The DW745 is a great saw and gets great reviews. Try using a 7 1/4" thin-kerf blade for ripping strips. You'll love it. The trick to ripping strips is to use a good fence and plenty of feather boards to keep the stock flush to the fence. Also if you have a jointer it's good to make a pass over the jointer before you rip the board so you have a nice even face. If not then snap a chalkline down the edge to see if it's true, then hand-saw very carefully to the chalkline. Flip the board and use that edge as the fence edge and make another pass. That edge should be pretty straight.

One thing with Mahogany that I have found more than other woods is that when ripped to strips it will go crooked with the grain. In other words, where the grain curves it will curve. Don't worry about this as it will easily straighten up when you glue it and clamp it. Mahogany is a tropical wood. Tropical woods don't have growth rings per se... they do have them, but not like trees that grow in seasonal climates where you have that strong contrast between summer and winter growth rings. The fibers are pretty even throughout. It makes the wood a pleasure to work with, but since the fibers all go the same direction it tends to curve to the fibers. Again as I said once you clamp it around your forms and glue it the twist will come out.

Another note about mahogany- when you rip it into strips if there are any places where the grain goes in different directions you will have to change your planing direction to match the grain. Tear out will sand out very easily as it is a very tight grained wood, so don't panic if you get some. Planing end grain on mahogany is a dream. Fitting strips into angles is very easy. Cut a bit long and then plane down to the line. it cuts like butter. It's surface planing where you have to be a bit careful, especially if you have a board with grain going in different directions.