How To Adjust Your Planer To Eliminate Sniping - WOOD magazine 

We recently lumbered a 36" maple, a 36" white ash, and a 32" pecan. After drying, we tried planing with a Rigid (Home Depot) 13" planer with 2 HSS knives ru-vid.comUgkxIzvvTi3_Qc8JnVdYYRJCvuoDC4QjTzeL . This job was clearly too much for that machine. The pecan was particularly difficult, due to heavy mineral deposits, and a sharp pair of HSS knives would be consumed by a mere 3 boards. We were also having lots of problems from chip bruising, due to poor dust collection. The shavings came off like straw and jammed in the 4" hose.We bought the DW735 simply to be able to run carbide blades, which worked brilliantly for the pecan. However, we found it to be a much, MUCH nicer machine. It was far more rigid than the "Rigid" planer, and far more accurate as well. But what I liked most about it was the dust feed. This machine has its own blower, which shreds the "straw" like shavings as they come off the cutting head and helps boost the shavings into the dust collection system. No more clogs! It's also nicely sealed so that the internals stay quite clean. This is just a well tempered machine that's a delight to use. It literally cut the labor in half. Just another example of getting what you pay for.

I'm literally going to go home and adjust my planer. I don't have any upcoming projects that I need it for, but I just feel obligated to do it now. Thank you so much for this tip!!

Finally! Somebody showing how to prevent snipe instead of how to live with it. Thanks!

Craig I wrestle with snipe all the time. In fact I have never not had it. Usually it's minimal and usually I pass my No 3 smooth plane over it and it's done. The two nut adjustment to lift the in and out trays are a pain in the butt and never seem to stay in place long even with locking down. Today I tried your "penny" technique and behold it worked. NO SNIPE. Not even a little!! Thank you sir. I much appreciate it. 👍

Ill be on my shop fixing my planer now! 😮

This will be my project for tomorrow. Thank you! Such an important bit of information should be in the manual.

Hands down, one of the SMARTEST ways to correct snipe I've seen in decades...

Good instruction. Thanks for sharing.

Excellent video to adjust planer. Thank you!

Timeless classic. Not sure how I found this video, but I am so glad that I did. I just subscribed, keep up the inspiring work.

Good video thanks for posting. Going to check the I feed and out feed tables on my planner right now

Oh yes! This is very helpful!! Thank you!!

Awesome video WOOD Mag! Great information!

Brilliant! Well done video and much appreciated!

Thank you very much! I'm gonna adjust my planer ASAP!

Thank you so much! What a great, informative video.

Nice job, and well done.

Awesome video!! Thank you...

Thanks !!! Just what I needed to know.

SWEET thank you, you're the greatest!

Very interesting Thank you

i cant believe in 2020 we are still dealing with snipe and shitty feed tables!

Very informative. I have an old Powermatic, and it can really hog off some lumber. But when I’m close to size, I run it through a couple times without adjusting the cutter. But , NOW I know a better way to “tune up” my machine. Good video, thank you.

Great ! Thank you !

awsome video thank you,

Great video, thanks!

Great! Thanks a lot

Thanks. I just got a new Makita thicknesser and the tables were nowhere near correctly adjusted. I was able to sort the problem out only after watching this video and elongating the holes in the tables (where they screw to the folding arms), with a file, by about 15 thou. Works perfectly now.

2021 Thanks from ALGERIA

Thank you so much for this video! All to often, people advocate large Jigs, More Expensive Machines, or just say "Deal with it." I am not sure that you can ever totally get rid forever, but this video just saved me a ton of money and provided the most comprehensive lunch box planer education I have seen yet. Great Job.

THANK YOU

Just bought a new planer and for the 1st time using a thickness planer in my life and got between 2 and 2 1/2 of snipe. I've known about snipe, and watched a video where somebody made a table that used a continuous table out of a melamine board that covered both the infeed and outfeed tables. This is a much better solution.

Seems to me the video should read how to reduce snipe. I’ve tried so many techniques showed on RU-vid to eliminate snipe. But I have to say that sacrificial wood is the only real fix

thanks

Wow. I feel like an idiot never thinking to do this or that I could do this to begin with. Thank you so much for this video!

I’m happy he did it using the same model planet that I have.

Nice 👍

If you don't have a steel ruler, you can use a 4 foot level just the same. Don't check for level but a level is another straight edge.

thanks.

Nearly all manufacturers of bench top planers with foldable tables have the same basic design. An improvement would be the ability to place a straightedge of some type (or a medium size level) *under* the tables across the width of the planer and its extended wings, allowing you to rest the table on it to adjust & tighten those bolts. Simply adding about 3-4" clearance to the base with a channel would allow this. A known piece of straight hardwood could even be left in the channel to rest the table wings on to help steady it and keep it level during use. In the meantime, I'll be rigging a pair of 2x2" chunks of hardwood with 6 large/strong neodymium magnets in each to lay on top of the table to hold it in place as I adjust and tighten the screws. One board for each side with two magnets per table section to grip it.

My Dewalt 733 manual says only the ends of the tables should be level with the planer bed. The sides of the tables are riveted, not screwed, so the sides ate nor adjustable.

