Old timer told me to stop fighting the grain and it saved my trim work

I was installing some pine casing in a house built in the 50s over in Oak Park. Kept getting tear-out on the miter saw and was about to throw the whole board across the garage. A retired carpenter neighbor walked over and said 'you're running the blade backwards to the grain, flip your cut.' Switched to cutting with the finish side facing up and the blade spinning into that face. Took about 10 test cuts to get the feel right but now I barely get any chipping. Anybody else have a simple tip from an older guy that totally changed their approach?

2 comments

2 Comments

ross.william7d ago

Oh man that's a good one lol. One thing though, I think you might have it a little backwards. For a miter saw the finish side should actually be facing down when you cut, not up. The blade spins down into the material so having the good side on bottom means the teeth exit through the painted or stained face instead of tearing into it. I had an old finish carpenter show me that trick with a test cut on a scrap piece of oak and it was night and day difference. He also told me to use a zero clearance insert on the saw which helps a ton too.

the_robin7d ago

Zoro tape works great for this. Stick it on the cut line before you make the cut and the tear out stays on the tape.