Carriage, Sawyer, and Setter at Blagen Mill

Carriage at Blagen Mill

(Clicking on the photo will enlarge it a number of times)

The photo shows Sawyer, Wilbert Duguay, on the left, who signals the setter, who has his hand on the set dial, what he wants the next cut to be. Enlargement of the photo will show Wilbert holding up his little finger and his pointer finger. With his left hand the setter is choosing that width. The main  body of this set dial is on display at the museum. Electric motors will move the cant to where it needs to be in order to cut the desired width. This wasn’t exactly high tech by later standards, but it replaced a system of levers and gears. Wilbert Duguay came down from Calpine in 1938 where he had been the sawyer for Frank Blagen. He was considered an expert at getting the most out of a log, a skill highly regarded as it meant more money for each log cut. We don’t know who the setter is, nor do we know what year the photo was taken. Prior to 1962 obviously, as that was when the mill closed. 

Wilbert Duguay 9/21/1904 to 11/24/1992