Don't understand what I am doing wrong with my cuts

[harrisco]

I am doing my first woodworking project and don't understand what I am doing wrong. When I cut a piece of wood on my table saw it looks great. When I cut a piece of wood on my circular saw the end product looks bad, like it chiped some of the wood away. Am I doing something wrong such as wrong blade or is my circular saw just bad?

[Eric - TIA]

Congrads on your first project. You will find many frusterating things, but well worth it. Lots of fun and great sense after the project is done. In regards to your problems, it could be a couple things, but I doubt it is a bad saw. First make sure your blades are always sharp. You also want to match your blade to your material you are cutting. Depending upon the material, sometimes you might even have to score it first. One thing to note is notice which way the blade is spinning. On a table saw it is spinning towards you while a circular saw it is spinning away from you. So for a table saw you usually have the finish surface up so you can see it. With a circular saw you have the finish side down or away from you, that way even is you are using the worng blade or a dull blade, the chips will be on top or the side that could be hidden such as a table top.

[JVTech]

I've seen someone using masking tape on their wood before making the cut. They said it kept it from chipping so much. Worth a shot. I imagine you could use the blue painters tape as well.

[carp]

The tape does work. It works for a lot of different types of materials.