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.

FIVE-LEGGED SAWHORSE

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

Simple Sawhorse

The Classic Sawhorse

The 14-Minute Sawhorse

the Ultimate Wood Sawhorse

wide topped sawhorses

a functional, strong and elegant sawhorse

The World’s Best $6 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.

Knock-Down Sawhorses

Foldaway Vise Table & Sawhorse (PDF)

Stackable sawhorse plans

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.

Sheet Rack

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

Saw Clydesdales

Other Resources:
Workshop Sawhorses = 29 plans with pics and everything
Any Sawhorse Plans?
Free Saw Horse Plans
Saw Horse Plans

Blame this post on FamilyWoodworking. I was over there trolling for good article ideas and stumbled on a thread called “Most Used Jigs.” I started adding up the results and it turned out that the crosscut sled won by a landslide. (What is a crosscut sled??)

And so I started researching and cataloging some of the incredible crosscut sled resources out there on the web. Let me know if you have any additions to the list!

Top 5 Outstanding Crosscut Sled Resources:
1) Crosscut Sled Design Guide (pdf)
This is the queen mother of them all in my humble opinion. It includes some drawings on the last page that will help you plan out your required sizes, plus the 3 page article before the drawings describes all the ins and outs. It’s a PDF so you can print it off if you need to.

2) CrossCut Sled for Table Saw
This Q/A tutorial from Joe Lyddon captures all the FAQs of building crosscut sleds. He suggests his favorite books, dimensions, base thicknesses, suggests 5 different processes for attaching strips to the sled and a detailed list of do’s and don’ts. Read this one closely.

3) Double Runner Cross Cut Sled With Blade Guard by Paul Comi
This write up, again with fantastic illustrations, provides a no-nonsense tutorial for building a long lasting and highly accurate crosscut sled. In the opening paragraphs it provides links out to influences and theory. This is worth reading through just for the little build ideas.

4) Cross-cut sled - different way
This incredible write up and illustration by Nikki Avrahami of FamilyWoodworking will help you with little pointers and big ideas. It’s in the top 5 because of its outstanding pictures with yellow print on them describing each step of the operation.

5) Building Crosscut Sleds
Great write up and great pics. Very general but very detailed at the same time. Another great starting point if you’ve never built your own.

Other Crosscut Sled Resources:
Make Your Own Crosscut Sled
Crosscut Sled a la Mehler
Crosscut Sled Plans
Table Saw Cross Cut Sled
What is a Crosscut Sled?
Sturdy table saw crosscut sled (steel runners)

Special Purpose Crosscut Sleds:
Large Crosscut Sled
Small Crosscut Sled
Crosscut Sled for Wide Panels
Zero-Clearance Crosscut Sled

Crosscut Sled Stuff From the Forums:
Building a crosscut sled. Need advice…
Who has the best cross cut sled?
Does the base of the sled have to be square?
Sliding table or crosscut sled?

Crosscut Sled Usage:
Using a Crosscut Sled (Fine HomeBuilding)

Crosscut Sled Maintenance
Squaring Up a Cross-Cut Sled
Tune Up Your Crosscut Sled (video)

Other Ultimate Guides from ToolCrib:
Ultimate Guide to Free Router Table Plans
Ultimate Guide to Free Woodworking Workbench Plans
Ultimate Guide to the Top Ten Most Dangerous Woodworking Power Tools
Ultimate Guide to Over 4,000 Free Woodworking Plans
Ultimate Guide to Online Home Remodeling DIY Resources

We all know what the most dangerous power tool in your workshop is (it’s you … so what’s the most useful/important tool? No, it’s not your table saw… it’s your WORKBENCH. Woodworkers often look at the workbench as an essential project, a core project that both teaches and creates a highly useful product. My fellow nerds in the crowd will think of it as the Jedi’s light saber

This morning I decided it was finally time to research and write our ultimate guide to workbench plans (a second in the series I started with free router table plans). How cool to check my inbox and find a note from Frank Pellow to let me know that he’d completed his workbench!

