My wife got me a veneering class for Xmas.  The class won't be until
June so I figured I'd give it a whirl so I'd be better prepared to learn.
The first thing I did was make a shooting board.  It's made of walnut
plywood banded with solid walnut (inexpensive utility wood, Paddy):

  http://home.insightbb.com/~sepost/Tmp/shooting_board1.jpg

The hinged lid allows me to clamp the veneer to hold it in place.  Here's
the back:
  
   http://home.insightbb.com/~sepost/Tmp/shooting_board2.jpg

You can see the latch to hold the lid closed and the two dowels to 
provide alignment so the lid closes in the same place each time (since
I used cheap, sloppy hinges).  I clamped the lid shut and drilled the
dowel holes, then glued the dowels into the bottom only:

  http://home.insightbb.com/~sepost/Tmp/shooting_board3.jpg

Some might remember my posting a couple weeks ago complaining about the
lack of left handed veneer saws.  I purchased a veneer saw thinking I
could bend the handle to the correct orientation but it's made of a
zinc or aluminum casting rather than steel so I figured any attempt at
bending would just snap it off.  Fortunately Russ Allen saw my plea and
being ever helpful e-mailed me with "if I cast you one will you quit
whining?".  How can a guy pass up a friendly offer like that?  He sent
me a casting and this morning I turned a handle using a 3/8" brass
compression nut as a ferrule.  I also had to refile the teeth on the
blade I'd purchased since they were pointing in the wrong direction 
which took less than 10 minutes.  In fact, I wished I wouldn't have
purchased a saw and instead made the blade myself from a card scraper.
Here it is next to the store bought one that points in the wrong direction:

  http://home.insightbb.com/~sepost/Tmp/veneer_saw.jpg

Thanks, Russ!

All that work so I could do my first pressing.  A four way matched
walnut burl with a maple/beech/maple stringing and solid walnut edging.

   http://home.insightbb.com/~sepost/Tmp/burl1.jpg
   http://home.insightbb.com/~sepost/Tmp/burledge.jpg

-- 
Scott Post      sepost@i...     http://home.insightbb.com/~sepost/