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For the Spring Semester 2025, Engineering 205 final project, the MaJOR team was assigned to create a temporary level surface for the wood saw. After multiple years of arguing, Cal Poly Humboldt finally purchased a wood saw, however due to construction, they had to find a temporary placement for it. The MaJOR team was commissioned by the SWETMAN Makerspace to create a temporary structure that could be easily removed in two years and provide a level surface for the wood saw.

Background

The level surface or the sawmill project is intended to be placed as a temporary build in the SWETMAN backyard.  The sawmill will allow for students and faculty to have a greater access to wood materials, which can be used for future projects by both the staff and students who use the SWETMAN makerspace.  The surface is meant to be in place for approximately 2 or 3 years, until it is relocated to another building.  The main client of this project is Matt, who runs the makerspace area, and the expert for this project was Collin.  This project took place over the Spring semester of 2025.

Problem statement

The objective of our project is to create a level surface to hold the wood saw level and stable, allowing for full operation of the saw safely and efficiently. The structure is designed to evenly distribute the weight of the wood saw, preventing it from sinking into the loose dirt in the backyard, or otherwise becoming unstable or uneven.

Prototyping

While making our first prototype, we hoped to learn more about the general dimensions of our build and how it would best fit into the SWETMAN backyard.  To make this prototype, we first drew the layout of the backyard of SWETMAN. We then created the gravel pad and sleepers, which was the build we were set on at the time.  We did not attach the gravel pad to the cardboard so that we could figure out the best way to orient the sawmill within the dimensions of the SWETMAN backyard, which we decided would be at the side closest to the paved path, on the West side of the yard.  This is how the build is laid in figure 1, which shows the final orientation we chose for the sawmill.

For our second prototype, we hoped to learn more about our cost since we were told that we would be getting free wood. We also wanted to finalize some of our design since we were not sure about how much gravel and concrete we needed.  While creating our second prototype, we learned that our original plan with the gravel was too expensive. We first ran the numbers to calculate how much money we needed to create our gravel pad.  After realizing that it would completely decimate our budget we talked to our expert and decided to switch to concrete footings instead of spending money to buy gravel. We are going to buy concrete and pour it ourselves to create 8 footings for the structure.  Our second prototype can be seen in figure 2.

• Prototype Images
• 
  Prototype 1(Left) & Prototype 2(Right)
• 

Final product

While the original decision was to create a sleepers and shims method in combination with a gravel pad, upon a closer look at cost analysis, it was decided to avoid using gravel.  Instead, the new solution became to dig out a level area for the sawmill build to set, without using gravel.  Also, instead of sleepers and shims, group MaJOR decided to rest the sleepers on bracings that will be set into concrete footings.  The final product has eight of these footings, four for each side of the sawmill, and each of the footings is laid 8 inches deep in the dirt.  The final product is placed in the SWETMAN backyard, until it will be relocated in a couple of years.

Construction

Material list

• At Least 34.5ft of 4x4s (2:13’6” & 4: 22.5”)
• 16.5ft² of 1in Plywood
• 4 4x4 Post Bases
• 320 lb Concrete Mix
• 16 1/4in Lag Screws
• 16 8 in Screws
• 4 gallons of Wood Sealer

Tool List

• Shovels
• Rakes
• Jig Saw
• Hammer
• Concrete Mixer
• String for Leveling
• Level
• Miter Saw
• Paint Brush
• Drill

Instructions

1. Dig out the top level of grass out of the backyard of SWETMAN Makerspace using shovels.
2. Remove any obstructions such as leftover wood or planter boxes with shovels, pickaxes, and axes.
3. Use stakes and string to level and measure out the dimensions of the mill and where we will need to dig out holes for the footers
4. Use the measurements to dig out evenly spaced 9in by 9in holes in the ground.
5. Use jigsaws to cut up plywood into 16 9in by 9in squares and 16 8in by 8in squares
6. Assemble the cut wood into boxes to mold the concrete in using nails or a nail gun
7. Plant the molds into the ground and secure them by forming the dirt around them
8. Mix concrete in a large concrete mixer by combining bags of premixed concrete and water and stirring with a concrete mixer drill bit
9. Pour the concrete into the forms and level them off
10. Using the strings as a reference, sink an aluminum reinforcement into each concrete footing lined up with each other to allow a beam to sit flush in a line.
11. Take the lumber and cut it to size making two 13’6” beams and coat them in 2-3 layers of weather resistant coating
12. Lay the lumber in the aluminum reinforcements and then drill ¼ in Lag bolts into the reinforcements securing the beams in place
13. Cut 4 22.5” sections of beam and coat them in 2-3 layers of weather resistant coating
14. Lay the 22.5” beams as cross section between the two 13’6” and use 2 8” lag bolts on each side to lock them in place

Operation

Due to this being a structure for holding a sawmill, there is nothing to operate on. Just assemble the sawmill onto the structure. The MaJOR team was not responsible for this task.

Conclusion

Team

Introduce team and semester in the following format:

• Jack Farajian
• Ozlo Mitchell
• Rosalyn Luong
• Madeline Herring

References