I've been doing some research about planer snipe, and it seems like most people accept it as just something that happens. However, while watching a tutorial from the Woodworkers Guild, I noticed they cut their pieces to length before running them through the planer. I'm worried that if I try this, I might end up with a 2" slope at the start of my pieces. Is it possible to completely eliminate snipe, or is it just something that depends on the equipment and technique you use?
4 Answers
I don't typically have issues with snipe myself. Here’s my routine: I cut my boards slightly longer first. When feeding them into the planer, I press down firmly at the front to avoid the leading edge snipe. On the outfeed side, I gently lift a little to help prevent snipe at the end. If I'm working with multiple boards, I just feed them end-to-end, so I only need to do the pressure and lift once for all of them. I've run thousands of board feet through my DW735 this way without trouble!
One way to tackle planer snipe is by using scrap pieces at the beginning and end of your boards. This technique helps catch that initial and final snipe, and you can just remove the scraps once you're done planing. I saw a guy on YouTube who does this with fully built cutting boards, and it works great! He attaches those sacrificial pieces to the leading and trailing edges before feeding them through.
I've got zero snipe since I adjusted my tool properly. It can make a massive difference!
What model do you have?
I’ve found that angling the boards a bit when feeding them through the planer can also help reduce snipe significantly. It might be worth trying!
That sounds pretty much like what I do too! I'm leaving my pieces long to deal with it, but I wonder if there's a way to get around the snipe issue altogether.