Burton Saw was founded in 1903 in Vancouver, British Columbia by A.J. Burton.  Originally a saw manufacturer supplying the mills of Western Canada, the nature and location of Burton’s focus gradually changed to supplying services and supplies to those same customers. In 1927 Burton Saw moved to Eugene, Oregon. By the 1950’s Burton was an established presence in the Oregon wood products industry.   

Run by Fred Burton and Ray Ralls the business thrived by providing a combination of new and used mill equipment, saws, knives, and consumable supplies.  In the 1970’s Dick and Rod Ralls became the sole owners.  Their energy and decision to focus primarily on customers in the saw filing and knife grinding rooms laid the groundwork for what Burton Saw and Supply has become today. With the purchase of Max Manufacturing of San Jose, California in 1983, and its’ ACME brand of post grinders, Oregon Select Inc. was formed to manufacture the machines and specialty products our customers required. 

The 80’s and 90’s saw a continued expansion for Burton Saw with subsidiaries opening in Idaho, Alabama, and New Hampshire.  In 2001 Burton Saw merged back the business spinoffs it had created to form a single North American corporation and brought Duncan McLean and Mike Kehoe in as managing partners. The new millennium has been a very busy time, with Burton Saw acquiring the assets of several long term sawmill distributors. 

The 2002 acquisition of Postle Owen in Surrey, British Columbia marked our entry into the Canadian market and completed the long journey back to our city of origin.   In 2004 the partners of Burton Saw formed a new company for the purpose of acquiring Wright Machine Tool from Betty Wright. Wright Machine Tool is now an important strategic partner with Burton Saw.  Our latest venture was the opening, in 2006, of an Eastern Canadian sales office in Rouyn Noranda, Quebec. Much of the success of our company as we move forward, can be attributed to our rich history.  Over 100 years of interesting people and interesting stories provide us with a special connection to our industry.