Planer adjustments

[DaveBozeman]

I have a new Jet Planer.. looking for suggestions on setting the in-feed and out-feed roller heights for best performance.

The manual says both should be .02" below the cutter head.  

That left marks on the wood.. if there was no wood taken off (basically, if i ran the same piece through twice)

Either the spring tension on the in-feed roller was too tight, ot the roller was too low

I readjusted so the cutter head, in-feed/out-feed rollers are the same height, that made the cut better, but it's a little 'grabby' for lack of a better word, with a but of snipe at the end of the cut

Just looking for ideas what worked for people..

thanks, Dave

[castguy2003]

I have a new Jet Planer.. looking for suggestions on setting the in-feed and out-feed roller heights for best performance.

The manual says both should be .02" below the cutter head.  

That left marks on the wood.. if there was no wood taken off (basically, if i ran the same piece through twice)

Either the spring tension on the in-feed roller was too tight, ot the roller was too low

I readjusted so the cutter head, in-feed/out-feed rollers are the same height, that made the cut better, but it's a little 'grabby' for lack of a better word, with a but of snipe at the end of the cut

Just looking for ideas what worked for people..

thanks, Dave

Dave,
Stick to the recommendations or at worst keep them at least .01 below the cutterhead. You risk the stock being shot out the rear of the machine with no tension on the rollers.

[fredhargis]

One disadvantage of stationary planers (versus bench top) is that the feed roller is  serrated steel...they will leave tracks if you don't remove enough wood. With a benchtop I was able to table much thinner cuts. I'd suggest you stick to the factory specs and learn to live with it.

[jasfrank]

Maybe you are setting 02 below the cutterhead and not the cutterhead circle? That means the tips of the knives.

[DaveBozeman]

I reset to the .02.. thanks for the reasons why it's correct.

The one thing I can measure.. is how tight the spring tension should be on the in-feed roller...

how does everyone set theirs?

[cvillewood]

Sending wood through it twice and getting marks on the second is a common problem with these 4 post planers. I don’t know if there’s anything to do about it. You can eliminate snipe with the proper spring tension though.