Does anyone have a suggestion for using a planer without getting snipe? I have some 1.5 x 3 inch maple I want to glue together to make a 3″ thick workbench. When I bought the wood it had a little snipe and I paid to have it run through the drum sander. Unfortunately, more wood was taken off the sides than the middle. When I put two boards together there is the slightest space along the joint.
I have heard that if I run the boards on a sheet of plywood through the planer it eliminates snipe. Any suggestions are appreciated.
Replies
Erik:
Since snipe occurs on the first 2-3 inches of the board, use a ~6" sacrificial "leader" board. Feed it first, then butt your board against the tail end of the leader board as it goes into the planer. If you pre-arrange your boards, then you could feed all of them end-to-end--voila, no snipes.
Objective is to use the leader board to bring the cutter head to the position it gets when both infeed and outfeed rollers are resting on the board. I am assuming you're not getting snipe at the tail end, but if you do, just use a follower board...same principle.
If the spacing you get between boards is very small, you might what to reconsider fixing it. If clamps can be used to bring the boards together, you have a "sprung" joint, and some say this is the ideal joint for table tops.
Thanks for the idea. Would the same principle work if I ran a sacrifice board the same thickness through first and after it is about a third of the way through run a good board along side (not butt to butt)? As that one is about a third through run a another board through. I will try both ways this weekend on some scrap wood. Again, thanks.
Erik,
Running more than one board at a time will probably not work well in your situation. I suspect you do not have an expensive, industrial planer with pre-loaded, sectional infeed rollers and the like. You will probably get excessive chatter - especially for the first 6 inches or so of the second board through.
End to end, one at a time, is the best way to go for your final two passes.
Clampman
Tufenhudel's suggestion is right on. I ran a bunch of boards through that way just last week and the snipe was non-existant. One thing I'd do, though, if you're doing quite a bit of narrow-board planing, is to distribute the work across the width of the knives [eg., some on the left, some on the right and some in the middle] especially with a hard wood like maple.
forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
Erik,
I have support wings for my planner and never get any snipe..the wings are about 34" each. Puting the stock on a longer, wider board and pushing it through should work...as long as the longer board is stiff and does not bow.
I'm kinda surprised your sanding did not take care of the situation...I'm kinda wondering if your stock did not bow?...the planner will not fix that...
A good compromise is to butt all your boards end to end, but offset each to the side one by a few inches, depending on the width of the board.. This evens out the wear on your knives, and still eliminates snipe.
I have an old Belsaw planer. I adjusted the infeed and outfeed tables carefully, then glued down one piece of laminate that goes all the way through on the bed and tables (no bottom rollers). If I do my part at all, I get no snipe, and it feeds well.
Michael R.
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