Veneer cutting

I have tried various paper cutters and none have worked well. They tend to push the veneer out of the
way making a straight cut very hard.

A straight edge and blade does a much better job.

-- Gary, East TX -- The longest journey begins with a single step.

In my limited experience, I agree with Gary.

-- Charlie M. "Woodworking - patience = firewood"

How wide of strips do you want to cut? I use a heavy aluminum straightedge (3/4” thick by 3 1/2” wide with a laminate on the face) with either a stiff blade in an Xacto or an Olfa rotary cutter for most of my work. It provides adequate heft to hold material flat and prevents me from having to apply tons of pressure to the straightedge. I haven’t had much success with a paper cutter either, even after sharpening the blade to a death defying razor edge. When I need narrow strips, such as for banding, then I use an Ulmia strip cutter.

-- Rich, Madison WI

Heavy straight edge and an Xacto knife.

-- Maplewood, MN

What about a mat cutter?

-- arborial reconfiguration specialist

I have a friend who does some really fabulous veneer work, and lots of it. He will use a small metal shear to cut pieces like this. It is like an industrial grade paper cutter. It looks something like this: http://roperwhitney.com/shearing/2-20.cfm If you are planning to make a lot of chessboards then it might be worth it, but if you can’t justify one of these then I would suggest a straight edge and a knife.

I learned to do it with a veneer saw and a straight edge.
I’ve also used a scalpel.
Three quick swipes with the veneer saw and it’s done. The scalpel tends to be too flexible to cut a long piece.

-- No piece is cut too short. It was meant for a smaller project.