This paper presents an investigation into the effects of a novel rotor cut-off design on the performance of a synchronous reluctance machine. The rotor design consists of a sinusoidal lamination shape in the axial direction thereby varying the magnetic flux in the g-axis direction and reducing torque harmonics due to slotting effects. The presented study uses single-factor experimental design, with Analysis of Variance (ANOVA), and Finite Element Analysis (FEA) to quantitatively and qualitatively assess the effects of the rotor cut-off on the torque, torque ripple, saliency, power factor and efficiency of the machine. Results of the investigation indicate that although variation in the rotor cut-off design significantly reduces the torque ripple, the effects on the average output torque, saliency, power factor of the machine are relatively insignificant.