so I made a platen for my Dewalt Planer...

1/25/20, 6:41 PM #1

Barry Irby
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so I made a platen for my Dewalt Planer...

Barry Irby

I was discussing snipe on my Dewalt 733 Planer. Decided to make platen for it to see if that reduced snipe. the planer is about 20 years old and has a cutter head lock.

I glued two sink cutouts together back to back because they were warped and this canceled out the warp. they came out nice and flat. Mounted a piece on the infeed end to hook on the front lip of the table and put some rails on it on the side to keep the stock under the knives.

To install it all you do is raise the cutter head and slide it into place.

I ran a piece through that was about 18" long. Cypress. Got snipe on both ends.

Worse on the trailing end. Fiddled with the platen, minutely cleaning it and the bottom edges. Flattened the stock on the jointer and ran it again. Maybe slightly less snipe, but still visible on both ends.

Removed the platen, cleaned up the stock and ran it again. Essentially no snipe on the lead end and less on the trailing end. Less than with the platen and really not enough to worry about.

I am still wondering why it got worse with the platen. And I am wondering if the cutter head lock has loosened up a bit with age and wear.

Re: so I made a platen for my Dewalt Planer...

1/25/20, 7:53 PM #2

Virgil Johnson
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Re: so I made a platen for my Dewalt Planer...

Virgil Johnson

Have you tried lifting up (fairly hard) on the (leading) end of the board being planed during the end of the pass? Maybe the last 8". The snipe may come from the board tilting upward after the infeed roller lets go.

Re: so I made a platen for my Dewalt Planer...

1/25/20, 8:53 PM #3

Bruce, a MN Galoot
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Re: so I made a platen for my Dewalt Planer...

Bruce, a MN Galoot

I’ve read that a longer platen gives better and more consistent support to the wood as it passes through. Your experience matches that of my old Delta.

Re: so I made a platen for my Dewalt Planer...

1/25/20, 10:04 PM #4

Barry Irby
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I suspect....

Barry Irby

I made a mistake by using what I had. My platen is the same length at the table on the planer, including the infeed and out feed extensions that came on the machine. Maybe it would work better if my platen were longer.

OTOH, the scrap I planed was only about 18" long and did not droop on either end.

Re: so I made a platen for my Dewalt Planer...

1/25/20, 11:20 PM #5

David Yoho
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Re: I suspect....

David Yoho

The 1/2" MDF platen I use mentioned in a previous post is no longer than the planer's infeed and outfeed support tables - well maybe an inch. I don't get snipe when using it, so I don't agree longer is better in this case.

Perhaps your cutouts aren't flat. It must have something to do with your platen since without it you're getting minimal snipe. I use mine only when I need to plane something below 3/8" thick. MDF is flat and a good choice if you have some already.

- - -

I live in Mechanicsville, VA (not far from Richmond) and I've been building furniture and cabinetry for well over 20 years now. It all started with my frustration of not being able to cut a straight line with a hand saw. About this same time, a guy named Norm appeared on my local PBS station. The more I watched, the more I learned. I also started thinking, "Hey, I can do that"! And so, I began with small projects and soon found myself moving up to increasingly advanced work. Word of mouth started the ball rolling and before I knew it, I was building all kinds of things for people. While this is not what I do to pay the bills, it has provided me with a means of equipping my shop over the years. The main downside to all of this is when my wife looks at a finished project and says, "I want one of those" and I know I don't have the time to make that happen right then. I take advantage of any slack time between commissions to work on things we want and this seems to keep her "on my side". She even surprised me one day with a new Tormek sharpening system. Sometimes it pays to leave that tool catalog lying around open! For me, woodworking is a type of therapy. I can go out to the shop and totally forget about the world outside. There have been days when I get out there early and before I know it, it's dark outside and I have no idea where the time went! I also enjoy challenging my skills and learning new things. Most of the time, since the majority of my work tends to be custom pieces, I'm working on projects I�ve never built before. While this takes me longer than if I were doing production work, I find it more appealing because there's always something new to learn. I haven't had any formal training in woodworking. My teachers have been experience, the many books and magazines I've read, WoodCentral, and of course, a guy named Norm.

Re: so I made a platen for my Dewalt Planer...

1/26/20, 12:04 AM #6

Bruce, a MN Galoot
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Re: I suspect....

Bruce, a MN Galoot

Mine is 3/4” but the length is the same as David’s.

Re: so I made a platen for my Dewalt Planer...

1/26/20, 6:31 PM #7

Barry Irby
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Re: I suspect....Went and checked....

Barry Irby

I got to thinking that the cutter head lock had loosened enough to allow the entire head to tip enough to cause snipe. Went and ran a piece of oak and a piece of pine through it and watched very carefully, front and rear and nothing happened. I even tried touching it while a piece entered and exited and nothing happened.

Then I checked the pieces I was testing it with and could not see any snipe. I measured them with a dial caliper that measured to .001". They were out less than .005". I think I'm down to the "I don't care" dimension.

This was without the sled. Maybe blowing it out and waxing the tables made some difference.

so I made a platen for my Dewalt Planer...

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