Cutting plywood, good face up or down?

Jeff Bower

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DSM, IA
I'm gonna be cutting some plywood soon and from google I got different answers as to putting the good side up or down when cutting it. I'll be cross cutting it with a skil saw and then ripping on the table saw.

What do you all do? Good side up or down? :dunno:
 
jeff you want to cut it good side down with a skill saw in my book unless you have a zero insert type skill saw like the festool, the ripping on the table saw would be good side up.. you want the teeth pulling the fibers into the wood for best cut side not pulling the out.. but you could use a table saw for the crosscutting as well with help of another person
 
I agree with Larry. I also put tape on the where the cut will be. I find it helps with tear out, although I have had some disagree with me on that. It works for me. Plus, the sharpest, best blade I have. There are also those that will promote using only rip and cross-cut blades, I can't afford all those blades so I use my best combo blade.
 
Thanks Larry:thumb: That's what I thought but read some conflicting things last night while googling. Thought about doing the crosscutting on the TS, but not sure when I'd have help to do it and I'd have to move a bunch of stuff to make room too. I made a "track" for the crosscuts out of some hardboard and ply to hopefully get some good straight cuts.
 
Thanks Paul, I have a brand new 40 tooth blade for the skil saw and a good 40 tooth in the TS so I'm hoping both will do well. I think I'll give it a go without tape and if there is some tear out, try some tape.
 
Yep Bob I saw that you should pull the tape towards where the cut edge and down when removing it so you don't pull the veneer fibers up from the inner play parts.
 
A little late to the party on this one, but let me add a bit. I do all of my final cuts on plywood with my tablesaw. When working with 3/4" plywood, I break it down outside my shop with a circular saw. In some cases, especially on quality plywood what will have a show side, I make every cut two times. After setting the TS fence for a cut (rip or cross), I set the blade just a hair (no more than 1/32) above the table, pass the piece over the blade, raise the blade to clear the top of the plywood and make the final cut. The blade I use for plywood is a full kerf blade made for plywood - it's worth the cost to have the right blade for the job.
 
With the proper blade it doesn't matter which side is up on the table saw. I use a 10" 80 tooth HiATB blade for cutting plywood. Zero clearance inserts, using masking tape and scoring with a knife are all band aids for improper blade selection.
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Thanks again guys! I will be using a zero clearance insert...got it rough cut, just need to make it fit snug and cut the kerf.
 
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