Advantages of incising veneer at the lathe are discussed in comparison with the traditional veneer incisor located prior to drying. The mechanism and design factors of veneer lathe incising are outlined and explained. A prototype incisor bar was designed and fabricated for mill trials, which indicate that it is feasible to incise veneer at the lathe by replacing a regular Big Bar with an incisor bar. The introduction of teeth to a Big Bar not only adds the incising function to the lathe, but also significantly increases the drive torque on the core, thereby reducing spin-outs. In addition, incising results in faster drying, reduced blows in pressing and flatter veneer. Trials under normal production conditions prove that the proposed incisor design works well for spruce. However, high pitch content presents plug-up problems for peeling Douglas fir. Further work is recommended to eliminate plug-ups, overcome pitch problems and optimize the incisor bar design.