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Kirby Gaal
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I've had several trials and tribulations searching for that reasonably-priced cutter that I could use for veneer recently, and here's what I found. For crosscutting, I bought an Exacto 15" model guillotine that does an excellent job on everything I've used, even thick burls, as long as they're flat and not too brittle. I did find that the cutting edge was about 1/16" lower than the overall surface of the rest of the board. I can't figure out why it was made that way, but I just unscrewed it and placed a shim under it so everything had better accuracy. I don't know if other models are similar, so you might want to check that out. My suspicion is that any of these types of cutters works pretty well.
Here's the more interesting thing I found; We all wish we could find something to cut longer lengths that doesn't cost megabucks, right? So, I looked EVERYWHERE for it. I first purchased a Virutex veneer and laminate slitter and found it to work OK for laminates and once in a blue moon it would give a good cut on veneer, but most of the time it would either cut way, way off line or simply chew up and spit out the veneer, especially burls. I did everything I could think of to adjust and called the company and just found that it's a poor design. I sold it less than two weeks after I bought it.
Everything else concerning cutting long sheets of veneer was way out of my budget, so I took a chance on one of those rotary paper cutters, not expecting much success. After all, I already blew a grand on the Virutex, so what's another $500? I bought a Kodak M3 series paper trimmer which claimed it could also cut wood veneer. It works like a dream 90% of the time. The other 10% of the cuts might have a little "tearout" with highly figured woods or burls, but I'm nitpicking. This is the second best woodworking tool purchase I ever made, and my first purchase was 34 years ago. The best one was my vacuum press. I just did a large trophy case done with very highly figured Sapele, Eucalyptus, Anigre' and Orientalwood that used over 800 linear feet of veneer tape and I'm on cloud nine. I've done all kinds of cuts I would never have tried before, such as sunburst patterns and diagonal cuts across grain, and I couldn't be happier. Very few of the cuts weren't excellent and noone whose seen the project hasn't raved about the results. There isn't a gap to be seen anywhere. If you can spare about $500, you owe it to yourself to check it out. I still use the guillotine cutter for crosscuts because it's a heavier duty blade, but the rest is with the Kodak. They sell several different lengths and I bought the 54" model. I've used every inch of it several times and been very happy with it. I found it on Ebay, brand new, but a search on the internet will find it easily. I can't speak for the other rotary type cutters out there, but this one works beautifully. (no, I have no affiliation with Kodak. I'm just happy to help other woodworkers with a good tip). Happy veneering!
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