The planer was leaving some small raised tracks in some wood I was working with recently. I tried to sand those high spots off with the wide belt sander and found I was sanding a snipe into the leading edge of the board.
Am I using the wide belt incorrectly? Any tips on getting a better surface for a laminated glue up?
Maybe I should have run the board multiple times at the final planing height with the board on different sides of the planer’s bed.
Long things like that are hard to prevent snipe on because it’s tough to get a good read on when the piece is level and also balancing the weight distribution until the rollers kick in. You’re probably using it just fine, you may need another set of hands or a roller stand to help distribute the load.
Side note, why are you concerned with the quality of the surface before the lamination? Are you gluing the face of that board or the edges?
My concern was gluing the faces together. The snipe and the rough planer surface might lead to visible gaps on the end grain.
This was for a joiner’s mallet that didn’t need to be perfect, so I didn’t stress at the time.
I’ll try rollers on the in feed and out feed next time to see if that helps.
The raised tracks on the planer most likely due to an insert on the helix head either loose or damaged. You may be able to avoid it depending on the width of your board and where you enter the planer.
Shouldn’t have any snipe from the sander as long as its entering flat and you keep it supported at the opposite end until it’s 1/2 way through.
