V3.42 - Yes, a ‘snipe hunt’ is a real thing.

Ok, so we’ve talked about planers, what they will do and what they won’t...what causes the biggest problem (and it really is a simple solution). Now this time, we get to talk about one of the biggest pains in the you-know-where.

This week I’d like to introduce you to one of the most frequent problems of a planer. Snipe. Yes, it really IS called that…among other things. The basic symptom is that after the board has been run through the planer, the thickness of the ends is thinner than the middle of the board. Remembering that the purpose of a planer is to make the board the same thickness in all areas, Snipe is not an acceptable outcome.

Snipe can also be known as ‘cut out’; ‘dip out’; ‘notching’- names like that.

Essentially tho, one looks at the board surface and sees where, for the first few inches and usually the last few inches, the knives have made a deeper cut than they do on the rest of the board. For the purpose of our discussion, we’re going to limit ourselves to lunchbox planers that do not have bed rollers. [Bed rollers, which are mostly found on industrial planers. create other situations that we aren’t ready to talk about].

Alright, so you’ve sent a board thru and you see and feel snipe on the ends of the board. The first thing to realize is that this is being caused by the head of the planer rising as the board gets underneath both feed rollers. Again, we’re talking about lunchbox planers that usually are pretty simple- they have a fixed bed and a movable head. The head moves up and down to adjust the thickness of the cut.

So what happens- as the board is placed on the bed and pushed into the planer, the infeed roller grabs it and pulls it in, about 2 inches into the planer, the board runs underneath the knives and starts being cut. About 2 inches after that, the board runs underneath the outfeed roller and starts being pulled by both rollers, AND this is where the snipe stops… on the front end of the board. As it comes out, it leaves the infeed roller and snipe starts on the trailing end of the board. In this case you would have a 2” snipe on each end of the board.

Lots of background I know, but knowing the basics is essential to knowing why snipe occurs and what to do about it…and that we will do next time.

Send your questions or comments to:
Toolsmartz@bellsouth.net and we’ll see what we can do to help you.

V3.41 - Is it Dull Knives, or something else?

I just got to thinking that these past couple of columns have been more and more like a Saturday morning cliff-hanger…I set out the problem and just when you think I’m gonna give up the answer, I put it off until next week…?

Alright, this week, I really will give you the final solution to the problem.

We do need to recap, if we have some new readers…So here it is: you’ve been using your lunchbox planer, and it has been working just fine…but all of a sudden, it refuses to plane the wood. You can’t even shove the wood in and get it to work. It used to be that it practically pulled the wood out of your hand as you fed it…now, it ain’t happening. Last week, we brought up a dirty, or pitch encrusted bed surface and dirty or wood flour-caked-up feed rollers.

I left you with a teaser about there being one more solution that many people think should be number 1 on the list.

Here it is… Dull knives. Yep, that’s it. I have seen many a planer, just quit planning and the owner changes the knives, or flips his over to a fresh edge, and the planer resumes ‘doing it’s thing’ just fine. One needs to understand that when the knives get dull, they start beating on the wood and they actually create more resistance to the job the feed rollers can do (that being push the wood through the planer). Yes, changing the knives CAN do that.

Now, if you’ve read the past couple of columns, you may be asking: “If it’s that simple, why didn’t he just say so?” Well, here’s why… let’s pretend that your planer quit working as we have described and you change the knives…and…it…still…doesn’t…feed. Now what? Well. More than likely, your problem was a dirty bed or caked up feed rollers (or maybe both)…which you will now have to clean, with those freshly sharpened knives right within a finger’s reach. Do you know how easily fresh knives will cut flesh? LIKE BUTTER.

So, as I suggested, clean the bed and the rollers first. That way, your fingers are at least close to used knives. Don’t get me wrong, they will still cut the mess out of you, but not quite as easy as fresh knives will.

Also, there is a possibility that you will get more board feet cut with your knives before you need to change them, if you will clean the bed and rollers first. That was my thinking behind my suggestions.

Send your questions or comments to:
Toolsmartz@bellsouth.net and we’ll see what we can do to help you.

V3.40 - Oh No, My Planer quit planing

Let’s see, where were we?... Oh Yes, you’ve been using your lunchbox planer, and it has been working just fine…but all of a sudden, it refuses to plane the wood. You can’t even shove the wood in and get it to work. It used to be that it practically pulled the wood out of your hand as you fed it…now, it ain’t happening. What’s a woodworker to do?

Well, in this scenario, the FIRST thing to do is to make sure that the planer’s bed (or “table”, if you prefer, by either name, it is the surface the wood slides on) is not caked up with sticky pitch or sap. If it is, you may have found your problem. What you need is a good bed cleaning. There are several tar & pitch removers on the market and I am sure they work great and are not as hazardous as my personal favorite – fingernail polish remover. Also known as, acetone. I like it, I use it, but I make doggone sure that I have good ventilation while using it. Back when I was in the Navy, I got wasted by working in an enclosed space with lots of free-flowing acetone. That taught me a good lesson. Anyway, clean the bed if it needs it.

SECOND: Check the feed rollers and make sure that they aren’t caked up with wood flour. If they are, they could be slipping on the wood and not grabbing it enough to pull it through. Here again, a good cleaning is the answer. If your planer has steel rollers, acetone could be your friend once again. On the other hand, if your planer has urethane or rubber-coated rollers, as most lunchbox planers do, you’ll need to clean them a different way. Some people say to use alcohol, but I have seen this cause those types of rollers to get harder than they should be...which also causes them to lose their gripping power. My personal favorite for urethane rollers is…Dawn. Yep, dish-washing soap. Mix up some in a bowl with water as hot as you can stand it and use a Scotch-Bright pad to scour and scrub the rollers. Rinse all the soap off and let them air dry and they will be good as new… and pull like it, too.

Ok, we’ve covered two corrective actions for when a lunchbox planer abruptly quits planning...there actually IS a THIRD solution…and some people would say that it should be the first thing to do. I don’t think so and I’ll tell you what the THIRD option is, and why it is third on my list…next week.

Send your questions or comments to:
Toolsmartz@bellsouth.net and we’ll see what we can do to help you.