As anyone in the market for a combination blade, also called a general-purpose blade, knows, there’s no shortage of choices, even in the upper price range. Curious to know whether any of these blue bloods stood out, I decided to test 14 top-of-the-line 10-in. combination saw blades for smoothness of cut.

With each new blade, I ripped and crosscut a 3/4-in.-thick maple board to produce a 2-in.-square sample. After that, the ripped and crosscut edges on each sample were checked for smoothness on a high-tech machine called a surface and roughness profiling system, which can measure very small surface deviations. Then, based on the machine measurements, the smoothness of each rip and crosscut was rated as excellent, very good, good, or fair.

The Ridge scored a good in the rip cut and a very good in the crosscut.

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Rikon 10-3061 10-in. Deluxe Bandsaw

The 1⁄2-hp motor has all the power needed to resaw at its maximum capacity of 5 in.

The saw has two speeds: 3,280 sfpm (surface feet per minute) for wood and 1,515 sfpm for soft metals and some plastics.

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JessEm Mite-R Excel II Miter Gauge

The gauge has a quick and easy method for fitting the guide bar precisely to your tablesaw’s miter slot. This means the gauge can be recalibrated if necessary for continued accuracy. The face of the protractor head can be adjusted square to the table and also square to the guide bar. This ensures accurate cuts, and it, too, can be readjusted if the need arises. The protractor head has stainless-steel knobs and fittings and high-contrast, easy-to-read white numbers and increments.

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