Planer snipe is perhaps one of the most frustrating problems faced by anyone using a thickness planer. Unless the board you’re surfacing has enough extra material to absorb any potential snipe, you stand the chance of losing a beautiful piece of hardwood if those planer blades dig in at the beginning or end of your cut. This can be especially annoying when you’ve found the perfect piece for a drawer front in your scrap pile. Without any wiggle room to cut off an end bearing those telltale snipe marks, you’ve only got one chance to get it right.

 

What Causes Planer Snipe? Snipe occurs when the board is entering or exiting the two feed rollers (on either side of the cutterhead), and only one of them is engaged momentarily.

Roger Russell of Anderson Island, Wash. slays the snipe dragon by lengthening short stock with a simple trick that uses nothing more than a bit of glue and two small scraps.

If you’ve got a great trick up your sleeve that might make for a Fast Fix, be sure to upload it into our Jigs Gallery. Plus, browse through past episodes of Fast Fix and learn a whole host of time and money-saving tips & tricks.

 

Watch Past Episodes  Sharpening Stone Jig Stop Planer Snipe Custom Router Bit Drawer Double-sided Router Fence Breadboard Ends Jig Shelf Pin Drilling Jig Safe Sliding Dovetail Keys