That circular saw, TS-55, with the rail, will cut back and top wood easily well enough to join, consistently, easy. Just clamp the rail to the top over a sacrificial board and run the saw down the rail. I learned about this about 8 years ago from one of my friends who is a regular writer for Fine Woodworking. The shop next door uses this tech for joining veneer in long cuts, oh, and tape to join them. For the folks out there who do not have a full tool shop, hobbiests who want some decent tools, starting with the festool vacuum and orbital sander, and this circular saw, you can join tops and backs, as well as cut plywood panels well enough for finish cabinetry, as sharp as with a table saw. Of course you wouldn't want to be using that same blade for cutting 2x4s and fence posts, a dedicated finish blade is not a big deal. The festool jigsaw is awesome too. For ukes, don't mess with the RO line of sanders, they are heavy duty for serious stock removal. Add a nice screw gun to this, and some hand tools, you are off to a good start. Knock off a few 'honey'dos' and you will get permission to buy more!
I could live with that circle saw setup for joining tops and backs, likely on a high uke production scale, it works that well. True... Mostly I use a table saw for this now, but I did just pick up a precision straight edge from Lee Valley for trimming the joint along a flush cutter router bit. I needed it for taming some long joints in some very squirrely Flamewood veneer I just put on a turntable.
