Which Side is Up ?

[inkhead]

When cutting a board on you table saw, which side should be up to insure the best finished cut ? I am trying to avoid any splintering or chip-out.

Thanks in advance.

[kgworkman]

I'm no pro

I'm no pro, but I believe it should be the final finished face that is up. This causes the teeth to cut into the finished face and not cause any chip-out etc.

[Tom Miller]

Assuming you don't have a zero clearance throat plate (ZCTP), you should put the good side up on a table saw. In general, it's the exit wound that's more gory.

There are ways to alleviate a gory exit wound, such as using a ZCTP, or putting masking tape over the cut line, or pre-scoring the cut line.

Regards,
Tom

[gsmittle]

When cutting a board on you table saw, which side should be up to insure the best finished cut ? I am trying to avoid any splintering or chip-out.

Thanks in advance.

Cut with the good side up. Since the teeth are traveling down, you will get the best cut with the good side up. Also, a zero clearance throat plate will help eliminate splintering or chipout on the other side.

When using a circular saw, cut with the good side down.

I'm sure others with way more experience will weigh in with more details than I can provide.

Happy cutting!

g.

[Wood_workur]

Yes, you ALWAYS want the teeth to enter the good side of the work, and exit the bad side. Also feed rate matters. Too fast, you get excess splintering, becuase of the huge bite each tooth takes. Too slow, you get burning

[JimD]

The other thing that will cause splintering, even with a ZCTP, is if the wood is not flat on the top of the table saw. Warped wood can mess you up. You always want the most visible surface up, however, because it should essentially never be chipped out.

Jim

[Tom Hintz]

Good side up is the norm on a table saw because, as has been mentioned, the teeth ae cutting downward. However, if the alignment of the blade with the fence or miter guide is not correct, the back side of the blade can rub on one side of the kerf and cause splintering at that point even though the initial cut is totally clean.
Another good reason to check and keep our machines aligned.