Here are a couple of quick links with pics to Frank Pellow’s super sweet workbench on wheels. So you know, his workbench would fit in the “Extreme Workbench” section below if there were plans available. I wrote about Frank originally in The Story of a “Forum Assisted” Woodworking Shop: Frank Pellow’s Shop Build Journal. Nice job on finishing the build, Frank, and thanks for the links and pics!

Frank Pellow’s Woodworking Bench Project
Frank Pellow’s Woodworking Bench Project -Phase 2

Ok, enough small talk You’re here for workbench plans. I went out to all the free workbench plan sites, gathered their links by hand and then reorganized them with the woodworker in mind. Here’s what you’ll find in this guide:

1) Space Saver Workbench Plans
2) Mobile Workbench Plans
3) Adjustable Height Workbench Plans
4) Full Size Workbench Plans
–>Basic Workbench Plans
–>Simple Woodworker Workbench Plans
–>Professional/Extreme Woodworker Workbench Plans
–>Traditional Woodworker Workbench Plans
5) Accessories, Etcetera
6) Useful Workbench Forum Threads
7) Workbench Plan Lists (resources we used)
8) Other Resources

(more…)

Now… there are no details yet if this could work, but the gamer geeks at WoodNet are wondering about creating a wooden Guitar Hero controller. As a fan of Guitar Hero (along with my wife and nephew) this topic caught my attention. I started searching around in the hopes that someone will actually make some sweet custom Guitar Hero controllers.

Here’s the thread that got me going: Wooden Guitar Hero Controller?

If you’re serious about building your own Guitar Hero controller out of wood then I suggest you check out some of these resources.

Getting Started…
For one, you’re going to have to understand the electronics side with some of these tutorials from Instructables:

>>How to make a PS2 Guitar Hero controller out of scratch
Obviously written by a non-native English speaker, this guide breaks it down with video for you so you can see every gnarly detail, and my understanding is that his method doesn’t require you to actually purchase a GH controller.

>>How to make a custom [Guitar Hero] game controller
This guide appears to be platform agnostic… and should be helpful on your quest.

>>How to Disassemble a Guitar Hero SG Controller for Painting
This one at least gives you some insight into breaking apart your controller if you’re so inclined.

Inspiration:
For inspiration you should check out these “Air Guitars” that work as Guitar Hero controllers. They cost $399, but come with really sweet artwork on the front.

Guitar Hero replicas

Also check out Kaytrim’s Kustom Joysticks, which will help you stay focused on your goal of a real wood Guitar Hero controller. And see the thread Boys and their toys for more neat custom wooden joystick pics from Kaytrim.

For inspiration on building real guitars, visit the Guitar Builders Lair. GBL is a website operated by a WoodNetter.

I love woodworking forums. The free flow of information, the friendships, the “strong discussions” about power tools… One of my favorite forums remains FamilyWoodworking.org, both for the spirit in which they built it and the friendliness of the guys posting there.

Here’s an example of what I consider to be a “gem” of a Family Woodworking post: “My Take on Wood Hinges” by Alex Reid. Reid describes and documents his process for building gorgeous wooden hinges, and then receives suggestions from forum members on alterations.

From his introduction:

“In this tutorial for making and installing wooden hinges I use ebony blanks cut and milled to a specific size related to the size of my cutting bit. I use a 3.2mm (1/8”) cutting bit mounted in my router table. The width of the blank will therefore be 3.2 multiplied by the number of fingers and slots. I want a hinge that has 4 fingers/3 slots and the mate will have 3 fingers/4 slots. So the width of my hinge will be 3.2×7=22.4. (You can also make them a little wider and cut to size on the table saw after slotting the finger joints). The length of the blanks will be any length desired but should be around 75mm (3”) for ease of clamping and cutting on the finger joint jig. The thickness of the blank will be 6mm or if you are working in inches 1/4” will work well. (Here also you can use a thicker blank and re-saw later for a production run).”

