How to Cut Plywood With a Circular Saw With No Splintering

Plywood sheets and circular saws go together as if they were made for one another. A circular saw makes easy work of cutting the large sheets to any size needed on the job. What was a tedious ten minutes of sawing with a handsaw became a quick 30 seconds with a circular saw. With that speed came a price, though. A poorly managed circular saw can splinter the plywood along the edges of the cut. For rough-in work that is not a problem, but if you are using veneered plywood you want it to look as good as possible for the finished project.

Work gloves
Goggles
Sawhorses
Masking tape
Clamps

Instructions

- 1
  Support the plywood on both sides of the cut with sufficient sawhorses or other holders. When an unsupported side of the board wobbles up and down the wood along the kerf -- or track of the saw -- it will chip and splinter.
- 2
  Cut with the good side of the board facing downward.
- 3
  Don't force the blade into the wood. Let the saw do it's job of cutting.
- 4
  Mask the bottom side of the board along the planned cut with an easily removed, 1-inch-wide masking tape. Remove the tape as soon as the cutting is finished.
- 5
  Sandwich the veneered side against another sheet of plywood and clamp them together before making the cut. Face the two pieces of wood so that the veneer is facing downward.

How to Cut Desk Legs

How to Put in Drawer Sliders

Carpentry