoy using my 130.

  5. #5
    Thanks for the suggestions, I will try tweaking the PB and outfeed roller, etc, and let you know what happens.

  6. #6
    So I tried some of the suggestions above.

    I lowered the table rollers 1/16" below the bed to make sure they were not interfering with anything. I have the infeed and outfeed rollers at .030 below the cutterhead. I placed the pressure bar about .001 below the knives, and backed off the spring pressure on the infeed, PB, and outfeed roller till material was actually not feeding smoothly. I then increased the pressure very slightly on the infeed/outfeed rollers. I also have the rollers at the table ends slightly above the table, just enough to roll with the pressure of the wood feeding through.

    Depending on the board (material, size, and thickness) I am getting no snipe, a little snipe, or lots of snipe (ie on small thin pieces).

    I will leave things as is for now and get back to making furniture. I've been using the planer almost exclusively for testing, since just finishing up a few projects, so look forward to actually using it to run some material for the next piece.

    Thanks for the suggestions!

  7. #7
    Quote Originally Posted by Jon Barnett View Post
    So I tried some of the suggestions above.

    I lowered the table rollers 1/16" below the bed to make sure they were not interfering with anything. I have the infeed and outfeed rollers at .030 below the cutterhead. I placed the pressure bar about .001 below the knives, and backed off the spring pressure on the infeed, PB, and outfeed roller till material was actually not feeding smoothly. I then increased the pressure very slightly on the infeed/outfeed rollers. I also have the rollers at the table ends slightly above the table, just enough to roll with the pressure of the wood feeding through.

    Depending on the board (material, size, and thickness) I am getting no snipe, a little snipe, or lots of snipe (ie on small thin pieces).

    I will leave things as is for now and get back to making furniture. I've been using the planer almost exclusively for testing, since just finishing up a few projects, so look forward to actually using it to run some material for the next piece.

    Thanks for the suggestions!
    Hi Jon, it's interesting that you say that about thin pieces, because I am getting that too but I haven't actually finished setting mine up yet as I had to get back to work. Once I finish adjusting the chip breaker and file it level to the bed, it should go away. There is no spring pressure for the chip breaker so you are just relying on the weight of it.

    Glad to hear you're getting better results, at least more often!

    Brent
    https://shorturl.at/mRTU3

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Apr 2017
    Location
    Michigan
    Posts
    2,758
    I just lift the workpiece a little when starting and finishing. It takes a little practice.

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