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9th December 2013, 10:43 PM #1GOLD MEMBER
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Curing snipe on the Carbatec CT-330X Portable thicknesser
I have one of those benchtop 13 inch thicknessers from Carbatec - this one CARBA-TEC . Its the model with the make-believe spiral cutter head. Actually, its a pretty good machine for the price and it fulfils my limited requirements quite nicely, except in one area - snipe. When I bought it, I was under the impression that designs had changed such that - snipewise - it would be a step up on my older H&F benchtop. In practise, however, I've found it to be pretty much the same. I would have just written this off as a limitation of thicknessers except that I have seen posts by people claiming that their machine produces very little or no snipe.
So what I want to know is:
- if you have this machine, how's the snipe ?
- have you done anything to the machine to reduce snipe ? I don't want to start doing adjustments unless I know its going to be worthwhile - they can be finicky creatures.
- one thing I notice about the machine is that the 'snipe-lock' (current marketing term for a cutterhead lock) is amazingly feeble. Is this the source of the problem. Can it be tightened ?
Please note that this is not a post about how to limit snipe on thicknessers generally. I know there's a zillion ways to control snipe which all work to some degree (ie by doing things like lifting boards at the end of their travel and putting sacrificial boards through at the same time). What I want to focus on here is can you actually fix THIS machine to minimize snipe, and why do some owners claim to have no snipe but mine snipes.
cheers
ArronApologies for unnoticed autocomplete errors.
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9th December 2013 10:43 PM # ADSGoogle Adsense Advertisement
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10th December 2013, 12:10 AM #2
There is an old thread about this here.
https://www.woodworkforums.com/f154/i...knesser-25930/Cliff.
If you find a post of mine that is missing a pic that you'd like to see, let me know & I'll see if I can find a copy.
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14th December 2013, 07:33 PM #3GOLD MEMBER
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So no response so far...
Maybe if I ask does anyone have this machine and want to comment on its tendancy to snipe ?
cheers
ArronApologies for unnoticed autocomplete errors.
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14th December 2013, 07:48 PM #4GOLD MEMBER
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Hi Arron, this is probably not what you want to hear, what makes you think that this machine is any different to any other thicknesser when it comes to snipe?
In all thicknessers, if the infeed and outfeed trays are not accurately set, then you will get snipe.
I use a single piece of melamine covering the infeed and outfeed tray as the base for my Elektra Beckum thicknesser, but still get snipe. I find the best way is to put a sacrifical piece through with the workpiece but about 100mm in front. Or make the workpiece 100mm longer and cut off the sniped piece.
The only ones I have come across who solved the problem are Derek Cohen and Wolffie here but I could not replicate itregards,
Dengy
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14th December 2013, 08:13 PM #5GOLD MEMBER
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It very likely isn't - and that's my point. I'm tempted to think that it is different simply because I have read several formal or informal reviews (such as this one https://www.woodworkforums.com/f171/c...review-171260/ ) where the reviewer clearly thinks it is. I suspect its not because my machine isnt, but I don't want to close my mind to the possibility. Therefore, I wanted to hear from other users of this specific machine.
A smaller and less trustworthy issue is that the machine has a thing labelled a 'snipe lock', which in the manual is said to 'prevent' snipe. What I'm trying to work out here is whether this does make a difference or whether it is just marketing hyperbole. On mine machine, it doesn't work, but again I don't want to close my mind to the possibility that it might work if I do a bit more setup.
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.
thanks for your reply anyway
cheers
ArronApologies for unnoticed autocomplete errors.
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14th December 2013, 10:57 PM #6GOLD MEMBER
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Hi Arron, attached is a review of my thicknesser, with the red locking bar too. See the photo on the bottom RH corner. I have found it doesn't make any difference to snipe, as did the reviewer. I hope this helps
regards,
Dengy
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15th December 2013, 10:34 AM #7
I can't see clearly from the picture, but it looks as though the cutterhead assembly rides up and down on a single shaft each side???
The old cheap Ryobi thicknesser (which I used to own before the snipe gave me the irits) at least had 4 posts. Various fixes for snipe on this machine involved basically putting some sort of lock on each post to stop the cutterhead moving up under load. I used hose clamps.....
With your machine I suspect the cutterhead is rotating slightly as the timber enters - try setting it for a deep cut to exaggerate the effect, then look to see where the cutterhead moves. It must be moving somewhere, or you wouldn't be getting snipe. If it does only have two posts, then its not surprising that the "cutterhead lock" doesn't help much. It might stop vertical movement, but there is nothing to prevent rotation.
I never did fix the Ryobi machine completely. It has since been replaced by JET JPT-310, so snipe is no longer an issue.
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15th December 2013, 10:38 AM #8
Just noticed that the Carbatec blurb specifically states "No end snipe". Not "minimal end snipe" or "reduced end snipe".
False advertising - take it back for a refund.
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17th December 2013, 03:22 PM #9SENIOR MEMBER
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Hi Aron,
You have probably checked the feed in and out tables, however, I had to spend a lot of time adjusting the the eight bolts to get the tables level. I no longer get snipe except when I forget to engage the anti-snipe lock.
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2nd January 2014, 10:00 PM #10SENIOR MEMBER
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Another thing I did today which might interest owners of this machine was remove the plastic insert in the dust cowl. This opened up the exit somewhat which seems to have improved the dust collection.
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28th January 2014, 08:52 PM #11GOLD MEMBER
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28th January 2014, 11:52 PM #12SENIOR MEMBER
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Hi Arron, Yes it is the Carbatec CT-330x.
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5th March 2014, 12:45 AM #13Retired
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I have one and get absolutely zero snipe. I did have to adjust the infeed and outfeed tables so they were dead flat when under pressure.
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5th March 2014, 06:10 AM #14GOLD MEMBER
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OK, thanks for that. It gives me an understanding of what is possible.
Cheers
ArronApologies for unnoticed autocomplete errors.
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5th March 2014, 10:42 AM #15SENIOR MEMBER
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Yes, as I said in my earlier post and Evanism has confirmed today that it is vital to spend time on getting the infeed and outfeed tables absolutely flat which can be a pain because of the number of bolts that must be adjusted. I found if you adjust one it can throw another one out but if you persevere it will come together and the result is no more snipe (just remember to always use the head lock)
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