TUNING up A VENEER SAW nce at a wood- Flatten the spine. O working show, 2 Any bumps or I witnessed Frank unevenness of the Pollaro making up spine against the veneered chess blade may result boards. He must in a curved blade have produced more that won’t easily cut than 30 pieces and to a straight line. each was perfect. To establish a flat spine, flatten the The seams were tight back of the spine and clean; there where it attaches was no tear-out or to the blade on a split veneer. What coarse sharpening impressed me most stone. was that he was getting these results straight from his Flatten the back veneer saw, with no 3 of the blade. On fussing or cleaning up the same stone, flatten the back on a shooting board 1 later. After that, I of the saw blade. You may want to was determined to Straighten the tang. Most veneer saws have an advance to finer grit improve the perfor- uncomfortable hang (the angle of the handle to stones for a more mance of mine. the blade). I found that by lowering the handle and polished blade. I Here are the steps placing it more in line with the saw blade, I got bet- find a smoother I take to “soup up” a ter control and improved results with less pressure. blade is easier to veneer saw. It’s not After taking apart the saw, I placed the spine keep clean and rust- necessary to do this in a vise and with vise grips, gently straightened free. to learn veneering, the tang. Be careful. The metal typically used for but it helps. this part is soft and susceptible to breaking. 4 Bevel the cutting edge. I use a 6" mill file to bevel the cutting edge on one side. Holding the file at an angle and working across the teeth, gently file until a bevel extends from the points to the gullets of the teeth. This (step) produces slender teeth that glide through veneer. 5 File the teeth. Using a 4" double extra-slim tapered saw file, I gently bring each tooth up to a nice point. I keep the file at 90° to the teeth and file it just like a rip saw. The exact angle of the teeth isn’t as important as their sharp- ness, so if your first effort isn’t perfect, don’t worry. 6 Replace the handle. This step is optional but I like to replace the short stubby grip with a slender, longer turned handle that I find easier and more comfortable to hold. — MR popularwoodworking.com 69.