We are running a powermat 500 and I keep getting a snipe about 2 to 3 inches in. I watch the pieces feed and I can not spot a problem. We have tried to check the alignment of the fences. I increased side roller pressure and reduced top roller pressure. No matter what the piece seems to walk off a little bit. Any ideas on what could be causing this? Please help me get this straightened out. Thank you

I think a review of terminology is in order.

“Snipe” is usually at the end of the part - actually tail snipe - and is caused by hold down not holding down. Fore snipe refers to the entry end. Also a hold down problem. Usually. The defect is across the width, either top or bottom face, and the part is noticeably thinner for the first/or last few inches. Typically, measuring the actual length of the snipe, then finding the same dimensions from a feed roller to a cutter center confirms the location.

Edge creep refers to the right edge creeping away from the right fence as the part travels thru the machine. This means the fences on the reference cut or right vertical spindle are out too far.

What does the seller of the machine say when asked the cause of the problem?

I haven't contacted weinig about it. Im sorry about my explanation. The snipe isn't typical. It is actually about 3 in from leading end on the inside. We realigned the fence after the side head and it helped. However we have more issues with material under 2 inch in width then with the wider material. It becomes frustrating when you need to keep going but the issue makes our parts just short of making the final cut length. I can post a pic of it when I get back to work. Maybe there is something simple I didn't think of.

What are the dimensions of the part where the snipe is?

What are the dimensions where the snipe is not?

Does the change in width (?) match the cutting radius of the cutter that is creating the snipe?

It sounds as if this is a fore snipe - on the leading or forward edge of the part. Also sounds as if there is a change in width, visible as coming from the right vertical cutterhead. Please correct any of my assumptions and answer the questions.

I think we might have figured it out. The infeed fence was out of alignment some. We got that straightened out. The other issue was the pressure wheel on the outside was locked up just after the inside cutter. I think It was causing it to stall just enough to cause a line about 3 inches in from the leading edge of the board. If this worked I will update you. Thank you David for responding. Much appreciated.

Ok So I lied I thought we had it. Now we are having this problem.

View higher quality, full size image (4080 X 3072)

View higher quality, full size image (4080 X 3072)

What am I looking at? Your photos are worthless without an explanation. Please be careful in your explanation or you are just wasting all our time. And please answer every question, or the conversation cannot continue.

Again, last chance: what are the dimensions -width and thickness of the desired part? Inches, please.
What are the dimensions of the snipe area of the part?
How far from the leading edge does the snipe end?
Does the radius of the snipe match the cutter head diameter?
Does the defect even fit the definition of snipe?
Was this covered when you were trained?

The radius doesn't match. By definition it's not a snipe. I have never seen this on anything I have run in 20 years.
The part is Poplar 8' long 3/4 x 2 1/4. As you can see in the photo I marked the lines with a pencil to show the distance from the end of the piece. Please let me know if you can't make out the sizes I wrote on the board. Thank you again for trying to help me.

View higher quality, full size image (4080 X 3072)

View higher quality, full size image (4080 X 3072)

Without real answers to each of my questions above, I cannot move forward.
Good luck, I hope you get it figured out.

A little bit more information. They pushed a head into the fence. We realigned the Infeed fence which was off some. I made sure the Fence did not get bent from the impact. We also had a pressure roller bearing seize up and we also had an issue with the cylinder on the first 2 feed wheels. The air cylinders are hanging up. As for the marks we Have one on both ends of the board. It seems to look like a square and its raised above the rest of the machined edge. I am trying to explain as much as I can to see if anyone has an Idea I didn't try yet. My guess it it has something to do with alignment or the pressure elements. Or a combination of the two. I tried my best to answer David R's responses but I wasn't clear enough for him to understand me. I appreciate any help. Thank you

So after looking at your pictures and thinking for a bit. You have multiple problems, looks like you have right cutterhead trailing snipe, correct? That means the cutterhead is too far out beyond the outfeed fence. Your cuts also look horrible, like you have a vibration and material is bouncing around. Fix each problem you mentioned, the seized components are a big concern. The air cylinders, I would just order new ones. Also you mentioned someone pushed a head into a fence? You need to do an alignment check of the entire fence from front to back, including removing any sliding fences near the right head and cleaning it all. Replace any hardware that looks questionable. Check everything with a super accurate straightedge and feeler gauges. Did you take the belt off the right spindle and free spin it to listen for bearing noise? These are a starting point, like I said, fix everything you come across and replace questionable stuff.

I agree that there is more than one problem here. One thing that you should check is your pressure shoe being parallel to the bed. Remove the bed plate and take the .020” shim out. Clean everything and put the bed plate back without the shim. Now lower the pressure shoe so it just rubs the top of a tall spacer. Slide the spacer under the shoe and make sure it rubs evenly from corner to corner on the front and back of the shoe.
If it’s not perfectly parallel to the bed then this can be fixed with 4 bolts on the back of your shoe assembly.
Don’t forget to put the shim back and recheck the bottom head with a straight edge.

Thank you all for responding. I already did everything you have mentioned. The very first thing we did was Pull everything apart and make sure nothing got damaged by the head. When I said they Ran it into the fence I should have given a better explanation. A temp helping clean the machine pressed the button to move the head forward and pushed the fence out some. It broke the insert knife. I also checked to make sure the Hold downs are parallel. we went through the whole process on everything. The other issue was a bearing seized up on the pressure wheel right after the inside cutter just before the outside cutter. That was also causing a problem. The infeed fence was out of alignment by a few degrees. We also had an issue with the cylinder on the drive shaft. With that all said After we went through all the issues and corrected them the problem went away. It was a combination of several things happening at one time. Thank you to all who responded. Much appreciated

It has been several years since I had a Weinig tech come to the shop to go over the machine and refresh/train anyone that may be called upon to run it. This got the machine in top condition, and gave
.a boost of confidence
When I first worked in a shop with a molder, the owner did not want to
. spend the money for training Several accidents later, he could see the light. Once trained, we could easily produce the best moldings in the area.