1301 Ryobi Planer not planing correclty

If you use or make an infeed and outfeed table and only take light passes you can reduce snipe a good bit.

I’ve played with noticeable snipe from my old Delta 12” planer for 25 years. I take light passes and have infeed and outfeed tables (though they are rinky-dinky), but it is still a problem. I usually sand it out or cut it off. Next time I will try lighter passes.
The only fix I’ve considered making is a secondary table to sit on the planer table and span from infeed to outfeed table ends so that it is all one level. If anyone has done this and found it successful I would like to hear about it.
I am always reluctant to mess with a tool that works- even if it is not perfect.

-- "So much wood. . .so little time!" www.woodworks-by-donna.com

I have a Makita Planer, and I’ve found by putting a little upward pressure on the board as it enters and exits the planer pretty much entirely eliminates snipe. Without the upward pressure I get about 3 inches of snipe at the beginning and end of the board.

-- Jeff, Charleston SC

I have the same planer. I see, you’ve already answered your own question. But, know this: I’ve seen even some of the more expensive planers leave some snipe. My opinion is it all depends on the wood itself, because I’ve tried everything to eliminate, or reduce the amount of it. At times, I don’t get any, but, most of the time, I just allow for it.

-- Roger from KY. Work/Play/Travel Safe. Kentuk55@bellsouth.net

You mean to tell me you never got snipe with this planer before? If so you are a very lucky man indeed. Almost all lunch box planers snipe. The problem is that the first few inches of the board and last few aren’t fully under control of the rollers. Infeed and outfeed tables help some, as do models with cutter head locks, but they don’t eliminate it 100%...

If you weren’t getting snipe before, it’s not that you weren’t, it’s that it was so minor you didn’t notice. You would see it with a good digital caliper…

FWIW, I have the same planer. I have used MUCH more expensive planers with the same results. Even the revered DeWalt DW735 snipes some from what I have seen. Your best bet is to just figure the snipe into your lumber needs and clip the ends off…

The upward pressure thing DOES help, and if you don’t need to within .001” tolerance, is worth doing…

It is entirely possible the wood in specific may have a little to do with it… Running softer woods tends to result in more snipe from what I have seen…

A word of warning. You may want to stock up on replacement knives now. Ryobi is discontinuing this model so knives may be hard to come by in the future…

-- Manufacturer of fine quality sawdust since 1984. Comments and advice on my shop welcome. Check it out at http://lumberjocks.com/dbhost/workshop. Gladly accepting shop build donations!

DB no mater the length of boards I get the snipe even boards shorter then the platform I get snipe and no I never noticed it as bad as now. As for as blades go I believe they have already stopped carring them but rigid knifes from what I understand are replacements.

-- Randy - If I'm not on LJ's then I'm making Saw Dust. Please feel free to visit my store location at http://www.facebook.com/randy.blackstock.custom.wood.designs

Randy, I minimized the snipe from my Ridgid planer by raising the ends of both my infeed and outfeed tables by just over the thickness of a nickle. Tilting my tables and taking shallower cuts solved my problem. You can also butt a piece of scrap behind the board you are planing and this will prevent snipe as well.

-- " I'll try to be nicer, if you'll try to be smarter" gfadvm

Thanks gfadvm, I’ll give that a try.

-- Randy - If I'm not on LJ's then I'm making Saw Dust. Please feel free to visit my store location at http://www.facebook.com/randy.blackstock.custom.wood.designs

I have that same planer. Ryobi has stoped offering the knifes AFAIK and Home Depot, in my area anyway, doesn’t stock them anymore. I found my last set thru Amazon. They were about $50 a set. Once upon a time they were about $35 when HD had them. I’ve since upgraded to a 20 inch planer but still have my little Ryobi.

As stated above, if you lift up slightly as the stock enters and exits the machine it will reduce snipe considerably. I’m not sure it can be eliminated completely but will be minmized with this process. What snipe you do get can be sanded out with little effort with a random orbit sander. The 1301 is one of Ryobi’s gems. Mine served me well for several years but couldn’t handle the volume of material I needed to surface in a given day. Now I use a 20 inch planer and 38 inch woodmaster drum sander. Much faster as I can take a far deeper cut and make fewer passes. For small jobs and shallow surfacing work the Ryobi did just fine after I got past the learning curve.

-- Lyall & Sons Woodsmiths...Custom handcrafted woodwork since 1989

Snipe sucks, but it’s just reality with the lunch box planers. I have a pretty nice and new Craftsman with the granite bed and infeed and outfeed tables. I have adjusted them up as Gfadvm has, and it helps a good bit.

BUT, there is a sure shot and easy way to eliminate it completely. It is a pain in the rear, but when I’m planing expensive exotic wood, I sure don’t want to lose 5” to snipe! And when I’m doing segmented turning, I need my stock perfect, any error will be felt and seen in the final product.

What you need to do, is to keep some really cheap stock on hand at all times. I normally use the cheap “white-wood” pre-surfaced crap from Lowes. I will then take and rip a strip as wide as the stock I want to plane is thick and 25” long (you will need one 25” piece for each piece of stock you’re planing). Now, I cut the strip into four pieces 6” long.

Now, I normally get about 2-1/2” of snipe on each end. So, I mark the center of my waste strips, apply 3 drops of CA glue to one edge of each strip from the line to the end, and glue them to the ends of the board I’m planing, one on each side of the keeper board, 2 on each end, and leave 3” of the waste wood overhanging the keeper piece.

What you will end up with on the piece you’re planing, is 2 pieces on each end of the waste wood, one on each side of the board, and they should extend 3” beyond the end of the keeper board.

Now, when you plane the board, the waste wood will be what snipes, the whole keeper piece will be dead flat and smooth.
I’ve done this many, many times, and I’ve never had any issues at all. If you use really porous wood, you may want to add a couple more drops of CA. But go easy! That CA bonds really well. When you’re done planing, take a hammer and knock the waste pieces off. You’ll have a couple dots of CA with some of the waste wood stuck to it, but it’s easy to clean off with a scraper or a chisel. And a lot better than wasting 5” or 6” of expensive wood!

If you have any trouble understanding this, let me know and I will demonstrate with pictures and a better description.

-- Kenny

Kenny, I follow what you are saying good info thanks, on the CA have you ever tried debond for your CA? Theres a couple of CA products one is an accelerator and the other is a debonder both work very… well, depending on what you are doing and if needing removing or quicker bonding.

Randy

-- Randy - If I'm not on LJ's then I'm making Saw Dust. Please feel free to visit my store location at http://www.facebook.com/randy.blackstock.custom.wood.designs

you can also just run a “scrap” piece in the front with a “scrap” follower. I have sandwiched a board before between 2 longer pieces as well. There are ways around snipe, but, it’s a give-n-take type thing, in my opinion. I would do that for sure to help save as much exotic/expensive wood as possible, like Kenny said. I hate wasting any wood, but, sometimes, it just can’t be helped

-- Roger from KY. Work/Play/Travel Safe. Kentuk55@bellsouth.net