Building stackable sawhorses http://woodgears.ca/sawhorse/index.

html

There seems to be as many variations on sawhorse designs as there are woodworkers. So it

should only figure that I would have a sawhorse design of my own too.

Though really, its not much of a design. Just as simple and sturdy a sawhorse that I could come up
with. The emphasis being on light, sturdy, and stackable. Disassemble-able would be nice too, but
that would compromise the other factors, and at that point, its probably better to just buy one of
many types of sawhorse brackets and use those.

The only tool you need to build these is a sliding miter saw, or a radial arm saw. I used a radial arm
saw, because that's what I have. I would recommend you buy a sliding miter saw instead. The way
a radial arm saw pulls itself into the wood and with the saw blade coming towards you, is ideally
suited for having horrific accidents with. Miter saws are much safer, and can do nearly anything
practical that you could do with a radial arm saw.

Materials needed for two sawhorses

Quantity Item Purpose

3 2"x3"x8' Legs. You can cut 3 leg segments from each 2"x3"x8'

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Building stackable sawhorses http://woodgears.ca/sawhorse/index.html

2 2"x4"x7' For cross beams.

1 3.5"x2'x.75" ply Piece of plywood scrap to cut for leg braces
12 2.5" nail To nail cross beams together
50 2" nail To nail legs and cross braces

Sawhorse Construction

The cross beams on top of the

sawhorses consist of two 2x4's 3 foot in
length. Cut the slots to a depth of half
way (.75"), and 3" from the end.
Measure the width of the legs for how
wide to cut this. Having the legs fit
precisely into the slot is key to having a
rigid sawhorse.

Its best to remove the material by

making a whole series of closely spaced
cuts. Quicker than chiseling out the
wood that remains afterwards.

If you are using a sliding miter saw, you

will need to put a 2" wide spacer behind
the work piece, as the center of the saw's blade never goes as far back as the fence. So when
making less than full depth cuts, to keep the cut the same depth front to back, you need a spacer
behind the work piece.

If your miter saw is a non-sliding type miter saw, you will need to think up some other way of
cutting these slots, such as with a table saw or a skillsaw.

Cut the 2x2"x8' into three equal

segments. At 8', this allows for three
segments 32" long. I cut these mitered
first, although its probably easier to cut
them square first, as I suggest in the
plans.

With the legs being only 2x3", as

opposed to 2x4", its possible to cut the
miters upright, as shown. The miters are
all 18 degrees. Saws typically have a
detent at 22.5 degrees. I was tempted to
use that, but it results in the legs being a
little too wide. An 18 degree detent
would be used for making a 10 sided
frame, so some miter saws may have a
detent at 18 degrees.

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Cut the legs to 32" in length. That way, you can get 3 pieces out of an 8' stud, and can make 8 legs
for two sawhorses from three 8' studs.

To cut the 18 degree taper in the end of

the leg, I cut off a piece of scrap 2x4
with an 18 degree angle, and then used
that as a guide, with the saw actually set
to 90 degrees.

Next glue the two pieces of 2x4 that

form the beam together. No need to put
a lot of glue in between, as this joint
won't really get stressed.

Its best to put a small clamp on the two

pieces as shown before nailing them.
With the glue between the pieces, it acts
as a surprisingly good lubricant, and the
pieces tend to slide out of place while
you are nailing them.

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Next glue and nail the legs to the beam.

Rather than measure how big the leg

plates need to be, I just marked them off
the sawhorse.

Nail the leg plates onto the legs. The leg

plate should be slid right up against the
cross beam, so as to provide extra
support. Nail these to both sides of the
legs.

Two sawhorses done. They are

Stackable.

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They also can be placed very close side

by side if offset a little bit so the legs fit
behind each other.

Two sawhorses and an old door make

for a great temporary workbench. I
made them 3' long, so they'd be just
wider than a door. But use an older
door, the type that has 1/4" plywood on
either side, or even a solid wood core
door. New doors are a little too flimsy to
use as a workbench. You can usually
get suitable doors fairly cheaply from a
used buidling material store.

Sawhorse plans

See also:
Home
improvement
projects

Sawhorse plans Basement shelving Building a workbench

To my Woodworking website

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