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How to Build a DIY Sawhorse Table for $25

My furniture shopping pet peeve is that the price tag rarely reflects quality- more often the price reflects the cost of shipping the piece from a manufacturing plant overseas. When I began shopping for a sawhorse table last year, it was obvious that the prices weren’t relative to quality. I quickly made up my mind to create my own- and am thrilled with the unique solid wood piece that now resides in my studio.

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While a sawhorse table in a similar size would cost upward of $300, I was able to construct and finish my table for a total cost of $25. Sawhorse Brackets cost about $4/pair at your local hardware store (or you can check the price at Amazon). Lumber for this counter-top height table came in under $15.

This project was the perfect opportunity to use the large barn door that had been left in one of Hawk Hill’s barns when I bought the property, but if you don’t have a door handy, check your local Habitat for Humanity ReStore (this thrift-store style lumberyard/hardware store always has a large selection of doors on hand, ranging from cheap hollow core doors to solid antique doors)

Instructions for a cheap and sturdy sawhorse table 881
A “weed bouquet” arrangement of sage blossoms and fennel fronds on a homemade DIY sawhorse table.

Instructions for Building a Sawhorse Table:

Supply List:

  • 2 sets of Sawhorse Brackets
  • Spray paint for brackets (I used Rustoleum’s Oil Rubbed Bronze)
  • 5  2×4 Studs (will vary according to how tall and how wide your crossbeam is.)
  • Table Top (You can use anything sturdy and flat: a door, a salvaged tabletop, a concrete tabletop made with DIY countertop instructions, etc)

Tools Needed:

  • A saw capable of cutting 2×4’s (preferably a miter saw that can cut 2×4’s on an angle, so the bottoms of the legs will sit square on the floor)
  • Hammer & Nails
  • Sandpaper or palm sander

Step 1. Paint Sawhorse Brackets

To create a polished finish on the final product, pause here and paint the sawhorse brackets. The black coating isn’t terrible, but for indoor use I think a premium finish adds a look of quality. A coat of oil-rubbed bronze spray paint elevated these basic shop-grade brackets into something more appropriate for interior use.

sawhorse brackets are easy for beginners to use
Instructions for a cheap and sturdy sawhorse table 884
Is it just me, or do these brackets look VERY happy to be repainted?

Step 2. Cut Sawhorse Legs and Cross Boards

The next step to making a DIY sawhorse table is to cut 2×4’s to form the legs and crossbeams.

Honestly, the math for cutting the legs was the hardest part of this project! Measuring and cutting I’m great at- but measuring, cutting, calculating the height of a board set at an angle, and calculating the angle of the bottom surface was more than a little challenging for this art-oriented brain! Eventually, with the help of some long-forgotten high school geometry, I figured it out. Here are the measurements I used:

 Measuring and Cutting Your Boards:

To create a counter-top height tabletop,  each of the 4 sawhorse legs need to be 32 inches long.

For Stability: If you have access to a miter saw, cut one end of each leg at a 55° angle. An angled edge creates a bit more stability and adds a finished look.

For a secure surface, cut the cross boards for the top of the sawhorse to a length that is equal to 80-85% of the depth measurement of your tabletop.

Step 3. Sand and Prep Legs and Crossbeam

After cutting the lumber but before constructing the saw horses, sand and then stain or paint your cut lumber.

Begin by sanding any rough edges, lumber-yard stamps, and dings from sawmill machinery. Once sanded clean (5 minutes, with a palm sander– one of my best tool purchases ever!). Wipe the dust away with a damp cloth and then paint or stain the wood.

To stain my sawhorses, I used a homemade stain made with vinegar, steel wool, and earl grey tea (Earl Grey tea, it turns out, adds a blackish-grey tone to homemade wood stains. You can get the recipe on Instructables).

Linseed Oil painted on the lumber after the stain is dried and set (About 12-24 hours) can add richness to the grain, but since I did this project in the dead of winter and was desperately ready to move the wood out of my freezing workshop and into the house, I skipped the oil, and hit it later with some beeswax furniture polish.

Cheap 2x4's converted into indoor table legs for furniture
A palm sander makes quick work of any sharp corners, blunting the raw edges of this 2×4 into a smooth, finished, furniture-ready piece of wood in seconds

Step 4. Assemble Sawhorses

Following the instructions on the package of the brackets, assemble your sawhorses. Hammer nails (Learn from my mistake: Nails, not screws! Drywall screws left heads extending not-quite-flush) into each of the pre-punched nail holes in the brackets.

If you cut the legs with an angled bottom, double-check that the 90% angle end is inserted into the bracket before adding the nails. I’m not proud to admit it, but I had to unscrew screws and flip boards so that the angles were flush with the floor!

hh_diy_table_sawhorses
Instructions for a cheap and sturdy sawhorse table 885
I used screws instead of nails, and although they made the project faster, they did not end flush with the surface of the metal, as nails would have.
 

