• Design Jobs
  • Firms
  • Awards
  • Conference
e

Core77

Sign In / Join Now;
e
  • Topics
    • Product Design
    • Process
    • Technology
    • Lifestyle
    • Business
    • Materials
    • News
    • Furniture
    • Tools
    • Transportation
    • Education
    • Footwear
    • Impact
    • Reference
    • Video
  • Features
    • Features
    • Yo! C77 Sketch
    • Photo Galleries
    • Bizarre Inventions
    • Design Calendar
    • Weekly Maker's Roundup
    • DiResta's Cut
    • Industrial Design Tips
    • Hand Tool School
    • Tools & Craft
    • Design Experience that Matters
  • Shopping Guide
  • Projects
    • Projects
    • Firm Projects
    • Reader Projects
  • Forums
    • Forums
    • General Discussion
    • Students & Schools
    • Design Employment
    • Sketching
    • Software & Technology
    • All Forums
  • About Us
    • About Us
    • About
    • Contact
    • Advertise

A Smart Design for Sturdy, Breakdown, Space-Saving Sawhorses

Maximum utility, minimal storage space required

By Rain Noe - Oct 04, 2018

  • Join Core77 Today
  • Submit your projects for publication
  • }Favorite This
  • Y1
  • m1
  • U1
  • X1
  • H1
  • 1 Favorite

Industrial Design 101: From a UX perspective, you want useful things to be around when you need them, and to disappear when you don't need them. Occasional-use items that are bulky ought be designed to fold up or break down. The plastic folding sawhorses in my shop are among the most useful items in there.

I wouldn't have paid for them, however; they were given to me as a gift. Sawhorses are basic enough that you should always DIY rather than buy. You can make a simple pair of folding sawhorses with butt hinges, but if you don't have any handy, J.G. Dean's breakdown design is the way to go. His sawhorses are cheap, useful, quick to build and take up a minimum of space.

J.G. Dean

"I can't claim to have originated this design for sawhorses," Dean writes in his Instructable. "I've seen similar ones in workshops and on construction sites for many years, but I believe I've made some improvements in their construction and an modification/addition that makes them more useful."

J.G. Dean
These sawhorses are made of inexpensive 2x4 construction grade lumber except for some scrap plywood, and some screws. They set up and knock down quickly and easily to take up a minimum of space, and provide almost as much support for sheet goods as a large work table. 
J.G. Dean
The entire system can easily be built with a table saw in under an hour for about $30 once the cutting jig is made out of some scrap wood. I based all the dimensions here on sawhorses that are 30" tall and 48" wide, which are both taller and wider than most commercial sawhorses. 
J.G. Dean
Since the top edges of the cross pieces are often cut into during use, I've found that it's better to make them easily replaceable.With these, the top surfaces of both sawhorses can be replaced in minutes for generally about $5-6.
J.G. Dean

Check out Dean's full Instructable here.

The latest design news, jobs & events.
Straight to you every other week.

Join over 300,000 designers who stay up-to-date with the Core77 newsletter...

Subscribe

Test it out; it only takes a single click to unsubscribe

  • }Favorite This
  • Y1
  • m1
  • U1
  • X1
  • H1
  • Tools & Craft

Rain Noe

Rain Noe is a writer and industrial designer based in New York City.

Comments

Core77's Design Directory

View all Design Firms »

Hot On Coroflot

Candela Tables Jorge Diego Etienne
DAINESE - Torque D1: Design Story ( Designer: 2015 ) David Sheridan

Recent Posts

  • Sphero's BB-8 Rolled into Robot Fame. Their RVR Prototypes Open Up a Much Wider Universe of Possibilities.

    By Kickstarter Design & Tech - 20 hours ago

  • SendCutSend: A Speedy Outsourcing Service for Laser Cutting Metal

    By Rain Noe - 20 hours ago

  • Clever Medical Design: ZipStitch, a DIY Non-Invasive Substitute for Stitches Based on Zip-Ties

    By Rain Noe - a day ago

  • Auto Safety Feature of the Near Future: Airbags on the Outside of Cars

    By Rain Noe - a day ago

Continued Reading
  • Tools & Craft
    5 Comments

    By Joel Moskowitz - Oct 03, 2018

    Tools & Craft #109: Testing a Knockoff Tool vs. the Real Deal

    It's important to understand the role that manufacturing plays in tool quality and price

    What should tools cost? When does a cheap price represent a bargain -- and when is it only a fool's bargain? The price of metal is pretty much the same around the world. So except for labor intensive products such as clothing, the main price advantage many Asian imports have

  • Tools & Craft
    2 Comments

    By Rain Noe - Oct 02, 2018

    Smarter Than a Panel Lift: This Ceiling Board Hanger Invention

    Uses way less materials, seems easier to use

    If you've got an unfinished ceiling like this, you need some way to safely raise panels up into position so that you can screw them in place. Earlier this year Frank Howarth created a DIY panel lift to help him do just that. If you don't want to go the

  • Tools & Craft

    By Rain Noe - Oct 02, 2018

    Festool's Bluetooth System for Automatic Dust Collection--With Cordless Tools

    You can also now trigger the vac from a convenient button on the business end of the hose

    Festool pioneered automated dust collection with power tools. Hook your tracksaw up to the vac, pull the trigger on the saw and the vacuum automatically kicks on. The gap in this system has always been with cordless tools. When drilling a series of holes into powdery sheetrock or creating

  • Tools & Craft

    By Rain Noe - Sep 28, 2018

    Crucible Tool's Beautiful, Useful and Sold-Out Lump Hammer Will be Back on Sale Today

    If you want one, get online at 12pm EST

    One thing every furniture maker needs is a wooden mallet, and there are plenty on the market to choose from. But Crucible Tool, the hand tool company started by John Hoffman, Raney Nelson and Christopher Schwarz, decided to produce a steel-headed mallet based on an old British design. You'd think

K

{

Welcome

  • YSign In with Facebook
  • mSign In with Twitter
  • USign In with Linkedin
OR
  • jSign In with Core77 Account
  1. Forgot password?
  • Cancel

Don't have an account? Join Now

K

{

Welcome

Create a Core77 Account

  • YJoin Now with Facebook
  • mJoin Now with Twitter
  • UJoin Now with Linkedin
OR
  • jJoin Now with Email
  • Cancel

Already have an account? Sign In

By creating a Core77 account you confirm that you accept the Terms of Use

K

Reset Password

Please enter your email and we will send an email to reset your password.

  • Cancel
Today On the Core77 Network...
  • ]Design Jobs

    • Staff Industrial Designer

      Milwaukee Tool Brookfield, Wisconsin
    • Senior Interaction Designer

      TEAGUE Seattle, Washington
    • Graphic Designer

      West Elm New York
    • Senior Graphic Designer

      West Elm New York
    • Post A Job
    • View All Jobs
  • ]Design Directory

    View other design services:

    • *Hot On Coroflot

      • Jumpstart Charging Systems

        Ryan Paul
      • Beverage Dispenser

        Jonathan Smith
    •  

      • ET TOY WORK

        Rurik Tyler
      • ECCO Biom Venture TR

        Ventsislav Nikolov
    • © 2019 Core77, Inc. All rights reserved.
    • Terms
    • Privacy Policy
    • Contact
    • Advertise
    • About
    • )
    • m
    • Y
    • '
    • S
    • © 2019 Core77, Inc. All rights reserved.
    Advertise Here