Sorry for the gross generalizations and assumptions.
I should have said uniform thickness was more important than I imagined. Because I routed coves and beads on my strips, the alignment of strips of different thickness was a real problem. I read more than once that thickness was important, but it didn't register until I learned the hard way.
Next time, I will aspire to fairing my boat with sandpaper as some of the better builders do. On this boat though, I just about needed an adze to begin levelling things out.
The insert around the blade keeps the strips from getting dragged beneath the table top. Many saws have generous openings to accomodate different blades. The usual fix is to make a blank insert from plexiglass or similar, and raise the blade through it with the saw running.
Have fun.