How to make clean cuts with circular saw 

The best comparison I've seen about this topic, so far Thanks

It’s all about blade rotation. As long as you are cutting down into the material there will never be tear out. Try reverse scoring. . Set your blade to be about 2 to 3mm deep. Start saw on finishing end of board. Pull saw towards you. Now set blade to full depth and push away in normal manner. Voila.. splinter free cuts on both sides. Must cut against straight edge or use a fence in order to do this. Ad

Scientific method is alive and well with you mate!! WELL DONE!

There are dozens of RU-vid videos on cutting melamine. This one is by far the most informative, thank you taking the time for making it.

Logic, demonstration, undeniable results. Now that is how you make great content. You rock! 🔥👍

Using the multi cut method provided great results even with 24 teeth. Great content, haven’t seen others doing this on a circular saw. Thanks for sharing!

Excellent video, so many others waffling on and then showing the finished result but not showing the cut being made. You did everything right in this, no bogus video cuts, no lies, just hard facts and hard evidence. Thanks mate, I owe you a beer.

Very informative. I cut melamine, any laminate and 1/4" plywood from the opposite side when using a circular saw. Table saws cut down into the wood, not up through it, just for this reason. You can get the same benefit by flipping your stock over when using a circular saw - - also apply all the tips in the video too

Can't tell ya how many times I've gotten rough cuts and had no idea why. This is great advice!

Running a scoring cut before the full depth is always best, I use 3mm mdf over some cuts. Blades are not just about teeth-count I have recently learned (after 40 years lol!). Study-up on blade Hook Angles, they make the world of difference when combined with the correct teeth numbers on the quality of the top cut's finish as the less angle "shaves more than cuts" as it passes through, and obviously have the depth of cut set to match the material thickness. Bosch have a range of blades with minimal and sometimes negative Hook angles which I've now swapped to.

Used the multiple depth cut method a while ago while installing a slat wall because I saw it in a Scott Brown video and couldn’t believe it actually worked so well

A little tip I got from an old timer who's spent a lifetime making high end furniture, to get perfect cuts while cutting on the finish-side, without the need to go get a 60 tooth blade: Use the method you showed with the fixed guide, but on the first pass you set the depth to 1.5-3 mm (1/16-1/8 inch) and you make the first cut in reverse. By cutting backwards, the teeth of the blade will strike down into the finish side of wood and won't blow out since its always supported, just like you see on the backside of all your shown cuts. Its important (both for result and safety) you only make this first shallow cut in reverve, and not the full depth, as the saw will be pushing back off the material rather than clamp it between the blade and the depth guide as it normally does during forward cutting, so make sure you keep a slight pressing down on the saw as you cut. After that, you finish like you also did, with a full cut through in the normal direction.

Multi cut did the trick with spectacular results!!!! Thanks!!!!!!!

Upcoming DIY table desk sawing and later edge banding. Really needed to know this. Ordered a 60T to replace my 24T asap too. Now I can tackle this job with confidence. Awesome! Thanks for this information.

I've found the best method is to use tape AND sacrificial wood (and whenever possible using the table saw). But yes, all other things being equal, a wood blade will always give you better results than the generic blade that mitre saws, table saws and circular saws are shipped with.. Keep up the good work. Greetings from London!

SCIENCE. Diligent, thorough. Dude! Adding to the craft. THANK you.

Tried the multi cut technique and it worked out wonderfully! Thanks so much for this video!

That is such a useful comparison between the methods. Have used tape in the past and never been happy with results. Multiple cuts from now on. Who knew?! Bill did:) Thanks.

Nice demonstration, thanks. I have found that clamping a waste piece of the same material over the cut area by using screws rather than clamps on the waste side of the cut, I have cut worktops (counter tops for USA) and have never had a blowout. I believe the extra holding strength of the screws over clamps made the difference. Thank you once again.

Very thorough and very useful demonstration! 👍 Nice work.

Hi mate. Just want to say I absolutely love your channel and really appreciate how much you help people. I live in Adelaide and are a gardener/ handyman. I have learnt so much from you. Thanks again

Great tips Bill - gives me as a weekend DIYer a lot of confidence

fantastic video, trying to use what I have for some melamine and this showed exactly what my results would've been without having to trial and error myself

I used the three cut method yesterday on a length of laminated kitchen worktop - wow, what a result! I used a 24 tooth blade and no masking tape and the result was a near pristine cut. One thing I learned - start your cut at the curved edge of the laminate, otherwise small bits of laminate might get pushed off rather than cut, spoiling your perfect finish.

