Exactly. It's that weird chipping that kills you. @shanew59 is right, you see it with wood too. Push a saw or a chisel too hard and it just tears out a chunk you didn't want. A clean, light pass always leaves a better edge to work with.

Found myself cutting a lot of melamine for built-ins last year. The clean, chip-free cuts alone saved me hours of sanding and edge banding fixes. For that specific job, it paid for itself in two weekends. I still use my circular saw for framing, but the track saw lives in its case for sheet goods.

Basic steps are basic for a reason.

Yeah, I just replaced my old washer for the same reason...

Yeah, I used to just grab whatever looked good at the store. But then I saw how my friend's family shops, they only buy what's on sale that week and build meals around that. No fancy recipes, just what's cheap. It made me realize how much choice I had that a lot of people don't.