So the recommended bit is a little small. And I thought it was me.
I drilled holes based on Mike's bit sizes, and had one heck of a time to get the blade into 3 layers of 1/8" Baltic Birch. I then tried needle nose pliers to push the blade through the hole. The worked very well, a pair of needle noses will now sit beside the saw.
I also noticed that once the end (where there are no teeth) was through the wood, it was easy to push the rest of the blade through the wood.
Jim