THANK YOU! This is EXACTLY the video I needed today, because I will be cutting wide melamine shelves for my pantry. I will be using a circular saw with a NEW 60+ tooth blade. The 'multiple cuts' method is a winner, and I will be using some kind of edge guide. What complicates my install is that if course the side walls to the small pantry aren't exactly parallel, so each shelf must be custom-fit to size. I've got 1/16 to 3/8 differences front-to-rear on the shelf widths - 5 shelves.

What a great video Bill. Thank you Sir. The results were a shock. It goes to show, that slowly is the key.

I always used to initially cut a straight, superficial line on the board with a grinder (cutting disc mounted) to give a smooth cut on the top side before using the saw, but it's like surgery and takes a lot of time and focus. Having watched this, I can't believe I never thought of doing the surface cut with the circular saw instead. It is the same concept, just 10x quicker and you only need one tool to do it. Thanks Bill, I think I finally found that "one method that works". 👍

Thank you so much. You spent a lot of time to demonstrate all the options. Very thorough and informative. Thank you again. 🙏

I have been building stuff for 40 years. Learned a lot of good stuff. Thank you.

Great video that I didn't think I needed until half-way through I realised how much I did! So if you want the perfect finish you just have to take more time cutting Melamine via the multiple pass method it looks like!

Awesome video, straight to the point, clearly explained, results to prove it, thanks for making it, really helped me to get better results

Thanks for the quick and simple video. Multiple cuts is the winner!

Thank you for increasing our knowledge with your informative video. Great work.

I learn a lot from your tips. Thank you!

This is actually a useful tip. I haven't seen this anywhere else. Thanks.

Worked great, cut the board easy as butter, thanks for the tips.

Thank You Bill another one to put in the memory bank.

Some videos cover some of the bases....this one covered ALL of the bases. Best video I've ever seen on the subject. Can't thank you enough. cheers.

You don’t need to make to make three passes for the multiple cut. Just two is enough. And you should never cut 16mm sheet goods with your blade at full depth anyway. Having your blade only just cut thru the material makes the world of difference. Give that a go next time Bill 👍🏼

I'd say the speed at which you cut is the most important factor. When I want a clean cut I just slow way down. If you slow down AND use a fine tooth blade you get a nice cut with little blowout, and any blowout you do have is very small. The multiple cut method demonstrates the effect of changing the angle at which the blade exits the material. The first cut has a nearly horizontal exit.

Thank you for taking the time to do this video.

Thanks - what a great find you are. I love the way you compared all of the methods - very scientific 👍👍

Excellent instructional video. Clear, concise. Thank You!

Great demonstration. I just wish you had added one more test. A single straight thru-cut using a guide like you did with the multi-cut test. But since you did all of the other tests, I guess I can do that one on my own. 😀 Thank you for sharing.

Great demo mate, super helpful. Keep it going, I’m loving your content.

Fantastic how-to mate! Can’t thank you enough. Bill, you rock 🙏😀

Thanks for the tests you've done. You may want to add the reverse blade method too. See what then results are and make a second episode of this video.

Great methodical approach.

Great content! I was just getting ready to head to Home Depot to pick up tape because I'm cutting a bunch of plywood today. You just saved me $4 plus gas for the round trip. THANKS!

Great video, really clear demonstration of how to get clean cuts, especially in faced boards. Thank you for this.

Thanx so much for your presentation. I will use what you taught to cut beadboard and I will cut with backside up to get best results on front side.

When I use tape to trim wooden doors, I find the tape holds the fibers very well. But I wouldn’t expect to get a good result with melamine. Completely different materials. Maybe try these same tests with plywood..? Was very impressed with the multiple passes method. A bit more trouble to set up a guide, but great result even on melamine. Well worth it. Thanks.

okay. This warranted a donation. Thanks for doing the work to figure out this frustrating puzzle.

I think I was born with a hockey stick and a circular saw in my hand in 1960, but you're never too old to learn new info. Great info, never tried or even thought of the multiple cut method. Looks like I am buying a 60 tooth blade as well, compared to my 40 tooth. Cheers from Canada.

