How do you stop chop saw tearout?

[Craig Richmond]

I have been using my DeWalt DWS780 for a for awhile now and most all the work has been construction type projects, where I did not care about tearout. Now I am starting to do projects that is does matter. I have a new 80 Tooth blade on there now and I still get tearout. Wondering what you guys do.

[Doug Herzberg]

I slow down the cut and use a sacrificial board between the fence and the work when necessary. I don't usually see a lot of tearout, unless it's oak or something like that.

[David Weaver]

Chopmaster and slower cut. It's the only premium blade I've used in a chop saw, though that has a lot to do with it leaving nothing to be desired the times I've used it.

[Ellen Benkin]

Most chop saws do not have a zero clearance throat plate. Either get one or make one. It will make a difference. A sacrificial zero clearance fence helps also.

[glenn bradley]

I made some ZCI's and use a sac-fence but,

279768

I found the best way to eliminate tearout with a CMS is to eliminate the CMS. They're fine for work like trimming out a room but, for furniture I do something else. I do know that some folks have got their CMS or RAS down to a science and get beautiful work out of them and that's great. If you really want to stick with the CMS for this work, you can definitely trick it out. Since I already have them for other tasks, I just use a sled on the tablesaw. The CMS lives out in the shed.

[Mike Wilkins]

One of the latest 2 or 3 issues of FineWoodworking has an article on use of chop/miter saws with lots of great tips and ideas. One of the best ones I read years ago is when you stop the blade, do not raise the blade before it stops rotating. The backwards motion of the blade against the wood will cause chip out. I have seen it. Let the blade come to a complete stop before you remove it or raise it out of the cut. The above tips work well also.

[johnny means]

I back up my cut wwith a sacrificial fence. I find that double stick tape is great for attaching these disposable fences. Sacricial fences are also a good way to identify your cut line when lining up the workpiece.

[Craig Richmond]

I am sorry, I should have said that most all of my tearout is on the back of the wood and not the bottom. I had thought about a sacrificial board and will have to try it this week. Glenn, I really like the unit and it is fast with little set up. I will look to a zero clearance bottom plate and slowing my cuts down.

[Ray Newman]

As others posted: I run a sharp premium blade & sacrificial 1/4" Masonite taped to fence and base. On my older 10" Hitachi C10FS, the speed of cut does not matter as much as the sharpness of the blade.

[Chris Kennedy]

Low tech solution -- blue masking tape. I put a little on the back edge of the board if needed, and I get next to no tearout. I am using a Ryobi with some run-of-the-mill blade.

Chris

[Prashun Patel]

When I have to have it chip free, I use a backing fence AND a sacrificial board (even just 1/4" plywood/hardboard) on the bottom to serve as a ZCI. I'm just too lazy to make a perfectly shaped cutout as a real ZCI.

[Steve Rozmiarek]

Wow, my old Makita must be even better than I thought, I've never had a problem with tearout. No zero clearance, no backup board, nothing special, except a good sharp Makita blade, always. Good blades, no slop in the saw, and proper technique could all help.

[Kevin Bourque]

You could always use a knife and lightly score a line on the workpiece.

[scott spencer]

Not all 80T blades are created equal, and not all are as sharp as they should be even right out of the box. A slider should have a blade with a low to negative hook angle. What blade do you have? ZCI's and other techniques can help, but a good 80T blade that's matched to the saw and the material should do pretty well on it's own.

[Michael Dunn]

Many ways, all of which involve at least one common denominator.

1. Be sure to let the blade do its work by plunging pretty slowly into the workpiece. Not too slow or else it'll burn. Do some test cuts. You'll feel the sweet spot right away.

2. Blue painters tape pressed firmly along the exit side if the cut. Remove promptly or else the adhesive may leave marks.

3. Create a zero clearance throat plate and fence for the saw.

The obvious first move is a quality night tooth count blade as you've already mentioned. You'd be surprised how much cleaner of a cut you'll get by just moving the saw a bit slower.

[CPeter James]

I have a DeWalt 708 SCMS and use Ridge Carbide blades and find them to give excellent results, better than any of the others I have tried. I use the 12" RS1000.

http://ridgecarbidetool.com/saws-and-dados/miter-saw-blades.html

CPeter

[Craig Richmond]

I just looked and I am using a DeWalt blade 80 tooth ATB for finishing work. Last few cuts have been with walnut. I have brought it straight down to chop and brought out, down and then pushed back to still have tearout. I just tried it with 2x6 pine and did the same thing, however slower does help.

[scott spencer]

I just looked and I am using a DeWalt blade 80 tooth ATB for finishing work. Last few cuts have been with walnut. I have brought it straight down to chop and brought out, down and then pushed back to still have tearout. I just tried it with 2x6 pine and did the same thing, however slower does help.

DeWalt's a mixed bag with blades....their "Construction" series isn't well suited for fine woodworking IMO. Their Precision Trim is very good, and their old Series 60 blades are excellent.

[Craig Richmond]

Well,,,, I will do some of the suggestions you guys gave me and maybe in time get a better blade. Thanks

[Mark Blatter]

I have the same saw and about 6 months ago put on a new blade, a very high quality blade that I bought new from a cabinet shop. Cutting went from what I thought was normal to like cutting butter, even when cutting hickory and maple. A good sharp high quality blade makes an enormous difference.

[Tim Compton]

McFeely's sells a zero clearance insert for the Dewalt mitre saws. They replace the plastic one on the bed of he saw.

[Craig Richmond]

Tim, I will look them up.
When I get a few bucks together I will look to a better blade for specialty projects.

[Andy Pratt]

The two best things you can do are get a premium blade designed for the material you are cutting and make zero clearance inserts for the bottom (at a minimum) and the back if you really want it perfect. I got by for years with a mid-grade blade and once i upgraded to a freud hi-atb I realized how much time I saved not having to deal with tear-out frass. I don't even have a zero clearance set up on the back (although I do on the bottom) and I rarely have tear-out in solid wood or plywood.

[Loren Woirhaye]

10" sliders and smaller ones have less blade flutter. I'm sure you pull, plunge and push cut. As mentioned above, let the blade stop before un-plunging. Consider the "english" in the way you push.

[Peter Quinn]

When I need clean cuts, I make a little sled with a fence that spans the saws fence and a base just a bit wider than the molding or wood I'm cutting.  The fence stops the back from chipping, assuming the stock is square. The base shows you where the cut line is and helps hold the fence together once you've cut it in half.  Set the saws depth to just score the base.  If I'm doing 45 miters, I use a fence, if I switch to square cuts....new fence....so try to gang all your cuts of one type.  For moldings where part of the edge nearest the fence won't be touching the backer, I use a very shallow climb cut to score the show face first. Start by lowering the blade until it just scores the surface the pull gently and slowly back towards the operator, once you've cleared the work you can push the blade down and use the normal push stroke toward the fence to make the cut full depth. This helps control more chippy species like oak and mahogany, and may also release some tension on wider boards that might otherwise bind.