For some time, I've considered the the idea of making a veneer saw - not the wee thing used to trim delicate veneers, but a Veneer Saw.
From Hugh Chapman Mercer's Ancient Carpenter's Tools of 1929
Once, this is how logs too precious for pit sawing were reduced to veneer-thickness sheets.
I've never worked with veneer, but I don't have a bandsaw, and I imagined such a saw might be a faster way of resawing planks for drawer sides and the like. Also, I enjoy large, fast saws, and the frame would make it possible to employ a saw blade toothed for frightening savagery.
I should have made this a year ago. It took less than a day, and I wasn't particularly picky about the wood used. In the past, with smaller frame saws, I've riven the stock to be sure the frame members were straight-grained and clear, but here I just sawed out quartersawn ash ends and maple stretchers.
To size the saw, I stood with my fist against the wall and drew my arm back, as though withdrawing the blade from a cut. This distance turned out to be 28" to which I added 6" more for gusto and figured this was my maximum stroke-length.
How does it work? Beautifully. I assumed I would need to reshape the teeth on the 3tpi bandsaw blade I scavenged, but not so. Its first true test was sawing a stopped slot in an 8" wide slab of walnut and it was cruising downward at about 3/4" per stroke. At this point, I've probably lost the attention of any who isn't a woodworker, so I will address myself directly to you folks: This is outrageously fast. And easy to steer. And awesome.
