I also used 2″ pink rigid foam insulation for the bottom. It turns out, there are a variety of things you can do to greatly reduce and even prevent router tearout and splintering. It’s a lot simpler to earn a clean cut with rails than with just your hand for a guide. There are few key things that you can do to prevent tearout in plywood. “I hang my OEM plate from the handwheel for setting the bevel angle so I don. Your email address will not be published. a sharp Freud diablo finish blade was used. I will keep that in mind. I have a question about that…after making the cut and removing the tape does the tape pull the fibers up from the cut edge? But if you are still getting tearout, you might try a blade with 60-80 teeth, such as this one from Freud. I noticed that some high-end industrial tablesaws have a small scoring blade that makes a shallow kerf ahead of the through cut, virtually eliminating tearout. When you’re cutting plywood, sometimes the blade catches the veneer and rips it unevenly, causing “tear out”. Tearout generally occurs in two situations. But with a zero clearance insert and a high quality blade, this step is usually unnecessary. Now for the dado blade, it just comes down to sharpness and the properties of your particular dado stack. I always give honest opinions, findings, and experiences on products. How to Prevent Tearout and Splintering When Cutting Plywood Once and For All - 19 diy projects For Men tips ideas Woodgrain varies from 1 board to the next, permitting you to provide your plywood pieces an exceptional character. 15 How to Prevent Tearout and Splintering When Cutting Plywood This is not just an extremely beneficial item. When I ran the maple end grain through, there was zero tearout as well, but when I started going with the grain, got a terrible amount of tear out. Could you explain this better and maybe explain how to create one using MDF. It becomes pretty clear once you see it. And keep your blades sharp. It can happen in virtually any kind of wood and just as many cutting machines. The tape helps to hold the fibers in place during the cut, and usually the result is a clean crisp line. Required fields are marked *. This is the best way to cut wood without splintering and it is so incredibly easy! 1/2’’ Baltic birch is an ever-popular choice of material for drawer boxes - including the dovetailed variety - and so is the question of how to prevent tearout when you cut the joints. Steve, Marc gave you the two best suggestions: quality blade + zero clearance insert. But as a precautionary measure, its good to pull the tape off at an angle toward the cut. But these days I just grab a new piece and cut it properly. Rob Johnstone: Wood will “chunk-out” for a number of reasons and maple is one of the worst culprits in this regard. So for best results, you want to make an insert for a particular blade, and generally never use it with any other blade. This works most of the time. A towel rack is a good add-on to any home. Imagine raising the blade to 1″ above the plywood. I have a craftsman that will require an 1/8″ plate as well. Do you think that would be more bang for my buck?? He writes: I have recently embarked on building bookcases and I have run into an issue. There are plenty of materials utilized in saws, with every one of its own specifications. That way, you can make a second pass with the blade extended and you’ll end up with a tearout free cut. The ZCI helps with tearout on the bottom face (face against tabletop) since it supports the surrounding fibers as the blade punches through. Rip & multipurpose blades just don’t crosscut well. In order to be sure the pieces stay fixed, you must put the nodes on every side of the slot opposite to one another. I like the adjustability with shims when using TS and dado blade. I used to have the exact same problem. The blade that came with your saw – whether you bought or rented it – is likely inadequate. Great advice Marc! Designed and developed by Underscorefunk Design. Resulted in a dark line at the surface of the joint that remains today. This can also be somewhat remedied with plunge cut track saws Like Festool and others offer now, kind of expensive but nice to use. There really is not effective repair. Some of the more budget-friendly dado sets will give you tearout no matter what you do. Sometimes all three and a Sharp knife. Its like a thousand little splinters of wood. Cutting plywood without tearing the veneer isn’t easy. Don’t ask how I know. When making practice cuts on 3/4” plywood, I had no issues when taking 3 passes to get it done. Quick response time. (Another 5 minutes later during editing mode)One more thought… That sounds like a Z-Word for the glossary on newtowoodworking :) I noticed there were no Zzzzzzz’s. The router gives you the option of climb cutting and this should work to eliminate the tear-out you’re having problems with. Make sure that you run your wood on your router in the direction of the grain. Plywood also brings its share of headaches, specifically, tearout: the rough, jagged edges that result from cutting through the thin veneers.It’s frustrating, and it looks absolutely terrible. And realizing when it is time to get it sharpened is equally important. Ok Greg here is what to do.Spray paint the color of the board you want.Go up to the dollar store and buy a roll of contac shelf paper.Stick the shelf paper on the board (this will be your mask)Take a good sharp 90Deg. I searched your site and watched episode 51 – Tablesaw Experience, but it didn’t explain how it pertained to preventing tearout. The new Freud plus a zero clearance insert gave me great results on