Thread: Curing snipe on the Carbatec CT-330X Portable thicknesser

I've given this thread some thought over the last few days. Mainly as I've been doing HEAPS of thicknessing and generally giving the 330CX a good flogging.

My studio is small. Hehe, studio. Garage! So I need to make sure maximum utilisation. The 330 gets moved continuously up and down off the bench into its hole. It is by no means a set and forget 450kg corner monster like Travs (a beast!)

It's really, really important to ensure the snipe lock is sufficiently engaged. I have never wound the height with it on (the instructions are very clear on this warning) and secondly, I spent a fair chunk of time with the metre steel rule to ensure the tables were flat.

Placing the ruler sideways (ok, I also used my fatmaxx Stanley level as it has a big flat side and it's very long) to ensure the ruler was flat on the bed and the tables were raised and lowered (no lock nuts) until they were perfect, with just a HAIR of upward pressure once so. Then I locked all four nuts using two spanners, ensuring the bolts spanner didn't move an iota.

I pick up the thickie, drop it on the bench and just go for it. I've feet hundreds of metres of wood and I would say it has zero snipe. I have never re-checked it since setup, infact, I haven't even rotated a head unit yet.

The above was just from me buggerising around with the unit when I received it. I opened it wide and studied the guts to understand what it was doing and why...for when I received it the snipe was hideous. I was deeply disappointed, but after doing the above it was completely rectified.

Lastly, this model is very common in the US. I've seen articles where dudes would glue two long bits of stiff ply, one might have a melamine or phenolic top for slipperiness and make a long shoot for the material to slide through on. I'm guessing they were 6' long and were supported both ends from underneath. This kind of sled makes snipe impossible unless the rubber rollers are tipping the timber when entering/existing..... But this is fixed by ensuring the oposite end never leaves the shooting board.

I've been meaning to make one, but to be honest, I've feed through 3" hardwood 6' sleepers and received no snipe....being quite deliberate to give the poor machine a hand with weight on the right end of course.

I agree with Evanism. I spent a long time setting the tables with a straight edge and repeatedly adjusting the bolts till I got it spot on. From memory the two side bolts adjust for horizontal and the the underneath bolts to raise and lower the end of the table and it seemed quite fiddly to get everything in sync.

As Evanism says the head lock is extremely important. If I forget to engage it I will get snipe every time but with it engaged there will be no snipe.

I've gone back to using the long through-table - which is a 1200mm long flat board. My way of thinking is that this should completely knock the setup of the native infeed/outfeed tables out of contention. I still get chronic snipe which is steadily getting worse - I'm wondering if the locking mechanism is slipping? When you guys press the locking lever (snipe lock) on, is there a firm resistence towards the end of its travel ?

Incidenty, I spoke to Carbatec whose contribution was that the fine adjustment of the infeed/outfeed tables is not significant as they are not part of the registration surface.

Cheers
Arron

The lock lever on mine does need a firm push to fully engage it. I am not sure I agree with Carbatec. I assume they mean the main table under the blades and feed in and out rollers does all the work but I think there is a bit more to it than that. As the wood is drawn through it is supported by both rollers but after it clears the infeed roller the wood is held only by the out feed roller as the end clears the blades. I think this means that the wood can pivot on this roller if the outfeed table is not absolutely level with the main table and the lock is engaged. I measured the distance between the blades and the infeed roller and it is around 48mm and this is pretty much the length of the snipe if everything is is not set up correctly. I may be wrong but this is how I see the problem and I certainly had this problem until everything was set up as described.

Originally Posted by Arron

....

I'm familiar with all the many ways of (partially) controlling snipe on a thicknesser but I wanted to deal with the question first of what is the best I can expect to get out of the machine before resorting to the mickey mouse workarounds. I've used a laminated mdf through-table on my last thicknesser for many years, and yes, it had a some effect on snipe, but its a last resort because it threw the preset stops and measurement scales out so I'd rather look at how the designers intended it to be used first ...

Arron

Have a look at the link (somewhere in a post above) to a solution I had for a similar machine (mine was a Delta). This was not a mickey mouse solution. It was a permanent cure that required one small adjustment on mine in 4 years. It did not interfere with any of the controls. What is does is provide a rock solid bracket for the in- and out feeds, along with a micro adjustment for perfect set up. It will take about 10 minutes to make.

In a machine this cheap there is no set up "how the designers intended it to be used" that works out-of-the-box. These machines are a kit and need to be tweaked. Now the Hammer A3-31 I have worked perfectly "how the designers intended it to be used" - but then I expected it to do so at 10 x the price!

Regards from Perth

Derek