neoOberon Posted July 30, 2014 Report Share Posted July 30, 2014 Can anyone recommend good sawhorse plans? I'd like ones that stack nice... Also, what is a good height for sawhorses? (Not a set height, but one based on my height). Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rodger. Posted July 30, 2014 Report Share Posted July 30, 2014 I did a set of krenov style saw horses a while back. Do a forum search for krenov saw horses and u should get it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jHop Posted July 30, 2014 Report Share Posted July 30, 2014 There's dozens of sawhorse designs out there. Wood magazine has adjustable height ones, there's the traditional trapezoidal (and fixed) sawhorses, folding ones, knock down ones, and metal or plastic ones. Figure out what you want the sawhorse to do, and choose or work out the plan. (It's a fairly simple design, after all.) I have my saw horses as plastic ones, that set my workbench about 32 inches off the floor. I've thought about having shorter ones, as this is a little tall for comfort. (Depending on days, I'm between 5'8" and 5'9", although some days I'm 6" and others i'm 10'....) The adjustable ones work well when you're feeling shorter than average. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom King Posted July 30, 2014 Report Share Posted July 30, 2014 I like to make the tops out of YP 2x6 x 4' long. 2x6s the flat way. The flat top comes in handy for lots of things from holding a board down with my leg for handsawing, to standing on top of. Legs are let into the sides of the top at an angle, so the outside edge of the legs is flush with the sides of the top at the top. If set on end, the top is perpendicular to the floor. Legs about 24" apart at the bottom in width. On both sides of the 1x6 legs, under the top 2x6 is a plywood gusset inside and out about 6" tall. Leg location into top leaves 4" of top sticking out from the leg gusset that comes in handy for clamping stuff to. Everything is shot together with finish nails to hold it together and then screwed together. No glue, since sometimes a leg gets broken falling off a tall scaffold or tossed by a storm, and it's easy to replace the leg. I don't have any plans. I just laid it out with a framing square on a sheet of plywood, and pulled the angles off of that. I made a sled for the tablesaw that holds the tops at the correct angles to cut the mortises with a dado blade. I made that jig over 25 years ago, and am at the point that we need to make a run of them again pretty soon. I install the legs running long, and trim them flush with the top, and bottom of the legs to a mark with a handsaw. They hold a LOT of weight. I've had stacks of 2x12x16s on two of them a number of times. I like them at 32" tall, but have some at 30 too. They stack just fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason Glover Posted July 30, 2014 Report Share Posted July 30, 2014 I made some of these: http://www.woodsmithshop.com/download/404/stackingsawhorses.pdf and mildly adjusted the height to where 2 stacked exactly matched my worktable height (MFT/3) . pretty easy to make, easy to stack, and hold a ton (stacked or unstacked). i like the optionality to work on a lower height (~18") for some projects too. lastly, the shelf on the bottom is handy too. somewhere in the middle of the project though, i found myself saying - why don't you just buy sawhorses like a normal *$@ person! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TerryMcK Posted July 30, 2014 Report Share Posted July 30, 2014 Nice link JG. Lots of pdfs for other projects there too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CessnaPilotBarry Posted July 30, 2014 Report Share Posted July 30, 2014 There's also Shop Boxes, nicely described by Bob Lang in this free PopWood Article. The ability to get different heights to raise work, or even stand on is a big plus. For ~ 100 years, telephone company switching centers have been equipped with purchased "three level stools", which are essentially red oak shop boxes. The I beams Bob details are handy, too... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barron Posted July 31, 2014 Report Share Posted July 31, 2014 A big plus une on the Krenov style. They hold a lot, on two levels, and stack easily and are easy to store. Plus they don't use much wood. Google Krenov saw horse and you will find plans. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neoOberon Posted August 1, 2014 Author Report Share Posted August 1, 2014 Thanks for the suggestions guys...didn't know there were other options besides the "typical" design. I'll take a deeper look and figure out what to build... somewhere in the middle of the project though, i found myself saying - why don't you just buy sawhorses like a normal *$@ person! I have purchased ones and I hate them...very unstable. I got them on sale, so for what they are, they're ok. But they are far from ideal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
weithman5 Posted August 1, 2014 Report Share Posted August 1, 2014 wow, very interesting options Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoshC1501 Posted August 3, 2014 Report Share Posted August 3, 2014 Didn't see them mentioned so thought I would mention them. The Thoroughbred saw horses from Paul Sellers site are fun to build and ridiculously strong. I built a set last year and threw out the junk home center set I had. Couldn't be happier with the time invested and the quality of the final product. Think I am going to build another set, always seem to need them. http://paulsellers.com/2013/09/saw-horses-traditional-thoroughbreds/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wdwerker Posted August 4, 2014 Report Share Posted August 4, 2014 Christian Becksvoort did an article in FWW about sawhorses. 3 different versions that all look useful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sdkidaho Posted August 4, 2014 Report Share Posted August 4, 2014 Stackable and you can easily replace the top due to cuts: http://www.woodworkingtips.com/etips/2007/02/23/wb/ I like mine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom King Posted August 4, 2014 Report Share Posted August 4, 2014 Didn't see them mentioned so thought I would mention them. The Thoroughbred saw horses from Paul Sellers site are fun to build and ridiculously strong. I built a set last year and threw out the junk home center set I had. Couldn't be happier with the time invested and the quality of the final product. Think I am going to build another set, always seem to need them.http://paulsellers.com/2013/09/saw-horses-traditional-thoroughbreds/ Mine are a lot like those. Sorry I don't have pictures, or ones to take pictures of this week where we're working. The differences are that my tops are 2x6s, gussets inside and out of the legs, but only 6" tall, and legs are 1x6s. They are plenty strong enough to use when framing houses with 40 wide and long two-bys stacked on a couple of them, but are still lightweight enough to move around easily, and a number of them can be stacked up on top of each other without the stack getting very high. The 2x6 wide top is good for laying a board flat on one to cut with a handsaw, and plenty wide to stand on comfortably. I've used sawhorses built to this design for 40 years, copied from an old carpenter that worked for me in the '70s-Randolph Pierce, and I don't have any reason to change anything about the design. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoshC1501 Posted August 4, 2014 Report Share Posted August 4, 2014 Agree with Tom. The compound angle on legs makes them strong. Here are mine. Started with some old 2x12's. Used some scrap baltic birch ply for the gussets. Joinery was not perfect, but it doesn't matter with this design. Reasonably good joinery, glue, and screws make them stupid strong. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom King Posted August 15, 2014 Report Share Posted August 15, 2014 I realized I could pull a picture off my website. This saw horse is 20 to 25 years old. Big Mike is providing the vise function. Plaster lath repair to the right is thickened epoxy and popsicle sticks. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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