David: Question: What's the best saw blade for cutting across wood at an angle?

— Rae McLaren, Onaping, Ontario

Norm Abram replies: A crosscut blade is best for cutting across the grain, within most any angle a carpenter is likely to need. It will also rip—cut in line with the grain—but not as quickly or as smoothly as a blade dsigned specifically for ripping.

If you're doing a mix of rip cuts and crosscuts and changing the blades is getting to be a hassle, then try a combination blade. It's a compromise between a crosscut blade and a ripping blade and will give you good results with the grain, across it, or at any angle in between. Your cuts probably won't be as good as those made with specialized blades, but you won't need to swap out blades every time your cut changes direction. That's a pretty fair compromise, I think.