Understanding Snipe

There are a number of steps you can take to help reduce or eliminate snipe.

• Ensure that any infeed and outfeed extensions are parallel with the unit’s cutter or sanding bed.
• Periodically examine that your unit’s infeed and outfeed rollers are clean and in good shape.
• Ensure that your unit is properly configured according to the manufacturer’s specifications.
• Ensure that the inside of the unit is clean and free of any debris that could interfere with the board’s progress through the unit.  This is especially true if there is insufficient or no dust collection used with the unit.
• If your unit does not have infeed/outfeed extension tables, consider adding these to your planer or flatbed sander.
• Limit the amount of wood you are trying to remove (or sand), with each pass.  Overly aggressive cuts may not only lead to snipe but can cause all sorts of other issues.  Be patient.
• Take care that the board has the necessary support as it transitions through the unit. Your planer’s or flatbed sander’s infeed/outfeed expansion tables may not be sufficient to provide the necessary support for oversized boards.
• Be sure that the wood you’re feeding through the unit isn’t shorter than what the manufacturer allows.
• Consider making a small upward adjustment to the outfeed table to help provide a small amount of lift as the board exits the unit.
• When feeding oversized boards through the unit, be sure to move around to the outfeed side and support the board as it exits, giving it a little bit of lift.  Better yet, ask a friend to help you. 
• When you’re working with smaller stock, consider feeding the stock through stock side by side, or back to front (like a train car).   When feeding stock side-by-side, add the boards incrementally as soon as each board enters the unit.
• Finally, consider cutting your stock a little longer so that any snipe that does occur can simply be cut off.