How to cut plywood without tear-out

Why plywood tears out

The face veneer is thin, and the fibers across the cut have nothing behind them where the teeth exit the sheet. That exit side is where splinters happen. So the rule is simple: know which face the teeth exit through, and put the face you care about on the other side.

A track saw's rail has a splinter strip that holds the top fibers right at the blade, which is why most people cut good face up. The underside can still chip, so if both faces show, see scoring below.

Choose the blade

• 10 in table saw: 60 to 80 teeth, ATB or Hi-ATB grind, for veneered plywood and melamine. A 40-tooth combination blade works but chips more on crosscuts.
• 7 1/4 in circular saw: a 40-tooth or finer finish blade, not a coarse framing blade.
• Track saw: a fine-finish blade from the saw maker, typically around 48 teeth on a 6 1/2 in blade.
• Keep it sharp and clean. A dull or pitch-coated blade tears out no matter how many teeth it has.

Score, tape and back up the cut

• Scoring pass: with a track saw, make a first pass only a few millimetres deep, then the full-depth cut. Some track saws have a setting for it.
• Knife: on crosscuts, score the line on the exit face with a sharp utility knife and a straightedge, then cut just on the waste side of it.
• Painter's tape along the line on the exit face helps a little with a circular saw; it is a supplement, not a fix for a coarse blade.
• Zero-clearance support: on a table saw, a zero-clearance throat plate supports the fibers right at the blade. With a circular saw, a sheet of rigid foam under the plywood does the same job.

Breaking down a 4×8 sheet

A full sheet of 3/4 in plywood is heavy and awkward on a table saw. The safer way is to break it into manageable pieces first with a track saw or circular saw, then finish the parts on the table saw.

1. Support the whole sheet. Lay it on a sheet of 2 in rigid foam on the floor, or on a grid of sawhorses and 2×4s, so both sides of the cut stay supported and the offcut cannot drop and pinch the blade.
2. Set the blade depth so it just clears the bottom, roughly 1/4 in below the sheet.
3. Make the long rips first, following your cutting plan, from a straight reference edge.
4. Leave pieces a little oversize, for example 1/2 in, when you will finish them on the table saw.
5. Crosscut the strips into parts, then make the final cuts to size.

Rips before crosscuts is the standard order for sheet goods: long strips are easy to handle and to cut square, and every part in a strip shares one fence setting. Doing all parts of the same width at one setting also makes them identical.

Safety basics

• Table saw: keep the riving knife or splitter on, use a push stick for narrow rips, and stand to the side of the blade line, never behind it.
• Never cut freehand on a table saw; the sheet rides the fence or a sled.
• Circular saw: clamp or weigh down the sheet and the track, keep the cord clear, and let the blade stop before lifting.
• Wear eye and hearing protection. Cutting MDF makes fine dust, so use dust extraction and a respirator.

Mark the good face with a pencil X on every part as it comes off the sheet. After a dozen cuts it is easy to forget which side was which.

Cut in the right order with Cortaplan

Enter your sheet and parts, set Blade kerf and Edge trim under Cutting settings, and open Show cuts under each sheet: the Cut sequence lists rips first, then crosscuts, grouped by fence setting. At the saw, tap Cut to go through the plan one step at a time, with the fence measurement in large type and Done and Back buttons. It keeps the screen on and remembers where you stopped.