The short answer: I would not blame your saw.  Blame the plywood.

I had so many issues with Lowes’ maple plywood, that I would never use it again.  I think the quality went down during the pandemic.

First, the veneer layer seemed thinner than before.

Second, the veneer layer seemed poorly adhered to the substrate

Third, on cross cuts, I got the same splintering you are seeing.

And finally, after applying oil based wipe on poly, I got this:



Paint seemed not to create this issue.  Perhaps the higher amount of mineral spirits in the diluted wipe on finish created the problem,  but it had never happened before. 

When I was new to my TS55, I found this video helpful.  Initially I didn’t understand the difference between the clear viewing window and the green Splinterguard.  I also didn’t understand initially that I needed to push the Splinterguard all the way down to the wood.  That part of the explanation starts at 4:22.

A scoring pass doesn't actually need to be climbing, it usually works perfectly well to do an initial 2-3mm deep cut pushing forward  then second at full depth. That said, the OP might want to look into getting a 42 or 52 tooth ATB blade if they're going to be working with veneers a lot.

i'm going with saw/user error. the chinesium ply we use cuts just fine over here. @mywoodshop did you use the green splinter guard? what is the bottom supported by?

But that's not a furniture or cabinet quality product...more for general utility firewood.

Fixed that for you, Jim.

As others have said that is recent change to their plywood quality. I noticed it about a year ago.

I mentioned it happened during the pandemic.  That would coincide with your “a year ago” note.

I missed that.  I would expect the bottom surface to be clean cut. A blade not parallel to the line of the cut will result in lousy cuts.  I am not sure what caused the bottom to look like that.

I'm guessing, but if the front of the blade was angled towards the offcut, the back of the blade would be rotating down through the wood and could cause tearout.

In general, bad cut quality on the bottom of the sheet comes from it not being supported completely.
Meaning that a cut on saw horses or riser blocks on a bench can do this, especially with a shallow cut.
When the teeth only protrude 2-3mm, they are pushing across the surface. This is the preferred way with fully supported cuts, like on an MFT. Then the surface of the table is supporting the fibers.
With an "open air" type cut, where there is essentially nothing underneath, setting the blade deeper makes the teeth cut upward from the bottom.....but significantly reduces the safety factor by exposing that much of the blade.

With a conventional circular saw, I would often set the blade depth for greater than required for the cut.  The greater depth also means greater length of the blade in the cut thus facilitating making a straight cut.

I never considered this practice to being particularly more risky than the smaller depth of cut.

If you accidentally place your fingers below the material, it’s the difference between slicing your fingers and cutting them off completely. Or in a kickback scenario possibly much worse.

(With apologies to the squeamish: I live my life thinking of worst-case scenarios. I probably should have built a career in insurance.)

Unlike a table saw, where the spinning blade is easily accessible to your vulnerable fingers, the circular saw has both the finger-blocking material that you are cutting and the retractable blade guard to protect your fingers.

Plus, my newest circular saw has a safety switch that prevents accidental start of the motor. 

I see the risk differential as minimal.

Does anyone set their blade depth on a circular saw to 3/8” to cut 1/4” thick material?

I have seen plenty of guys set the saw to darn near max depth and just leave it. Some are just not willing to adjust it every time, others are going on the same theory, that it helps keep the cut straight.
There are a few safety concerns with so much blade sticking out, not the least of which is binding. An unsupported piece that will be the off-cut, can catch as it is cut loose. I've seen it dozens of times, not saying it's proper practice, but it happens. Then you have the guy who reaches for a small off-cut, as it's happening, and all of that blade is down there where he is reaching....seen that one too.
Then of course is the kerf that you would be cutting into the top of your sawhorse...
I have never been a fan of circular saws. I see them as crude and that darn retracting blade guard will always try to steer the cut as it moves sucks.
When I discovered tracksaws, all of those problems were solved and I'll never go back.

[...]

Does anyone set their blade depth on a circular saw to 3/8” to cut 1/4” thick material?

Well, if cutting 6mm ply on the MFT I would definitely not cut at max depth...

Cut looks very normal to me (15 years of weekly TS55 use) for cheap plywood, cut across the grain, without a scoring cut.
I assume this isn't the off-cut you are showing us, therefore the extra green splinter guard that mounts on the right side of the blade is not relevant here.

That tear-out looks like it'll sand out fine, but if you need to prevent this level of tear-out on the cuts then taping the top side and fully supporting the bottom side with sacrificial material is likely the way to go. Maybe a scoring cut first rather than the tape is also going to work? Going slower always helps too

Don't think there is anything wrong with the saw or the user here. Looks just as I'd expect without further steps taken to limit the tear-out.