How do you stop chop saw tearout?

[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...aw-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.