MescaBug Posted October 14, 2007 Report Share Posted October 14, 2007 (edited) Hello, I just got a Mastercraft 12" planer yesterday. It does a very good job, but leaves a slight depression at each end of the board. There is nothing in the manual about adjusting the rollers. This is my first time with a stationary planer... I know what's causing this; pressure pushes the board a little bit downward when it hits the first roller, gets 100% level when both rollers are in contact, and gets a little upward when the first roller is not in contact anymore, and only the second roller applies pressure. High end planers have a "snipe reducing lock". I'm french. Would that refers to this problem? Is this normal? Do all planers works like that? It's really not that bad, but I loose 2" at each end. Should I put some little pressure on the board to keep it flat until both rollers are in contact? Or maybe the rollers puts to much pressure on the board? Let me know. Sorry for the crappy pics, but that gives a better idea. Thanks, David Edited October 14, 2007 by MescaBug Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MescaBug Posted October 14, 2007 Author Report Share Posted October 14, 2007 I think I got my answer from customer support: "Avoid snipe or depressions made by the cutterhead knives at the beginning or the end of the board by supporting both ends evenly. Keep the board level during the entire planing operation." I would appreciated some comments about this procedure. David Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick500 Posted October 14, 2007 Report Share Posted October 14, 2007 Make sure your infeed and outfeed tables are set up correctly (in the same plane as the base of the planer that the wood rides over). If necessary, use extension tables to help keep the workpiece from tipping. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erikbojerik Posted October 14, 2007 Report Share Posted October 14, 2007 +1 on what Rick said. You need to take a straightedge and lay it across the table underneath the cutters, then adjust the screws that support the infeed and outfeed tables until both are perfectly level. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Exoticwood Posted October 14, 2007 Report Share Posted October 14, 2007 (edited) Though I don't do much work on guitars, I had the same problem with mine. I also wanted to thickness some very thin stock so I made a sled to send the wood through on. Made all the difference. Sled was a piece of 3/4" MDF, or can be high grade plywood, covered with sand paper,on the up side, to stabilize the board, and had a stop on the end just a little lower than the intended thickness of the finished stock to be planed. In some species of wood I could plane down to 1/10th of an inch in quartersawn. Hope this helps ~ it really did wonders for me. Also sled needs to be about 8 inches longer than board to be planed ~ distributed evenly on both ends. Edited October 14, 2007 by Exoticwood Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
orgmorg Posted October 14, 2007 Report Share Posted October 14, 2007 I don't think I've ever seen a planer that didn't snipe the ends at least a litle bit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick500 Posted October 14, 2007 Report Share Posted October 14, 2007 Exoticwood: Good idea... I did the same thing in order to send short pieces of wood through the planer, such as headstock overlays, etc. I use a Safe-T-Planer for that now, but the planer sled worked great. I used to double-stick tape them down to the sled rather than using sandpaper. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Posted October 15, 2007 Report Share Posted October 15, 2007 I don't think I've ever seen a planer that didn't snipe the ends at least a litle bit. Same here, although it can be greatly minimized from a proper setup. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MiKro Posted October 23, 2007 Report Share Posted October 23, 2007 I've found that small planers 12" to 15 " that when you adjust the the in feed and out feed tables ( which are usually small) add about 1/32nd of an inch rise at the outside ends. this tends to lessen snipe. Just my observations using them over the years. MK Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
killemall8 Posted October 23, 2007 Report Share Posted October 23, 2007 i had the same problem with a 20" planer at school. it was brand new. it worked perfect for about a month, cut like a finish planer. but then it started to do that same thing, i spent months trying to figure it out. asked the teacher. said to adjust everything, never could get it to do it without taking that chunk out at the end. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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