What is a standard practice for reducing tear-out when routing or planing end grain?

• A. Use backer boards, climb-cut avoidance, sanding to remove tear-out.
• B. Use higher feed rate and deep cuts.
• C. Avoid routing end grain altogether.
• D. Use only sanding for end grain.

Answer: (A)

End grain tears out easily because the fibers respond most poorly to cutting across their grain. A reliable way to minimize this is to support the cut with a backer board, which helps prevent fibers from lifting as the bit exits. Avoid climb-cutting on end grain, since that cutting direction can lift and tear fibers rather than reduce them. If some tear-out still appears, smoothing it with careful sanding is a practical finishing step rather than trying to cut it away with another pass. Using a higher feed rate and deep cuts would tend to make tear-out worse, and avoiding routing end grain or relying on sanding alone misses the protective benefits of proper backing and cut direction.