Schurman Machine Works's roots date back to the 1930s in La Center, WA, where local youngster Clyde Schurman earned himself a reputation for repairing farm equipment and sawmill machinery. In 1939 he relocated to Woodland, WA, to better serve the area's sawmills. In 1945 the owner of one of those mills asked him to build a new edger. Schurman accepted the challenge and the resulting edger was a success. Schurman began manufacturing edgers and was a leader in the move to thin-kerf sawing to increase yields. In 1975, not interested in having to learn yet another generation of new technology, Schurman sold the business to wood-processing product vendor USNR.