How To Make Your Own Folding Saw Horses

I had the need several years to have a set of saw horses that I could use for odd jobs in the shop and around the house.  I didn’t want to go with the the brackets you can get (although there are good ones available if you do) because they are too bulky and I wanted a folding set, but the typical commercial sets are pretty expensive.  I ended up making my own in the shop.

These are a couple of the shop-made saw horses

This design is easily adaptable to your own needs with some basic math.  I’ll run you through the critical design methodology.

I had a bunch of scrap 2×4′s from some previous projects and decided those would be perfect for this project.  You can just as easily use any 2-by lumber you have or need.  Here are the basic drawings with the critical dimensions:

These are the major dimensions for the saw horses

I wanted the top to be at the same height as all of the benches and table saw in the shop (36 inches).  I decided on a 30° angle from vertical for each of the legs.  This is a bit wider than most, but I wanted them to be stable and since one side is only hinged to the other, a wide stance really helps.  The drawings above show the length of the legs given the angle and overall height. If you want to change the height, this is the calculation for the top-side length of the leg (39 13/16 inches in the drawing above):

Length = [(Overall Height) - (Height of Top Pad)] / cos(Leg Angle)

In my set the Overall Height is 36 inches, the Top Pad Height is 1.5 inches (essentially the height of the 2×4), and the Leg Angle is 30 degrees.  It’s that top-side length that is the important dimension.  Make sure you cut the legs with the same angle you choose.  As a length, I chose 36 inches but you can use any length you want.

The saw horses are put together by fixing one pair of the legs (for example, the two on the left side of the drawing above) to the top and then hinging the other pair to the fixed legs.  It looks like this when it’s assembled:

These are the brackets and hinges that hold the saw horses together

I used 3-inch hinges between each pair of legs and a pair of 1 1/2 inch angle brackets for each fixed leg (there’s another on the other side of the leg in the picture above).  Door hinges would also work well if you have any old ones lying around.  Also, instead of the metal brackets, you could make triangular wood brackets.  The basic idea is give the legs some lateral stability.

I assembled the legs together with the hinges first.  Make sure that they are aligned when closed completely. To hold the hinged legs at the right angle, I used a medium-weight chain and eye-screws about a third the way down the legs as shown in the top picture.  With the eye screws in place, I stood a pair of hinged legs up on a flat surface, measured until they were the height I wanted (34 1/2 inches) and attached the chain at the right length.

To fasten the top pad, I first measured out and installed the angle brackets to the pad using a piece of scrap 2×4 to get the spacing right.  Then, with two sets of legs done, I set the top pad on the legs, sliding the angle brackets over the legs to be fixed, and screwing it together.  I tried to minimize the amount of metal fasteners in the top boards because I saw into them periodically and would hate to wreck a blade on a screw.

Overall, I think I spent around $15 in materials to make four saw horses.  They’re much easier to hang up out of the way when I don’t need them than the fixed one and they’re really useful!