A traditional veneer saw has a short curved blade mounted in a wooden handle. On most models the blade can be removed. This type of saw is designed to cut sheets of veneer to size.

Veneer sheets (also called leaves), are basically very thin slices of hard or soft wood, used to give a decorative finish to items such as doors, cabinets and floorboards. They are very delicate, and so require a small saw to cut them.

The blade on a traditional veneer saw is always curved. This is because sheets of veneer are very thin and delicate, and if you tried to cut them with a flat blade it would jam in the material and tear the veneer. A curved blade means that there is only a few teeth cutting the material at one time, so there is much less chance of the veneer becoming damaged.

On most traditional veneer saw blades, the teeth are not pointing in any particular direction, which means that the saw cuts on both the push and the pull stroke. Some blades have a special design that features two sets of teeth, facing towards each other. This design allows you to alternate between cutting on the pull or push stroke simply by tilting the saw. Tilt the blade forwards and pull back and the saw will cut on the pull stroke. Tilt the blade backwards and push forward and the saw will cut on the push stroke. The handle is positioned almost on the side of the blade. This is so that when cutting veneer, the saw can be held flat against a guiding block, without the handle getting in the way.