Thicknesser Bed Rollers

[adest1]

My next question regarding my Thicknesser restoration is relating to the rollers that stick up through the bottom of the planer bed [Pictured below]. The rollers have adjustment screws underneath, so my question is - Does anyone know of any guidance for how these should be correctly set-up? Or should I simply adjust them so that they protrude a hair above the level of the bed? Tim

 

[Doug71]

On my planer thicknesser I keep the rollers set level with the bed, I think if they are above it will introduce snipe.

 

[Trevanion]

Wot Doug said, I've never really seen the need for in-bed rollers unless you were planing really heavy and big sections where accuracy wasn't absolutely necessary and the rollers would make feeding easier if they were slightly above the bed.

 

[Fitzroy]

I hesitated to answer as I’m not that experienced but I also could not see a reason for the rollers that did not also likely introduce snipe.

 

[Peter Sefton]

Useful if you have resinous timber but will induce snipe. I may have an old handout which talks about the roller height, if I find it I will post it.

 

[Mike Jordan]

You already have the correct answer, make it a very fine hair and you will have no obvious snipe. If you don't like the results then they are easily adjustable. Really up market machines are often fitted with an adjuster for the table roll at the operator end of the machine so that the projection can be varied as required.

 

[adest1]

Thanks for your help all! It's helped to clear things up. I agree that if the rollers protrude higher than the bed itself - then they are likely to introduce snipe. But, I wasn't sure what the point of them was if they were only set flush with the bed. It seems logical to me that they would be most useful when machining larger/heavier boards, where reducing friction might help the feed rollers to advance the board. Thanks again, Tim.