Sawmill
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A sawmill or lumber mill describes either a facility where logs are cut into lumber, or the machine that mills the logs in such a facility. Modern sawmills use a motorized saw powered by either electr
Sawing logs into finished lumber with a basic "portable" sawmill
An American sawmill, c. 1920
Early 20th-century sawmill, maintained at Jerome, Arizona
Illustration of a human-powered sawmill with a gang-saw, published in 1582
Whipsaw
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A whipsaw or pitsaw was originally a type of saw used in a saw pit, and consisted of a narrow blade held rigid by a frame and called a frame saw or sash saw. This evolved into a straight, stiff blade
Sawmill
…the invention of the sawmill, boards were made in various manual ways, either rived (split) and planed, hewn, or more often hand sawn by two men with a whipsaw, one above and another in a saw pit below. The earliest known mechanical mill is the Hierapolis sawmill, a Roman water-powered stone mill at Hierapolis…
'The Sawpit' by Luke Clennell
Whipsawing for boatbuilding in Alaska, late 19th century
Woodcut showing work above a saw pit
Pitsaw being sharpened