The drawing shows the details of a new breed of sawhorse that we’re building with our leftover I-joists. The sawhorses are light and strong, and they take about 20 minutes to assemble. They’re so strong that we made an 8-ft. set for cutting rafters.
As shown in the drawing, I make the legs out of 1x4s, 33 in. long. The legs have compound miters on their ends that splay the legs out at a 3-in-12 pitch. From the side, the legs angle outward at 14°. The legs abut the bottom of the joist’s top flange. They are cross-nailed through the plywood web, and the protruding nail points are clenched over to lock them in place. Along the bottom flange, 2×4 blocks provide the other nailing surface for the legs. Each of these nailed connections is reinforced with construction adhesive.
By the way, if you let the bottom flange run a little long, you’ve got a handy hook for hanging your circular saw.
Steve Hill, Benicia, CA
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