Abstract: A veneer lathe including a knife blade which is adjustable to different pitch angles. The veneer lathe includes a feed carriage mounted for movement on guides fixed to a lathe frame and a blade carriage supporting the knife blade. The blade carriage is a massive member pivotally mounted by trunnions on the feed carriage so as to rotate under the force of gravity. A support device is operative between the feed carriage and the blade carriage for supporting the blade carriage against the force of gravity in an angularly biased position relative to the feed carriage. The lathe also includes a control responsive to different types of wood for allowing the means for supporting the blade carriage to retract at different rates under the force of gravity exerted on the blade carriage.

Abstract: The invention concerns a spindle drive for a veneer lathe. In view of reducing the mobile masses of the drive gear equipment making the lathe better adaptable to different log lengths, the opposite spindles in the lathe are provided with drive motors of their own. In the preferred embodiment, the rotor of the motor is mounted directly on the spindle and the stator is mounted on a frame unit displaceable on guides. The motor may be an electric motor provided with speed regulation, or it may be a hydraulic motor.