Thanks for sharing this. The ol' just add a few inches to each board and cut them off just never made sense to me. Cheers!!

Boom...problem solved. Thanks.

Thanks so much. I tried couple of things included making a sled, but nothing. Then i followed these directions and perfect. I managed to clean up the boards that already had snipe and every next board came out even down to 1/128th"

To counter any downward table deflection caused by heavy lumber I gently lift the end of the board just as it contacts the roller going into the planer and just as it leaves the entry roller on its way out.

I read that snipe is not caused by table misalignment. It is caused by the roller mechanism pivoting from no wood to engagement with wood. Leader board is the only fix.

I thought the main reason for snipe on these lunchbox planers was the whole cutter head moves as the rollers are engaged?!?! I have a dewalt that I’ve adjusted soo many times to no avail. I’ve reduced it from what it was out of the box...but still there. You only need 2 sacrificial pieces of wood no matter how many pieces you have to plane (helps to have help). Just butt all boards end to end as you pas them through. This will keep both rollers engaged and the head won’t drop. The leading and trailing sacrificial pieces will take all the snipe.

Its 2021 and we are still dealing with Snipe... I just got my new planer and of course its snipe city so i'm gonna do what you mentioned (both methods if needed) and let you know the outcome. Thank you in advance! (hopefully , haha)

MY Dewalt doesn't have those side screws but this is a welcome video nonetheless.

what model craftsman planer is that?

Why don't the planer manufactures use 2 rollers on each side close to each other. Would that hold the wood flat and stop snipe ?

Nice clear instructions, and will be a big help to a lot of folks. My one caveat is the brand of planer you have in the video is crap though, and notorious for not holding adjustments well.

Great instructional video, thank you! I have a combination jounter/planer, which unfortunately does not have tables for the planer part. Can I still prevent snipe from happening?

Avoiding snipe with 6 ft long 8/4 or thicker boards, same steps as in your video? I have a DeWalt DW735 planer. Nice video!!!

On my dewalt it's not the in feed or out feed table that causes this. I built a 8 foot table through the planer out of melamine . With mine it's when it hits the out feed roller

I use a piece of 1” granite 39” long and I still get snipe. I just plan for it.

Thankyou,you save me lost my money.God bless you

It also could be the length of your board and lack of support..

Gee no black magic involved lol. Nice clear video ... thanks!

Great video! I have a 13" Ridgid (pun intended😆) that I will check today. Thanks!

I tried this I still got snipe, I tried lifting the end of the extension away from the base like a ramp and I still got snipe, I put flat piece of melamine jig and still got snipe. I'm so frustrated

Is it just me or is the before and after snipe very similar?

Seemed to all make sense. Until the end. Do I have this right? "Lower the infeed and outfeed until they are level with the center table. Then if you still have snipe, try raising them again."

I thought snipe was caused by the infeed and outfeed rollers not being locked down. ie, when feeding a board the outfeed roller is not initially high enough and when the board exits the infeed roller drops down too quick. Those adjustments don't really make much sense. And obviously did not work as you still had snipe. And while you said sanding can take out that small amount of snipe after you adjusted the tables, you are wrong. Sanding can't raise a low spot. You would have to sand the whole board down to sand away snipe, however small it is. I believe adjusting the tables to be level would be a requirement to set the saw up, yes, but that's just setup, not a flaw. To eliminate snipe something has to be done about the rollers moving.

Been having this problem on my garage sale portable planer.....only a few thousandths difference but it still annoys me. The manual told me how to adjust the blades (worthless without an expensive gauge); I used the tips at ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-7Bk_cLCG0rE.html to adjust mine without gauges.....took only 10 minutes and I'm within 0.003" across a 9-1/2 inch board....I could get it exact with a little more patience. BUT...the manual had NO info regarding infeed/outfeed adjustment....being new to planers I knew absolutely nothing about this stuff. I don't have infeed/outfeed tables, just a roller on extensions at each side, but this video should help me with those as well.

sorry but that is not the problem. It is not about the tables. I have a table that is flat and level that runs completely through the planer for 8 feet both sides and snipe still occurs. There is another video on how the cutter head assemble rotates or twists. by adding in a support at a fixed distance under the planer prevents all snipe. I think it is Jerry's Machines.

Thanx for the video, but....the title says "eliminate snipe"....which he does not do!

Does anyone on earth know how to solve my long deep grooves through the length of the wood problem? My thicknesser has become useless..😪

This is totally wrong. You get snipe from the cutter head rocking when either the front or back feed rollers either grab the board on the in feed roller or when they fall off on the back feed roller. Just make a jig out of one inch thick plywood or whatever that sits inside the walls on the cutter head so it can’t possible rock. Zero or very little snipe. You are all welcome.

"Maria is not an asset to the abbey," and neither is this video. Many factors can cause or affect planer snipe, including table roller settings, infeed and outfeed roller height and tension settings, and sometimes even the texture of the stock. They at least bear comment in a video from a responsible woodworker magazine.

Bruh, this doesn't work. Waste of time. Still need a sacrificial board. Nice try guys!

Why don't the planer manufactures use 2 rollers on each side close to each other. Would that hold the wood flat and stop snipe ?