Once your sawhorses are assembled, you can place your tabletop across the top. Although some people may choose, if the tabletop is heavy and the DIY sawhorses are sufficiently wide, to not permanently attach the tabletop to the sawhorses, I absolutely advise adding a few screws to secure the tabletop to the sawhorses, and a wall anchoring kit to ensure the table never flips over and injures someone. These quick and inexpensive safety upgrades are an easy way to have peace of mind that your homemade saw horse table will be a safe addition to your home.

DIY nice sawhorses for indoor desk
Standard 2×4’s stained with homemade oxidized vinegar stain, tinted darker with earl grey tea.

This is a fun project that anyone can do! Even if you don’t have access to a saw, you can just have the lumberyard staff cut the 4 or 5 2×4’s into the 10 boards needed for this project. (Tip: some of the big box stores are charging per-cut for board cutting now. Save money by asking the clerk to stack boards, so they can cut four legs with one cut.)

hh_sunroom_095019

January 2022 Update: I am still in love with this table! I love having a very large countertop height table in my studio and often use it as a standing desk. The light is perfect and the heavy tabletop plus sturdy sawhorses result in a table that can easily be moved in a pinch, but never moves or shifts as I’m working. The photo below is the view from the entryway of my studio. 

This sawhorse table is visible from many rooms of the house, so I often use it to display bouquets of flowers (and increasingly, bouquets of weeds and herbs, like the sage blossom/fennel arrangement shown below.)

Step by step tutorial for building furniture-quality sawhorse table legs for less than $25.

 

Making a table with sawhorse legs is an easy DIY that just about anybody can accomplish! It’s a great project for new homeowners to try out DIY home improvements, and even works for rental apartment owners who may not have access to tools or space for big project- getting the sawhorse legs precut makes this project easier than assembling basic IKEA furniture! 

Sawhorse Table FAQ’s

hh_sunroom_4959

How long should my sawhorse legs be?

This depends on the height you want your sawhorses to stand at. My favorite work surfaces are countertop height – so I can work at them while standing or sitting on a tall stool. To make a sawhorse table that is counter top height, you need four legs that are each 32 inches long and a 2 inch thick table top.

What do you use for a sawhorse tabletop?

For my sawhorse table I used an old barn door that had been power washed and scrubbed clean. You can use anything that is stable and flat, such as a plywood sheet with a nice veneer or even construction grade foam core board. Whatever you use, just be sure and secure it and double check your table top for stability- a tabletop crashing down from too much weight or being pulled off balance can be disastrous. Pick a tabletop that can be secured to the sawhorses, be sure your sawhorses are wide enough and placed properly to fully support the tabletop, and add support beams on the underside if you have any concern about the strength of the table top.

Does the uneven surface of a barn door table top cause a problem when using it as a work surface?

No. Well, mostly no. I mostly used this table for photography, organizing, and creating art. For the first two, the uneven surface was never a problem, but for painting or modeling, I did need to get creative. My Solution: a lightweight, very rigid board that would not scratch my vintage barn door table top. After some brainstorming, I ended up purchasing a giant polyethylene cutting board like you’d find in a commercial kitchen. It’s rigidity made up for the uneven surface (as long as I placed it over one of the crossbeam supports), and the large size meant it had enough contact with the raised portions of the barn door to stay stable. As a bonus, the cutting board was impervious to my Exacto knife so I could cut right on my work surface!

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Reader Questions and Recommendations

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Ok Really – I’ll try to wrap this up now😂

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Donna

Sunday 22nd of May 2022

Hi... its me again. Ok....yeah... I'm totally math illiterate. Hoping you can help me... You used 32" legs for a countertop height table. As the legs are at an angle... the height (at that angle) will be shorter than 32". Then you used a 3.75" deep cross board.. with a 2" thick door. As the finished product, can you tell me the complete height of your table? That will help me to guesstimate how long my table legs should be if wanting it to be Table-height. (I dont know how much difference in height there is when the leg is straight up & down.. as opposed to angled when in that sawhorse clamp and fully opened. Any assistance with that would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Donna

Sunday 22nd of May 2022

@Donna, I should add... your cross board is probably thinner than mine. The one I intend to use is 3.75" wide. Which will make my top a bit higher than yours.

Donna

Saturday 12th of March 2022

OMG.. You are a genius!! I was scouring the internet trying to find clear & easy directions on how to make a table using an old door and sawhorses... I'm so happy to have come across your site! This is EXACTLY what I'm looking for and will be perfect to use for an outdoor Low Country Boil! Thank you!

Christin

Thursday 7th of December 2017

This is awesome! So glad I found you!