Est. 1998 — 27 years of woodworking knowledge
Convenient assembly saw horses
Bill Tindall, E.Tn.
Among the pictures posted there are a variety of "saw horses" being used for assembly and parts storage. While exceptionally strong the conventional horse is inconvenient to move and store.
The Krenov style of horse is both easy to move by hooking the pair over one arm, and store. If you make a pair use no more than 13/16" hardwood. My first pair was made from 5/4 oak and they are unnecessarily strong and too heavy for easy moving as a pair.
Re: Pic doesn't show?
I see it...
I can see picture
Re: Pic shows now????? Apologies
Sawhorse design
John K Jordan
That looks sturdy.
I made some similar a long time ago but they didn't work for me. They were very sturdy but problem I had with that design is it's sometimes difficult to get them to sit flat and not rock on an uneven surface without shims. Better when I added small blocks on the corners for feet. (Adjustable feet in the corners would have been better.) They were bulky to store. Maybe OK for just one or two for outfeed supports or something on a flat floor.
But since you posted, my experience is these is I don't prefer them. I use sawhorses a lot outside, 14 at the moment as supports for outdoor farm tables near the barn, supports for peacock roosts in cages, to set horse saddles on in the barn, for supports for sawing with the chainsaw and such, and even for temporary sign holders directing visitors in our maze of farm roads to the shop for classes. I found the conventional sawhorses easier to move, level, and manage. After building a number of types, I like the type that fold up and store flat. I really like the type with cutouts on the top that will fit vertical 2x4s.
BTW, nothing make a better outdoor table at the barn than an old freezer door resting on two saw horses!
Not designed for farm use or the job site
Bill Tindall, E.Tn.
As far as I know you don't build furniture, the primary purpose for which this style excels. I am not surprised that you didn't find them useful around the farm. A horse favored by Krenov would be a horse used in a furniture shop. The fact that I see his students using them after moving on to their own shops convinced me of their efficacy and encouraged me to build a set.
Unsure if it showed in the picture but the bottom of the foot is cut out to provide projected feet at each end. They will set flat on a shop floor. Others can decide for themselves whether they store easier than the Trestle design common on job sites. They do in my shop.
Re: Not designed for farm use or the job site
John K Jordan
>>>As far as I know you don't build furniture,...
I've built enough tables, cabinets, drawers, jewelry boxes, stools, built-ins, raised panel doors, couches, shelving units, kitchen islands, work benches and more for home, family, and shop, enough to have a tiny bit of experience. If I enjoyed it more I'd do more. I haven't turned on my cabinet saw with slider for a couple of years. Haven't planed a board in at least as long. My two jointers are mostly unused. I use the Performax 22-44 is mostly on woodturing blanks and to smooth thick resawn "veneer" to glue up for woodturning, a hobby I find far more interesting than building furniture.
To me "sawhorse" brings to mind something to prop up boards or steel stock when sawing. I use sawhorses a lot when constructing buildings which I seem to do a lot. I personally prefer the geometry of sawhorses with legs that angle outwards from the top bar. I like supports with rollers when long stock is moving, such as out of the planer. I have frames with multiple rollers - I set them on sawhorses.
I'd have to check my library but I don't remember any Krenov books. My book by Taig Frid and others show traditional sawhorses in use. My antique books show them too, as well as Stephen Shepherds book on woodworking in the early 19th century. There's a good mechanical reason all these use angled legs.
For static support in the shop I suspect your nice design should work ok. It would be easy to modify it for adjustable height.
JKJ
I expect....
John in NM
That the added stability of the angled legs is not needed in furniture building applications and that the tendency to kick the legs sticking out due to the angle is annoying enough in the shop to prevent repeated use when building furniture.
I have several sets of folding sheet metal saw horses, with angled legs. Whenever used as a chop saw table or the like, I'm always kicking the legs as I move around them.
Furniture shop needs
Bill Tindall, E.Tn.
There is a frequent need for temporary horizontal storage during furniture construction and these nimble horse well meet the need. Raw lumber comes into the shop and gets placed on them. Roughed parts get placed on them for temporary storage. Components in process or finished get stored on them. They are great for temporary storage of lumber beside the table saw, jointer or planer. As such they need to be lower than table height of saw and planer.
To meet these needs the horses need to be easily moved and stored. If not doing these kinds of operations their utility may be lacking for what is done. I didn't advocate them for barn building. I probably misled showing a picture of the horses out doors, there for the lighting, not the function.
If my shop weren't so packed....
John in NM
And if I built much furniture, I would be making up a set of those. I hate how the conventional angled legs always seem to catch a passing foot, but they do have advantages for jobsite work so that's why I use them.
For the stuff I do make in the shop, I get about 50 grips from two or three 8/4 planks, so I just work around having them on the floor or wood rack until they get cut up. The market for those isn't big enough to have to handle a ton of wood.
Re: Furniture shop needs
William Duffield
I find plenty of uses for both types in my shop and outside it. Since I have traditional A-frame horses that are sturdy enough to kick around, I decided my furniture horses, as popularized by Jay Van Arsdale, could be made a bit lighter weight and quicker to assemble than with traditional joinery.
https://www.woodworkingarchive.biz/router-basics/by-jay-van-arsdale.html
So, I used poplar and joined them with loose tenons (Dominos).
Re: Sawhorse design
Johanna Johanson
I like the Krenov-style sawhorses for gluing up panels.
Classic French Trestles *LINK*
Mark Hennebury
These are interesting, and a bit of fun for you Bill.
Lots more in the links and they have a school to teach you how to draw them also.
It's actually quite fascinating
Facebook link to the School of Practical Sterotomy
https://www.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1576605375761197&id=873987952689613
Classic French Trestles
I need one of them....
Bill Tindall, E.Tn.
Would look good on the bridges were restoring for Rails to Trails
Question about your bridges...
Keith L Newton
Hey Bill, I've noted that you mention these bridges before, and I applaud your efforts contributing to them. I'm curious though. Are those 8 x 8 joist, and how long are they, on what centers? What did you decide to use for the decks?
Re: Question about your bridges...
Bill Tindall, E.Tn.
The RR was abandoned in 1983 so the ties are shot. The stringers (what the ties are fastened to) were clad in sheet metal and they can be good as new. Some supports, called bents, have the bases rotted away and in one case a flood washed the support foundation away.
We begin by fixing the bents. Then strip ties. Replace ties. Lay 2 x 8 runnners perpendicular to the ties for a place to attach deck. Then deck with 2 x 6 parallel to ties. Attach rail and done.
We are going to change design to make less expensive to repurpose for a path.
Class available
Jerry Gibbs
You can take a class in sterotomy at Marc Adams School of Woodworking.
Re: Class available *LINK*
Mark Hennebury
That's being taught by Patrick Moore, His school is here in Ottawa, Ontario Canada.
It's quite fascinating stuff. They teach you how to draw up the 2D plans for very complex 3D roof structures, like you see in the classic building in Europe. The trestles are what the students make in the class.
The school actually has some of their work on display at the Takenaka Carpentry Tools Museum in Kobe, Japan.
Be sure to watch the video at the bottom of the photos.