His tutorial spans several posts in the forum so he put the entire thing in a PDF file for those of you who’d like to print it out and work from home:

Wooden Hinge Making Tutorial (PDF)

Read the forum post here: My Take on Wood Hinges

Admit it - cut offs are pretty much impossible to throw away. Especially if they’re from a nice piece of maple or even an exotic. The fellas at SMC laid out their ideas for what to do with cut offs and I cherry picked the top 11 ideas to help you figure out how to handle those little pieces that won’t go away.

1) bird houses to build with the kids

2) things for the kids to play with — egg-beater drill, hammer, a few nails and a pile of off-cuts equals about 2 hours of entertainment

3) the exotics tend to get used for box handles, trim, pens

4) Give them to turners - we can always make pens, knobs and other things from cutoffs

5) make up a box full and try selling it on the classified forum

6) Slice them up into 3/4 by 3/4 by 6″ pieces and offer them to someone helping out with the Freedom Pens Project

7) Make Clocks

8) Make a trash can

9) I try to use up even the smallest bits by taking the time every now and then to have a drillpress/bandsaw session and make tapered plugs for screw holes out of as many different species as I have on hand. I end up with a ready made stock of plugs and the sad little bits that are left find their way into the woodstove.

10) I make sets of blocks.

11) I bought an electric branding iron from Rockler, that I burn my logo into scrap pieces, add a small chain, and I now have a key fob to give my prospective customers, or give along with any project I’ve finished for a customer.

Check out the whole thread by clicking here: What to do with cutoffs, etc >>

This WoodNet thread really blew my mind: WoodNetter ksquared photographed and wrote about the build process his wife went through to build a gorgeous Thomas Moser bed.

Not only is the finished bed beautiful, but there’s a fantastic write up with very clear photographs that follow along with the process… such as this one:

and this one here:

I think the most amazing thing is that this was his wife’s first woodworking project!

ksquared followed up with me in the forum and let me know that:

“this was in fact her first furniture type woodworking project but not her first excursion to the shop. We remodeled our house over the course of seven years including a lot of cabinet work and built-ins. She did her part in all that work including building and hanging raised panel doors, drawers, a nice glassware cabinet with glass doors and a set of bookcases for her study.

We pretty much shared all the work so she is not intimidated by woodworking. However, we all know there is a big difference between case goods and furniture so this project was a definitely new experience for her. She “circled” it for awhile.”

Check out the thread and appreciate the whole story of the build. It’s well told in photos and prose. Thanks for your work on this ksquared - we look forward to seeing more work from the both of you!
My Wife Finishes A Major Project (Warning: Lots of Pictures)

Frank Pellow’s a one-man publishing house in FamilyWoodworking.org.

We write about his work regularly in the ToolCrib blog because he’s so clear and specific in documenting his work, and so eager to share his ideas with other woodworkers.

Recently Frank faced a problem that many of us just shut away behind closed doors - under-sink clutter.

Here’s the situation underneath the sink in his downstairs bathroom:

He decided he didn’t want to face the same clutter under his newly remodeled master-bedroom sink…

“I came up with a design that has a sub-cabinet with drawers on each side coupled with an open area for large bottles and things like that in the middle. The cabinets as well as the top drawer were built with a cut out of the corner to accommodate the shut-off taps.”

Here are the cabinets he built:

And here they are installed:

Can you say CLUTTER BUSTER???!!! That’s AWESOME FRANK!

Apparently they were a pretty tight fit under that sink…

Visit his thread in FamilyWoodworking: Building drawers for a crowded under-sink cabinet to learn more about his technique and process. If you have any questions post them in the thread at Family Woodworking or here in this post.

