Whats the best saw horse design and how high?

[Tom.Trout]

Does anybody have a really good saw horse design. I thought I heard that Norm from the Yankee workshop had a great design.

Where do I get good plans for saw horses?

Also how high should the top be off the floor? 28" to 31" seems to be how they run. What hieght are yours? Does it matter???

Right now I have plastic ones...

[maxparot]

Comfort when working with them should be your guide.

[scorrpio]

Check the latest 'Workbench' issue - they got some very nice sawhorse plans there.

The special 'Workshop Solutions' issue from WOOD, currently on news stands, also has nice sawhorse plans - along with plans for about any other shop fixture you might wanna build.

[LarryG]

Dunno about BEST design, but I like sawhorses to ...

Be heavy, to resist overturning when sliding large sheets across them.

Be fairly short, for the same reason. The taller they are, the more the legs should splay out in order to maintain stability.

Have the top crossbar standing vertical rather than laid flat, so that all the nicks from my circular saw will weaken it less.

Have a stretcher connecting the legs on one side only, so the two horses can be nested together to minimize the storage space required.

[Jim-Iowa]

Er uh, Hold the phone.
I have a magazine at home, with a plan My wife expects me to build.
She took one look and said, your going to need these when you remodel my kitchen.
It should be perfect for your remodel project cause it also included a walk board in the design.
Will get back to you tonight.

[scorrpio]

Jim - I believe she is talking about the one in Workbench.

[Bulkley]

I think that adjustable height is desireable.

A couple of years ago I built a couple of small benches out of scrap, one larger than the other so that they can be stored one over the other. The larger is about 2'x 3' by 20" high. They were built strong enough to stand on for doing any overhead work, such as changing light fixtures or putting up trim. When stacked, with the smaller one on top, they come almost to the height of my table saw and I often use them this way as an extra sawhorse. These things are ugly as all getout, but both my wife and I find them extremely useful. I know that they aren't sawhorses, but they are an option.

[Jim-Iowa]

Sorry right now I`can`t find the Mag. It`s around here somewhere?
I think Scorrpio is right, check last months Fine woodworking.

[leehljp]

I'm in the middle of building two sets of the workbench saw horses this week - for remodeling the kitchen and later our living room. I love the adjustabile height part.

[mattc183]

For height whatever is comfortable for you. Also keep in mind if they will be pulling double duty as scaffolding, or a temporary workbench, or an adjustable outfeed support. Will you need to store the sawhorses out of the way? I think a shelf and a wide easily replaceable top are nice. Maybe even a power strip. Here's what I'm using now, they take up quite a bit of room when storing but will hold anything[)]
Wood Magazine a The family Handyman had quite a few different designs sometime during the last year, yeah I know that's a lot of library research.

mattc

[crokett]

I pulled 2 out of the dumpster when they were building the house next door. Top and legs are 2x6, stretchers are 2x4 and 3/4"ply gussets on the ends. They are well used and were wobbly but I tightened all the screws and they work great now. IIRC, they stand about 36" tall which seems a little too high.

[Pappy]

Height is a matter of need and preference. Mine are a combination of ideas from several I had seen. The best published design I have found was in Workbench.

[Napoleon]

There is a lot of information about sawhorses out there... If you put free sawhorse plan in google you 'll get a bunch of hits. I personally like this design: http://www.askthebuilder.com/232_A_S..._s_Bench.shtml I've built a couple of them. Doubles as tool storage! Or you could make one 'horse and one 'bench'. Another idea on the back burner is one that I saw in woodworking magazine earlier this year. They used 2 cubes with some "planks" over them to give the builder several different levels to work on... There is a lot of info out there!
Lots of luck and post pictures!
Mark
PS... found this online today, looks like it deserves some additional investigation! http://www.workbenchmagazine.com/mai...-sawhorses.pdf

[Scottydont]

I saw a TV commercial while out of town, I can't remember the name of it! It is a sawhorse kit that uses PCV pipe for the cross members on top and can be adjusted to sit solidly on uneven surfaces. Does anybody know the name of them?

[jbalders]

Like a lot of people, I don't have a lot of room in my shop. I wound up getting a pair of these on sale a few months back to replace my old and large wooden ones.

The main reason is because they fold up flat, so they're only about 2.5" deep. I can stash or hang them nearly anywhere in the shop when I'm not using them. They also have independently telescoping legs that you can use them in a variety situations (raise the work higher than usual, stairs, sloping lawn, etc.). They're also pretty light, but still stable. They supposedly will support up to 2900 lb.

I'd say keep the ones you have, unless they're causing problems or are too short for you. They're only meant as temporary work support anyway, so as long as they do what you need when you need them...

Jeff