Situated beside the source of the Bistra stream, the veneer and Venetian sawmills are exquisite examples of early industrial heritage. The veneer sawmill, which came from Podrečje, a few kilometres to the northeast of Ljubljana, began its operations in 1824 and produced veneer until 1952. The premises consisted of a sawmill, in which trunks were sawn into 12-cm thick planks, and two workshops.

In the first workshop a frame saw was used to cut 250-cm lengths of thin sheet wood used to make a variety of ply boards. The large cast-iron circular saw – with a diameter of 230 cm – was used to slice 300-cm long sheets of quality veneer for panelling and other cabinet-making applications. In the second workroom there was another frame saw used for cutting 350-cm lengths of timber with gauges up to and including 5 mm; these leaves of wood were used to make plywood panels used in joinery and packaging. The workshop also supplied craftsmen in Ljubljana who used the fine quality-wood veneers of gauges ranging from 3 mm down to 1 mm in the construction of quality furniture.

The three saws of the Domžale sawmill together produced in the region of 120 to 150 square metres of thin sheet wood and veneer per day. The machinery was driven by a 1.8 metre wide water wheel, which was 6 metres in diameter and had a nominal power output of 8 kW. In 1978 the TMS purchased the plant and transferred it to a newly-built facility in Bistra where it is now preserved in good working order. Today, when the mill and workshop are operating, visitors can get an excellent insight into how veneer and plywood were made in days gone by.