On Oct 21, 6:26*pm, Tom Veatch wrote:

In either case, best results (less tendency to splinter) is on the
side where the saw tooth enters the work. More tendency to splinter
where the tooth exits the cut.

Exactly. Which is why I am scratching my head over Max's experience.

My miter saws works exactly like a circular saw. So does my radial
saw. Once they are through the material's thickness, they are cutting
up, with the teeth making the clean cut from bottom to top. Hence the
clean cut on the good side down, and the splinters coming up where the
blade exits the wood.

It would be the reverse for the table saw, though.

Robert