Best handplane to remove planer snipe
knothead1049
| Posted in Power Tools and Machinery on
I haven’t been able to avoid about twelve inches of snipe at each end of the board from my planer. Which bench plane would be best to finish plane these hardwood boards ?
Replies
I guess I'd say first that you can eliminate the snipe in a couple ways. One, don't cut the board to length until you're finished planing, then cut off the sniped ends. Two, push a sacrificial board through the planer just in front of your good board and another one just after, in each case so they're touching your good board. They will get sniped and your good board won't. You can also adjust the infeed and outfeed tables to reduce snipe and make sure you're supporting the ends of the boards going in and coming out.
But if you have the snipe, a finishing plane (#4 or #4 1/2) should do a good job hiding it.
12 inches at each end seems a lot. I all but eliminated snipe by making an MDF table that goes clear through the planer and increases the length of the infeed and outfeed. I also canted both ends up slightly. If I do get any snipe, it is minimal and only about 3 or 4 inches.
I lost 3/4 inch of depth, but how often do you use the entire depth of the planer?
Snipe is usually confined to just a couple of inches at each end of the board, it's location is determined by the spacing of the feed rollers to the cutter head. "Snipe" 12 inches in from the ends is being caused by something else, you should be able to locate its cause and eliminate it. What type of planer are you using?
If you plane out the snipe, the stock will no longer be flat, defeating the purpose of using a thickness planer. For narrower stock you can take the sniped face and run it over the jointer. If you take a light pass, and the jointer is well tuned, the two faces of the board will still be parallel when you get done.
John W.
Actually, snipe is a gouge in the wood, therefore, if you use a handplane, you have to plane the whole board to bring it down to the same level as the gouge , therefore eliminating.
Hmmmm, we definitely need more info here. That's not snipe, per se, it's something much more drastic.
forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
Another proud member of the "I Rocked With ToolDoc Club" .... :>)
Knothead...
sounds like your initial and final infeed techniques need a little refinement... they'll get better with practice...
To loose the snipe permanently, switch to hand planes. They don't care how wide the board is, how thick the board is, how flat the board is... they simply transform from rough cut stock to perfectly finished board, no snipe, no ripple, no hassle, no twist, no burn, no dust and minimal noise..
I reckon you'd need to get hold of a couple of hand planes to properly remove the snipe, and work the board to a fine finish; either a 5 1/2, 6 or 7 to cut the surface down to the level of the tear out (generally the longer the better) and either a 4 or 4 1/2 to finish smooth the board.. Well tuned planes and good sharp blades should make light work of the job... done in next to no time....
Mike Wallace
Stay safe....Have fun
Knothead-
Assuming that you are not going to switch to handplanes, as Mike Wallace recommends, we need more information. What type of planer are you using. Snipe can be virtually and completely eliminated on a planer if the infeed and outfeed rollers are adjustable. Some are, and some aren't. I was recently on the Northfield Foundry website, (an industrial machinery manufacturer) checking specks for my jointer, and recall seeing a very nice description on what the settings for infeed and outfeed rollers should be, in relation to the cutter knife settings. I believe that the principle should apply to all planers. Also, supporting your stock better on infeed and outfeed side should help. If the rollers are not adjustable, or if you don't feel confident in attempting this, then your only solution would be to use sacrificial stock before and after the stock you're milling, as previously posted by a few folks not trying to convert your woodshop into an electricity free environment.
And to Mr. Wallace, I have 250 board feet of cherry that needs final flattening and planing tomorrow so I can start on a conference table and set of chairs for a commission due by Christmas, could you bring your #7 over and help me???
JC
could you bring your #7 over and help me???
JC...you're having trouble with snipe too...???? I thought you just said... Oh nevermind...
