Thread: Still Leaning... Snipe....

I've found that with my DW 735 if I feed shorter pieces of timber thru on an angle utilising the whole cutting area it doesn't seem evident

my understanding is that it doesn;t exit the infeed roller suddenly thereby not creating the snipe,

I'm still learning too

Various techniques have been discussed on the forum for reducing snipe on this class of machine, but I'd say that for any benchtop thicknesser without a locked cutterhead you are getting pretty good results.

Many years ago I had a very basic Ryobi thicknesser which produced much worse results than that...which explains why I got rid of it and bought a JET JPT310 combo.

When feeding a piece through, I have found that if you can lift the leading end a little as the trailing end is about to pass the cutters, the snipe can be reduced but not necessarily prevented completely.

So having done alot of research and seen alot of solutions to the age old problem of snipe with benchtop thicknessers I've come up with a prototype jig that moves any snipe onto sacrificial edging, not entirely my idea but the re-usability is. Still have to run some more tests but so far it works like a charm. I'll post some photo's when I get a chance but ultimately it involves using very strong double sided tape, this stuff is excellent:

XFasten Double Sided Tape, Removable, 3/4-Inch by 20-Yards (19.05mm x 18.28m), Pack of 3, Ideal as a Gift Wrap Tape, Holding Carpets, and Woodworking : Amazon.com.au: Home Improvement

So here's the prototype jig I made for the thicknesser. It's so simple its stupid, the fences on the sides unscrew level by level until you're just below where the stock you wish to run through (about 7mm). All you do then is attach a 7-10mm sacrificial fence using double sided tape. The length of the jig will vary, just make sure its roughly 200 longer than the timber you're running through as this is where the snipe will move to.


With the sacrificial fence attached:
thumbnail_IMG_9107.jpg


Here's the sacrificial fence detached, you could knocked up a dozen of these out of scrap:
thumbnail_IMG_9108.jpg

So basically this jig design is nothing new however the re-usability is something I came up with.

No more snipe on my expensive timbers!.

We have a similar taste in machines EagerBeaver. I’m still working out snipe on my sherwood also with the spiral head. Jigs aside, what did you do to get the snipe down to 0.05mm?

Originally Posted by lemerv

We have a similar taste in machines EagerBeaver. I’m still working out snipe on my sherwood also with the spiral head. Jigs aside, what did you do to get the snipe down to 0.05mm?

Hey Ben,

It was alot of trial and error but now I feed the timber through either with scrap pieces at both ends or I plonk the timber on a piece of MDF with two walls either side which are the same thickness. I'll take a photo in abit to show you.

I took the wings off the planer and just put a piece of mdf in the middle supported by two pine blocks. Here's the jig I made for passing large stock through the planer, the walls either side are stuck down with really good double sided tape

IMG_E9113.jpg

Originally Posted by EagerBeaver71

I took the wings off the planer and just put a piece of mdf in the middle supported by two pine blocks. Here's the jig I made for passing large stock through the planer, the walls either side are stuck down with really good double sided tape

IMG_E9113.jpg

Cool thanks. That makes sense.

So you need to put on new walls for every piece I assume? Ie the walls need to be thicker than the final thickness you’re aiming for in order to eliminate the snipe?

Originally Posted by lemerv

Cool thanks. That makes sense.

So you need to put on new walls for every piece I assume? Ie the walls need to be thicker than the final thickness you’re aiming for in order to eliminate the snipe?

Yep you got it. Good reason not to chuck away offcuts or scrap timber I guess.

Originally Posted by EagerBeaver71

Yep you got it. Good reason not to chuck away offcuts or scrap timber I guess.

Plenty of "free" pallet wood about as many businesses are very happy for someone to take away their one-way pallets. Try motorcycle shops etc. Here in TSVL there are the regulars who advertise on FB - "free come and pick up after business hours."

Nice solution btw, however the same can be achieved by feeding through a tail board hard up against the trailing end of your expensive exotics.

Originally Posted by Mobyturns

... Nice solution btw, however the same can be achieved by feeding through a tail board hard up against the trailing end of your expensive exotics.

My solution, as well; works so easily and almost idiot proof.

Which does raise the question. The explanation I always see for snipe is that the piece is only being help down by one roller at the start and end, causing the workpiece to tip up into the blade. But that doesn’t make any sense to me if simply placing a sacrificial piece at the start and end of the main piece prevents snipe. It’s not like they are holding the main piece down.

An alternative I read, which makes more sense, is that the work piece engages the front roller as it enters, which forces that roller upwards a bit, causing the whole blade and roller assembly to tilt. The tilt causes the blade to now be slightly lower. Once the piece reaches the back roller, it forces that one up too, eliminating the tilt. Likewise on exit but in reverse.

But I’ve seen the innards of a thicknesser so not sure if the later theory hold water. Anyone any the wiser?

The only thing I can say having run so many tests is that there is no margin for error in the table bed, it simply has to be completely flat and parallel to the roller across the whole width. I've tried so many different things to eliminate snipe but I found it virtually impossible without employing one of the two techniques previously spoken about.