RLY nice test of different blades and cut techniques. 👍👍👍👍😘

A method I use for melamine is to score parallel lines the width of the circular saw blade with a craft knife over the top surface and edges. It's a bit time consuming, but I'm usually happy with the results. Next time I have a project, I'll have to try out your triple pass method. Thanks for the helpful video.

You went to a lot of trouble for our benefit there, many thanks. 👍from the UK.

Excellent vid, appreciate the effort. Going to get a 60 tooth blade and use the multiple cut method.

Nice tip. I will remember this one going forward. I sort of guessed that the more teeth, the finer the cut, which is pretty obvious, but that trick with the multiple cuts, nice one. Thanks for another great video Bill.

Worthwhile watching. I would have never thought of the methods nor guessed the results.

Great information and complete demo. Thanks !!

Great demonstration! Thank you

Excellent tutorial Bill, Big thumbs up for this one 👍

All the techniques in 1 video. Great content. Now just need to do the same thing with different types of wood (particle, laminate, plywood...)

Thank you for this. I really learned something new.

Mate, you are genius! Thank you!

Thanks for posting these vids Bill, you’re really helping me improve the quality of my work 👍

Great video - thanks for taking the time to make it! 👍

Great video! That's very helpful. Thanks for sharing mate! :)

Awesome. Thank you....this is an excellent demo.

No comments, just perfect cuts.

Dude, u just saved me tons of money!!! thank you!

Thank you so much for making this video!

Great video. Thanks so much for this awesome technique!

Thank you! Exactly what I needed.

Awesome content Bill love your Videos - thanks for the tips... now we all know👍

Very helpful video thanks for sharing this experience Bill 👍👍👍

Another one to try is multiple cuts with the 60 tooth blade, but the first cut, pull the saw in reverse across the job. The material is essentially compressed into the board, and then ejected along the cut, meaning it isn't lifted. This might also work on the 24 tooth, but there's less tool control.

Shot bro! That was an awesome demonstration. Thanks

Nice one mate, really insightful!

Moral of the story: Use the bottom of the stock for your finished side.

Perfect test and explanation. Thanks!

Thanks for this. I only have one board to cut and didn’t want to buy a new blade for this just that. Was hoping to see 24 teeth with tape and 3 pass method combined but I guess I’ll be running that test myself tomorrow

Very informative, thank you!

Excellent video, Bill, and the most useful I've come across. Keep up the good work!

Great stuff man. The melamine really helped to see the contrast. Good on ya bro.

Thank you. I've been looking for a video like this one. Nicely explained and clear. I need to cut IKEA Kitchen Panels . I suppose I should use the 60T

This video surely made me subscribe. love tests like this!

This is very informative thanks mate!

Thank u...great demo film!

Thank you for this, very acurate and helpfull!👍

Thank you man, that was helpful

TY for the vid, I'm a first time watcher and I found it fascinating and informative, I won't forget this ever! 🙂

Thanks for a nice video as usual! What about cutting upsidedown, flipping the piece of wood and cut.Cheers!!

Your multi-cut is essentially mimicking the saws we use at the factory, although we do it all in one pass. We have a scoring blade running in the reverse direction of the main blade, both mounted on one saw bed. The cuts we get are extremely sharp (you can cut yourself), even 3 metre long cuts with 5 boards, held in place by a couple of pressure beams, cut all at once. The other thing that makes a huge difference is the blade itself. Is it sharp? In the factory, blades get changed a minimum of 3 times a day. More if chipping starts to occur.

This video was very handy, as I know that the chipping occurs, and in my case cutting laminate. I was surprised to see the results. My project involves trimming off an already set countertop, where a new oven would not fit and I have to trim off a quarter inch from either side. So the repeated, shallow cuts, would be a way to get the best finish possible. Your video provided valuable information and I think you for that. I rarely do these kinds of cuts with my everyday blade, so it’s time to buy a few, including the 60 tooth blade and apply tape as well to the method.

Very informative. Thank you.

Just watch for no reason and Actually really enjoyed it. I might have missed my calling.

Great video bro! Really very useful and informative. Keep them coming mate.

Professional and helpfull..thx !