How to avoid chip prints when planning wood.

Now that we have determined several reasons why chip prints occur during planning, how do I stop the problem?

Having an adequate dust and chip collection system is paramount to eliminating chip prints.  For my Delta bench top planner I have the dust collection hood and it is connected to a two stage dust collection system.  The dust collector is a single stage unit with a chip collection ‘trash can’ in between the tool and the dust collector.  For more information see Delta ShopMaster AP400 Dust Collector post.

It is important that the dust collection system provides the necessary air flow to continuously keep moving the chips out of the bench top planner.  You don’t want the dust collection system to bog down half way through a planning a board and begin to have chip prints appear on the finished side.

Attempting to cut too much in a single planning pass can result in chip prints.  With an aggressive depth of cut the cutter head is creating larger wood chips that are not being effectively removed by the dust and chip collection system.

Some other causes of chip prints are:

• Using the wrong feed rate for the type of wood.  Too fast of a feed rate can cause the planner to bog down and begin to tear at the wood instead of cutting it.
• Dull planner knives.  Along with the wrong feed rate will also produce fuzzy grain.
• Grain direction.  Some pieces of wood plane better when run through the planner in a certain direction.  Turn the board around and feed it through from the other end, this usually will resolve fuzzy grain as well.

What to do with wood that has chip prints and I can not plane it down any further?

Chip prints tend to respond to moisture and some finishes may cause the print to spring back.  When chip prints spring back, they are slightly higher than the surrounding wood.

Try wiping the surface with a damp sponge or cloth.  This should cause the chip prints to pop out.  Use a sander to smooth out the bumps.