Mobile Dimensional Sawmills

Between 1962 and 1966, Jim May conceived and constructed the original Mobile Dimensional Sawmill, a revolutionary portable sawmill designed to process lumber on-site. This innovation drastically reduced the expenses associated with dimensional lumber for construction by eliminating the need for transportation and off-site processing. These sawmills were crafted using raw stock materials and modified off-the-shelf components, all manufactured and assembled within a single workshop. Over a span of forty years, various revisions and improvements were made to the sawmill, culminating in the integration of a hydrostatic pump and, ultimately, the development of an all-electric version. In 2021, the company underwent a change in ownership, transitioning to The Douglas Family. However, the handover process proved somewhat disorganized, revealing decades of board drawings with numerous unorganized revisions, presenting a considerable challenge for ongoing production. To address this, the new owners assembled a small team, which included a design engineer. This team was tasked with meticulously sifting through the legacy drafting, ultimately creating a virtual model with updated manufacturing drafts using SolidWorks, ensuring a seamless continuation of operations. Unfortunately, the design engineer working on the project decided to leave within the initial two months, leaving a significant void in the team's efforts. Additionally, numerous part files created by the team remained undefined, rendering them incompatible for translation into new manufacturing and assembly drafts. This setback posed a significant challenge to the project's progress and required additional resources and expertise to address effectively. In September 2022, the Douglas Family approached me with the project, and after some consideration, I accepted the challenge. Over the next 4-6 months, I carefully worked through around 1500 pages of legacy drafting, making individual part files to specification, assembling sub-components, and finally producing updated drafting documents, ultimately revitalizing the project.