And be sure to check out the other projects of Frank’s we’ve covered in ToolCrib:
Frank Pellow’s Work Bench Chronicles

The Story of a “Forum Assisted” Woodworking Shop: Frank Pellow’s Shop Build Journal

Frank Pellow’s a hardworking Canadian woodworker who tirelessly documents his projects so that others can learn little tips and tricks from him. He kindly sent over a selection of woodworking project threads he started in both FamilyWoodworking and SawmillCreek so that I could share them with my ToolCribbers.

In Frank Pellow’s Tool Cabinets Project he documents the two tool cabinets he built for his daughters.

What I find the most useful in reading this thread is that Frank’s so faithful in documenting his process - by showing his mistakes and his solutions to them we get to learn (and relearn…) right along with him.

For example - here’s Frank relearning why haste makes waste:

“Everything about this cabinet is quite straightforward and things would have gone batter if I had paid more attention. I was rushing and, as a result, had to backtrack and redo three different things. For example, here is a photo of a narrow bin stop being glued to the edge of the bottom shelf… and here it is being removed with a chisel:”

In this thread you also get to see Frank wrestle problems of space limitations:

“The second cabinet that I made (for Kathleen) has to fit into a space where the outside doors could not be open wide. In fact there will be only about 2 inches of clearance on both sides of the cabinet. This would not leave sufficient space to open the interior doors. If I tried to fit Kristel’s cabinet into that space, I would only be able to open the interior doors to a 49 degree angle.”

So go enjoy Frank’s Tool Cabinet Project thread at FamilyWoodworking!

And be sure to read The Story of a “Forum Assisted” Woodworking Shop: Frank Pellow’s Shop Build Journal if you’re designing your own shop or looking for ideas to improve your existing wood shop.

You last heard of Frank Pellow in The Story of a “Forum Assisted” Woodworking Shop: Frank Pellow’s Shop Build Journal.

His latest chronicles - which haven’t made it to book status quite yet, perhaps because he’s not finished yet - describe his new work bench.

And what a bench it’s shaping up to be!

He got the idea after observing and investigating Rick Thom’s mobile work bench (so really it’s more of a son-of-a-bench… badump ching!). He took many notes and then brought up his project at FamilyWoodworking where he began collecting more great ideas in this thread: Frank Pellow’s Woodworking Bench Project.

And here’s something of the guiding principle, in Frank’s words: “I want to build a practical and useful bench but spend as little money as necessary on it.”

Here are some of Frank’s notes on Thom’s bench that I thought might interest you:

• Bench size: 27″ by 72″
• Bench height: 33″
• Cabinet size: about 24″ by 48″
• The top is made from 2″ by 1″ maple glued together with Elmer’s Probond. It was laminated in two sections each of which was then run through a planer. The two sections were then joined together and a skirt was affixed to the edges. It was then covered all-round with two coats of shellac. Rick says that the skirt at 3/4 inch on the long sides is too narrow and he will augment it to properly support clamping.
• The cabinet support pieces are pine and are joined with mortise and tenons. The sides are 1 inch plywood. The drawers are maple with dovetail joinery and are on “standard” side drawer runners.
• The bench top just sits on the cabinet.
• The end vise is from Lee Valley (catalogue number 70G08.02) The front vise is a Record clone.
• The bench is mounted on a General International mobile base. The bench is very easy to move but, once the wheels are lowered, it is very stable.
• The 3/4 inch dog holes are spaced 6 inches apart. They are angled 2 degrees towards to vice. All holes were drilled with a auger bit in a hand held drill employing a simple shop made jig.

As of Wednesday March 28th he’d just been sanding the top:

So check out Frank’s latest project: Frank Pellow’s Woodworking Bench Project and I’ll be sure and update you when he’s gotten finished as I’m sure his thoughtful writings about it will be filled with great tips, ideas and observations.

Update - Frank wrote to me today (04-17-07) to let me know that he’s made a considerable push on his bench. He’s got some great in-progress pics up of work he’s doing on the bench.

Here are his chalkboard plans for the base:

Go check out Frank’s notes for some great ideas for your work bench!