I’ve mentioned my friends Scott Constable and Ene Osteraas-Constable on the CRAFT blog before, and Scott’s recent post about the ideal characteristics of the venerable sawhorse, along with a photo of some beautiful “indoor sawhorses” he’s made seemed like good fodder for a mention here.
Scott writes:
To me, there’s also something inherently a little sad about a workbench. Like a well-intended New Year’s resolution, a workbench tends to be over-built and under-used, its function shifting too easily from utility to burden. Sawhorses, on the other hand, take up very little space, and both their construction and use are perpetually open to interpretation. Now that I have more space than I ever imagined, I still opt for sawhorses over workbench, a strategy more in keeping with the ever-fluctuating scope and scale of my projects.
Scott’s been making amazing furniture and art projects for years, so I trust him wholeheartedly when he suggests that the most important characteristic of a sawhorse is that it be owner-made. A good first furniture project, indeed.
Related:
8 thoughts on “A sawhorse to write home about”
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I feel like my workbench is overbuilt and thoroughly abused! I put nails through it, drill holes through it, write and sketch all over it. If it needs to be fixed, I fix it – its right near my tools after all.
I just can’t picture using sawhorses – if you get too close to an edge things start getting unstable and wonky – and you need a big strong piece of plywood always hanging around…I guess it could be better for certain people though…
My saw horses knock down and can fit in the trunk of a small car or easily stored in my workshop.
Greg
http://www.woodtoyfun.com/zzzsawhorses.html
I do this more out of necessity since I don’t have room for a decent sized workbench. I keep my saw horses in the shed and my plywood in the garage against the wall. The car gets moved to the driveway when I have projects going on and when I’m done I tear it all down and put everything back. It gets annoying though, with the set up and tear down, especially if that takes longer than the project I’m working on.
My one piece of plywood has mounting holes for my router and a small table saw/motor setup. I’ve already spent 20 minutes on setup/tear down just to use the router for 5 minutes. It would be nice to have a permanent setup and save myself that time.
Yes, using sawhorses to create a workspace is what works for my husband and I as well. We have a workbench, but if we’re working with large pieces of plywood, etc., we need the portability of the venerable sawhorse. And I need some fancy ones like this just to gaze at.