Track Saw Value?, Choosing Grain, Benchtop Finish and MORE!!

<p>Brians Questions:</p> <p>I craft Shaker Furniture and then donate it.  I am often gluing up tabletops.  I have seen many discussions around "how to properly joint" the edges of a-joining boards. Am typically using plain sawn cherry.<br> After rough dimensioning, jointing, then planing the individual pieces, and arranging the pieces so they look nice, and hopefully having  the grain run the same way (I finish the tops with a smoothing plane), it comes time to joint those edges that are to be glued.<br> There in lies the question....does one 1) rip them on a table saw...