24 Free Sawhorse Plans in the Hunt for the Ultimate Sawhorse
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The humble sawhorse. It’s often the woodworker’s first project. You often inherit them from woodworkers who’ve passed. No matter where they come from they are the unsung heroes of many woodworking projects. I found a great thread over at woodnet (show me your saw horses) that got me hunting down all the sawhorses I could find. I’ve corralled a good mess of them here for you - 25 different plans.
If you’ve built any of these I’d appreciate your thoughts. If you prefer the metal/plastic collapsible kind let me know what brand and why. You can leave comments on this post or email me at gfrench@toolcrib.com.
The sections are as follows:
1) Celebrity Saw Horses
2) Wackiest Sawhorse
3) Best Sawhorse Idea I Couldn’t Find Plans For
4) Sometimes You Need a Mobile Carpenter Bench, Not a Sawhorse
5) Your Basic and Free Sawhorse Plans
6) Space Saving Sawhorses
7) Sawhorses for Sheet Goods
8) Sawhorses Etcetera
1) Celebrity Saw Horses:
If a woodworking celebrity designed it or uses it… it has to be good, right? Well, you’ll have to be the judge of that. I just thought it would be fun to break them out of the pack 
Norm Abram’s Picnic Table and Saw Horses Why did they put the sawhorse and picnic table together? Who’s gonna pay 6 bucks for sawhorse plans? That’s more than the cost of materials! Anyways, there are folks who have built this style of sawhorse and love it. This is the only non-free plan I link to.
Roy Underhill’s Sawhorse Design (PDF) Underhill’s one of the original galoots. His sawhorse is solid and suitable for corded tool users too - it’s based on a sawhorse he found in his parents’ basement.
Chris Schwarz Sawbench
Chris Schwarz is the editor of Woodworking Magazine. He’s a big handtool aficionado too, a galoot if I understand correctly His Sawbench is well suited for hand tool users: Free Construction Drawings for the 2008 Sawbench.
Schwarz’s sawbench is similar to this Sawing Trestle plan from the 1900s.
2) Wackiest Sawhorse:
This is just a patent, so don’t take the idea and make millions from it. You’ll get sued. That said, it might be a good influence on your design if you’re crafty enough to figure out how to build one.
3) Best Sawhorse Idea I Couldn’t Find Plans For:
SawPony - shorter saw horses for when you want to put a foot or a leg up on the work you’re cutting to help hold it down. I guess you could just make shorter saw horse legs… Here’s where I read about them: show me your saw horses
4) Sometimes You Need a Mobile Carpenter Bench, Not a Sawhorse:
Are you using your sawhorses as mobile carpenter benches… setting up your chop saw on them, etc… It might be that you really need a mobile carpenter bench.
Mobile Carpenter’s Bench from Tim Carter
Or… maybe you just want to store more tools on your sawhorses. Check out these sweet sawhorses: Tool Tote Sawhorses.
5) Your Basic and Free Sawhorse Plans:
Sometimes vanilla is the best flavor. These sawhorses are straight ahead, no nonsense sawhorses that you will have for the next 25 years. So pick your plan carefully 
The Cheapest, Easiest, Ugliest, Most Functional Saw Horse Known to Mankind
a functional, strong and elegant sawhorse
6) Space Saving Sawhorses:
Sometimes space is at a premium. These sawhorses will politely fold up or stack up and get out of the way when they’re not in use.
Foldaway Vise Table & Sawhorse (PDF)
Sawhorse - Knockdown Workstation Accessories
7) Sawhorses for Sheet Goods:
Sometimes you need a little extra help with those sheet goods. These sawhorses will gladly and ably pull more than their own weight.
Knock-Down Sawhorse Cutting Grid
8) Sawhorses Etcetera:
I didn’t know which category to put these sawhorses in, but I knew I needed to include them. Here’s everything else that didn’t fit in the categories above.
chain saw sawing horse (pdf)
Replaceable Inserts Save Sawhorses
Other Resources:
Workshop Sawhorses = 29 plans with pics and everything
Any Sawhorse Plans?
Free Saw Horse Plans
Saw Horse Plans
Other Free Plan Resources:
ToolCrib.com’s Ultimate Guide to Free Woodworking Workbench Plans
9 Sandpaper Storage Ideas (+ free plans)
ToolCrib.com’s Ultimate Guide to Over 4,000 Free Woodworking Plans
ToolCrib.com’s Ultimate Guide to Free Router Table Plans
ToolCrib.com’s Ultimate Guide to the Crosscut Sled
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