;)
I'd love to help, unfortunately I'm snowed under with comissions of my own... Would be nice though; never worked with cherry before. To date the only hardwoods I've worked have been locally grown; cherry doesn't get that big in these parts...Mike Wallace
Stay safe....Have fun
Michael- This cherry tree was cut down by me 4 years ago; it was right where my new shop now stands. 33 inches wide at it's widest. As far as my comment about the #7 goes, I guess it just bugs me when I think that someone is just looking for some help here, and they end up getting preached to about guys and their hand tools vs. power tools stuff. That's a whole different thread, but not this one.
JC
JC..
Sounds like that cherry tree should yield enough stock for a lot of fine projects, each with their own story to tell...
I can more than relate re sermons... I get tired reading that wood munchers are the be all and end all etc; I made my point quickly and left it at that, believing that answering the question was more important...Mike Wallace
Stay safe....Have fun
Square the ends if not done and hot glue a scrape piece on each end of the board. The scrape pieces will take the snipe then cut the finished board to size.
Rex
Metod,
While your method to reduce snipe works well, I use the same trick myself, the cause of the problem has a different explanation.
The infeed and outfeed rollers have stiff springs above them that hold the rollers firmly against the stock to prevent slippage. When a board passes under the rollers, they push upwards against the springs and make the entire power head of the planer flex upward slightly.
Snipe occurs when the leading end of the board encounters the outfeed roller. The cutter is already planing the board when the added upward pressure from passing under the outfeed roller flexes the power head upward creating a slightly shallower cut. The snipe appears about two inches away from the ends of the board because that is the distance between the cutter head and the feed rollers.
When the trailing end of the board passes out from under the infeed roller, the same action occurs in reverse, the now reduced upward pressure on the power head allows it to drop down slightly, sniping the last few inches of the stock. Cutter head locks are supposed to reduce the problem by preventing the head from lifting, but they obviously don't work perfectly.
Lifting the stock works because it preloads the power head, flexing it upward before the board first enters or leaves the second roller.
John W.
Edited 11/11/2004 10:18 am ET by JohnW
John- That's the nicest, well written explanation I've ever heard for snipe. No wonder you get the big bucks!!! (lol) I very much enjoy your advice here, and look forward to learning from them in the future. Thanks!!
JC
J.C.
Thanks, I thought I was being a bit too wordy.
John W.
"...too wordy." Not at all. A well-crafted explanation!forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)Another proud member of the "I Rocked With ToolDoc Club" .... :>)
I'm sure that I'm not the only one who looks forward to your contributions. But this one has me a bit puzzled.
First, if the power head is flexed upward it would seem that less wood is planed rather than more. One would have the opposite of snipe--anti-snipe. Second if the flexing occurs when the leading edge of the board meets the outfeed roller and snipe occurs, wouldn't it appear as little dished-out bit an inch or so in from the end? If you can pleas enlighten me.
Ron
Ron,
What is commonly called snipe, on benchtop planers, is a small step in the end of the board where the first few inches of the board are planed slightly thinner than the rest of the stock and this is the effect I was describing in my explanation.
Once the head flexes upward, creating the leading end snipe, it will stay in the higher position for almost the full length of the stock, just as long as both rollers are bearing on the board. The head will only drop down again when the trailing end of the board passes out from under the infeed roller, lowering the upward force on the head and sniping the last few inches of the board.
By the way, on large planers, with bed rollers ,you can get a reverse snipe, where the ends are a bit thicker than the mid section, but that's a story for another day.
John W.
John
Thank You John, all is clear and consistent with my understanding of how a planer works. I'm guessing that the reverse snipe is caused by the front bed rollar being depressed at the beginning of a cut and the rear one at the end.
Ron
Knothead--I found a solution that works for me. Recently changed the blades on my 12.5" Delta planer and set the outfeed rollers at .020" below the cutters according to the manual. Was rewarded with about 3" of heavy snipe. Figuring more is not better, I readjusted the outfeed roller to .010" below the cutters. No snipe! Might be worth a try.--Bruce
Or was that above the cutters? Can't remember. Which ever way, less is more.
Edited 11/13/2004 9:13 am ET by k9s
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