Good Monday. I finally tried my hand at ripping strips this weekend, with almost satisfactory results. I'm using a tablesaw set up gleaned from many posts which includes: inexpensive Ryobi saw with bolted-on 3/4" ply top; zero clearance insert; aux fence that stops just before the center of thin kerf, 24-tooth blade (8.5"); vertical and horizontal featherboards (one directly over blade), and 10-foot infeed and outfeed tables. I've checked and re-checked for blade-to-table squareness (fence to table, too), and I've aligned the fence as close to parallel to the blade as I can get it. Possible problems with my set up: no splitter, no wax to ease board passage. My known problems are:

1. The last few inches of each strip are problematic. I push each strip through by hand until about 2 feet until the blade, at which point I switch to a push stick. When I get to an inch or so away from the blade, I walk to the other side and pull the board/strip through. At this point, the saw whines, and yellow dust (from the paint on the blade) is seen. The resultant strip is uniform until the last few inches, over which it decreases to the point of uselessness. I'm careful to push/pull straight through, but I seem to get a bit of angle over the last few inches. Aside from using a powerfeeder, how can one ensure consistent feed angle (zero) when there's no longer a fence (it having ended mid-blade) to push against?

2. My blade (DeWalt, 8.5" thin kerf, general purpose) leaves marks on the strips. I can't recall if the Freud Diablo I used before left them, too. What level of finish should I expect for strips fresh from the table saw? The marks look to be easy enough to sand out, but what's the standard?

Thanks for the help, and have a great day.