I build a lot of heavy furniture and cabinets in my shop. And sawhorses are the best way to get these large projects up off the ground so I can easily work on them. What I needed was a sawhorse that would be lightweight and easy to move around yet sturdy enough to hold large projects. To ensure my sawhorses would always be up to the task, I built these. Even though they don’t look heavy-duty, they support a lot of weight.
Their strength and light weight comes from the I-beam design. As you can see in the drawing, the top and bottom flanges of the beam are nothing more than two long pieces of plywood with a groove centered in each piece.
(The bottom flange is beveled, as shown in the End View below.) Then, a vertical center rail is glued into the grooves to complete the sturdy I-beam assembly. The legs are plywood with their ends beveled and then attached to the I-beam with screws. Their angled stance provides a wide base for greater stability.
