How to Make a Saw Horse

sawhorse
  • 2-3 hours
  • Beginner
  • 35-75
What You'll Need
Safety glasses
1 Board, 2x6 inches, 36 inches long
2x6 inch boards
Drill
Wood clamps
2 ½-inch decking screws
4 Pieces of ¾ inch plywood, each 6X24 inches
What You'll Need
Safety glasses
1 Board, 2x6 inches, 36 inches long
2x6 inch boards
Drill
Wood clamps
2 ½-inch decking screws
4 Pieces of ¾ inch plywood, each 6X24 inches

For anyone who does do-it-yourself projects in the home, a saw horse is indispensable for sawing, keeping a piece of wood or drywall off the floor, or just laying out a large, flat surface. All you'll need to make your own sawhorses are a few tools and some directions such as those you'll find in the four steps below.

Step 1 - Collect your Material and Tools

Without first collecting and organizing materials and tools you'll need, you will more than likely need to interrupt your project to go shopping for things you thought you had but didn't. Look over the supply list before you begin.

Step 2 - Make your Sawhorse Legs

You'll need to bevel the ends of four 2x6x32 inch boards. To bevel them, you'll need to set your saw blade at a 15-degree angle, then saw the board ends so that their total length, with the bevel, is 32 inches.

Step 3 - Attach the Sawhorse Legs

sawhorse

At the top of the leg boards where you will attach them to the 36-inch horizontal sawhorse piece, make four pilot holes large enough that your screws will slip through the holes without having to be screwed in. These holes should be about two inches in from the leg board's outside edges. Each hole should form the corner of a small square with the two top holes lined up above the two bottom holes. Use two clamps to secure two of the legs to the horizontal top piece, then, use your drill to drive two wood screws through the pilot holes and into the horizontal piece of the sawhorse. Then, repeat this process with each of the remaining sawhorse legs.

Step 4 - Make your Bracing Pieces

At one end of the sawhorse, at the outer edge of the legs, and 10 inches up from the floor, make a mark with our pencil on both legs. Use your carpenter level to be sure the virtual line that crosses between these legs is horizontal with the two marks you made. This virtual line will represent the top edge of your bracing piece.

Now, hold one of your plywood pieces against the outer edge of the two legs, with the bottom edge of the plywood at the virtual line. Mark four horizontal lines on the inside surface of the plywood, using the edges of the two legs as guides, then make two semi-diagonal lines on the board, using the vertical/diagonal edges of the legs as guides. Cut along these lines with your saw, leaving a piece of plywood that will be your bracing piece. Now, place this piece against the outside edges of the two legs, so that the edges of the brace piece and the edges of the legs are flush. Then, drill four pilot holes through the brace piece and into the edge of the leg. Finally, attach the brace piece onto the two legs, using four screws on each brace piece. you can add further bracing if you wish.