Scragg mill: Defined

A description of the functions of a scragg mill. November 29, 2000

Question
I've been hearing about a scragg mill but I have no idea what it is. Any help?

Forum Responses
A scragg mill is used mostly by pallet shops to saw short logs into 2 or 4 sided cants. A scragg mill usually has 2 blades that are movable for the width of the cut (cant). The log is either held on each end (end dogged similar to a lathe) or positioned on a "sharp chain" to move the log between the saws. Scragg mills can be band or circular blade types. Some circular scraggs can cut in both directions. The log can be turned 90 degrees, giving a 4-sided cant.

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I worked for an outfit years back and we used a scragg in our stud mill. It used air cyls. to set the width of the cut and a sharp chain feed. We followed it up with a gang rip and also a band linebar resaw to recover any material in the slabs. They are not just for short wood. They do like uniform size wood with little sweep or crook.

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The comments below were added after this Forum discussion was archived as a Knowledge Base article (add your comment).

Comment from contributor A:
The modern scragg mill cuts full length logs and with the aid of the computer, cuts grade lumber as well.