the box joints I just cut for a project I’m working on. Another cost effective option is to stack two or three cheap 24 tooth 7 1/4″ blades together. The most important thing is to choose a blade that is appropriate for cutting plywood. You are right though, a great idea for a mini. Your email address will not be published. A towel rack is a good add-on to any home. In truth, tear out is most often the fault of the operator for failing to take steps to prevent One of the best ways to visualize it is to actually do it and compare with and without. So prevention truly is the key. Text, photos and video by Tom Hintz. Just run a strip of blue masking tape along the cut line on the side that you anticipate tear out. Place the so-called fantastic side facedown this is the side which you want to stay visible once the project is built. What you’re doing is pre-cutting the fibers on the surface so that the dado blade can’t tear them when you make the cut. When I have HomeDepot cut 4×8 ply to manageable sizes for me, I bring in a roll of painters tape and put it on and press down well. With my router AND my circa saw. But the higher quality dado sets will produce tear out free cuts until they start to become dull, at which point you’ll send them out for sharpening. First, use a zero clearance insert on your tablesaw. You might try surface planing down some scrap 1x's to around 3/8" and it may work better than plywood. I know the safety and effectiveness of this is much debated, but it seems to work quite well for some people. I haven’t had any luck with the blue tape method, though. You can accomplish the same thing by making your cuts in two steps. First, use a zero clearance insert on your tablesaw. Good advice Marc. Before I had the Festool TS-75 I used a Porter Cable Mag something or other. First, make sure to always cut plywood with the best side facing down, so the blade won’t mark it cutting up through the wood. You’ll need it for bevel cuts. I have had great results with the Dado King from Forrest. As a finish carpenter I have many times had great success cutting down cheap hollow core veneered slab doors using the blue tape and score the line with a utility knife technique, but cuts made with a portable circular saw and guide instead of a table saw. When you change direction to come back out, keep the rub collar tight to the other side of the channel. Note: This question was closed as a duplicate because plywood and veneer both have similar issues when being cut with a circular saw. Thanks for the tip!! The second thing you can do is use a high quality, high tooth count blade. That will only help the bottom side of the workpiece. ( like marc showed me) and score the heck out of it with a utility knife. Hopefully the answers in both questions can help out. The main problem with it is it’s a real pain to adjust. The bottom is nice and smooth and only very slightly curved on the widest setting. I had Home Depot cut my plywood and when I got it home to paint i stood it up on wood blocks and the end began to split/splinter. (Making home made (Making a Corn Hole Game). I also use a home made zero clearance insert. If you do a lot of plywood cutting then we recommend that you buy a blade specially designed for cutting plywood like this 180 teeth Irwin plywood … • the material or wood species you're routing, • routing end grain (usually the case with a dovetail jig), and • the condition of your router bit. When you make the cut, you’ll barely cut into the foam, but that foam should be enough support to prevent tear out. A number of larger saws out there are actually outfitted with a second blade that lives in front of the main blade, and its sole purpose is to make this type of scoring cut. Here are a few ways to prevent tearout: Score the cut line with a razor blade. There are few key things that you can do to prevent tearout in plywood. So big bucks are not necessary. All content on The Wood Whisperer is copyrighted, and may not be reprinted in full form without my written consent. Depending on how fast the router passes are, you might switch to a round-over plane. Using the Woodworker II, I have never had any tear out. Always use an appropriate blade for plywood, and be sure that it’s sharp. The top does. The advice here is good. Cutting plywood without tearing the veneer isn’t easy. It’s worked pretty well for me for both plywood and solid stock. Sometimes, you just have to make cuts on full sheets of veneer lumber core with ye olde circular saw. THe board would not slide into the groove. Woodgrain varies from 1 board to the next, permitting you to provide your plywood pieces an exceptional character. The Oldham blade is terrible. Tearout is an issue when running a router on plywood, but I tried something new. The zero-clearance insert (ZCI) makes a huge difference. I hang my OEM plate from the handwheel for setting the bevel angle so I don’t forget to switch it out; the handwheel has great mechanical advantage over the blade trapped in the ZCI. How to Prevent Tearout and Splintering When Cutting Plywood In your photograph above, the cuts are being made on end grain, which greatly increases the odds of tear out, unless you can change the direction of the cut in some way to avoid … I’be been looking for something thin yet sturdy enough. You read my mind! Mainly to keep the blade away from my concrete floor. Here’s how one woodworker works around this problem. I decided to use a cabinet grade birch plywood that I picked up from the hardwood dealer here in Dallas. Plywood is the most difficult material to rout "across the grain". 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