Roland Johnson looked at 13 popular 3-hp, 220v 10-in. cabinet saws. In addition to evaluating the saws for power and safety, he also tested for tabletop flatness, for runout at the arbor shaft and arbor flange, and for parallelism of the blade to the miter slot. He found that all the saws offered plenty of power, solid rip fences, smooth controls, and flat tabletops.

The Powermatic 66 is one of only three in the test group that you can’t shut off with your knee, and the blade/miter slots were out of parallel to the point of requiring adjustment. An extension table and legs are included.

Three years prior, Niall Barrett reviewed this saw and found that it had the look and feel of an industrial-quality machine. The tilt and blade-height adjusters worked effortlessly. The saw has a massive cast-iron trunnion, and the fence is bigger than anything else he looked at, at the time. The saw also comes with a high-quality SystiMatic carbide-toothed combination blade.

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Shop Fox W1826

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Ridgid R4331 Planer

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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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