1 12"

3
4 "
10 4 "
12"

4
3 "
21
2" R24
"

3
8"
8X
4"
R1
2" all places

5"

20"
3"

17"
17 8 "
3

1
1

10"
42"
14"

84"
3
1 16 "

1
22 16 "

7
25 8 "
96"
Tri-Horse Builders Plans

Brian Campbell
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 Figure 1
96.00

48.00

Layout:
Begin by drawing a 12” by 12” reference grid on a 4x8’ sheet of ¾” plywood (CDX or MDO are good choices if you will use these
sawhorses outside). A drywall square or drafting t-square can be useful for this step, or you can use a chalk line, but that is messier
and less precise. This grid, along with the cut plan, will guide the layout process. Each sheet will yield one sawhorse. The Tri-Horses
are best built in pairs out of two sheets of plywood at a time (this will be explained later). Since these sawhorses are made of two
layers of ¾” plywood doubled up by gluing and clamping matching pairs of components together, they have a finished thickness
of roughly 1-1/2”.

The main rail/third leg components occupy opposite edges and corners, in a yin yang fashion — Figure 1. Decide the length of the
main rail you want and the height of sawhorse that will be a comfortable height for you. For most people, this will be the distance
from the floor to your hands when your arms are relaxed and hanging at the sides of your body. If you hate bending over, add a
couple of inches to the working height of your horses.

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 Figure 2 This design makes it easy to gain elevation with adjustable
height components, so adding height to the work surface is
easy. The most popular height will probably be 32” inches.

The double leg components on the layout will fit nicely

30"
33 16 "

32"

between the two main rail/third leg components. Together,

15
35 16 "
15

the two double leg components occupy an egg-shaped

region in the middle of the sheet. The angled legs will be
over an inch longer than the height of the third leg to make
Figure 3 up for the slope distance. Each horse height will change the
90
double leg length as well (see angled, double leg height
72 table—Figure 4—trigonometry lesson optional).
UNLESS OTHERWISE SPECIFIED:
DIMENSIONS ARE IN MILLIMETERS
SURFACE FINISH:
TOLERANCES:
FINISH: DEBUR AND
BREAK SHARP
EDGES
DO NOT SCALE DRAWING

LINEAR:

48
ANGULAR:

NAME SIGNATURE DATE TITLE:

Before you cut out the 4 main parts from the sheet, do all
DRAWN

CHK'D

the layout work (much easier to do this all at once). Add

APPV'D

MFG

marks for keyhole slots, ¾” dog holes and large hole cutting,multi height ho
Q.A MATERIAL:
DWG NO.

and the half-lap slots.

WEIGHT: SCALE:1:10 SHEET 1

Figure 4
If you are building a set of two sawhorses, check your two sheets for flatness. If both
sheets are slightly bowed (and most CDX will show some bowing), layout the pattern on
one sheet with the crown of the bow up and the other sheet with the bow down. This is
important, so that you can select pairs of parts for each component from sheets with
bowing that oppose each other. The pieces are best paired so that the edges touch and
the middle of the components bow away from each other (concave surfaces mating).
37 16 "
7

33 4 "
1

The components made with opposing warping (or camber) will tend to form nice flat
31 16 "
35 8 "
3

and straight components when laminated together. Also note that you only need to
layout the hole and slot patterns on the sheet with the bow up (convex surface). The
other sheet with the layout lines on the concave surface will be in the middle of the
lamination, so you will “lose” any layout lines to the inside of the component. You don’t
need those lines anyway—no need to waste the effort.

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 Cut Out:
Cut the curves with a jigsaw. To gain access to interior portions of the sheet to start jigsaw cuts, you may want to strategically drill
some ½” diameter holes in the waste area of the sheet. Another tip is to cut just beyond the marked curves, to the outside by an
1/16 to an 1/8” or so. This allows for the blade to deflect some as you cut without overcutting on the underside of the sheet if the
blade is not staying square. Minor differences in the two copies of each part can be sanded out after the glue-up. You can also
minimize the edge sanding by sanding one of the curves and then clamping that piece to the next curve and using a router with a
bearing guided bit to flush up the edge.
`
Figure 5
12"
10"
12"

4 "
3
12" 15

3 "

X
4

21

6"
13
1 16 "
R24

6"
"

2" all places

8"
30"

1
8X 1 2"
4"

36"
R1
5"
18"

3"
15 8 "
15"

3
64"
8"

14"
1
22"
1

15
16 "

7
21 8 " 11
25 16 "

13
95 16 "

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Straight cuts are made with a circular saw or track saw, being careful not to overcut. Some cuts are best finished with a jigsaw,
handsaw or pull saw, especially at the inside corner where the straight cut meets the curve of the leg.

Wait to cut the slots for the half-lap joints until after the glue-up.

Figure 6 Figure 7
1
12"

15°
62"
1
84"
3

1
12"

4"
33 4 "
1

3"
17"

3
14"
10 2 "
1

54"
1

15°
6" 1 1
23 2 " 12"

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Glue Up:
You will need a couple dozen clamps with throat openings
of 2” or larger. A combination of large and small clamps is
good for clamping both interior areas and edges. If you
lack access to enough clamps, you can use 1-1/4” construc-
tion screws for some of the “clamping” force. You can use
waterproof wood glue (Titebond 3 (TB2 may not allow
enough working time) or a polyurethane glue like Gorilla
glue, or construction adhesive between the layers. Apply
an even coating of glue to both surfaces, line them up and
clamp them together.

Note: If you don’t have enough clamps, use the clamps you
have at one end and run screws into the assembly between
the clamps and then move them down and repeat. After
the glue fully cures (a day later with wood glues or a few
days later with construction adhesives), you can remove
the screws if you wish. Avoid placing screws where boring
and slotting will need to be done later, if possible, or
remember to remove those screws before running a bit
into them. If you don’t have clamps with deep enough
throats to reach the center of the workpiece, you can use
hardwood 1x2s and clamp them across the span with pairs
of clamps at opposite edges.

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Hole Cutting:
After the glue up, bore all of the large 4” holes. You will find that these large holes make handling the components easier for the rest of the
operations (reduced weight and added hand holds). These are on 12” centers and in the middle of the rail. 4” hole saws can be a handful.
Securely clamp down the work pieces (oh the irony of not having a set of heavy sawhorses to use whilst building your first set of these).
Also use a heavy duty drill press or corded drill with large handles and HOLD ON. Drill slow and steady and as straight as possible. I drilled
the first large hole in the double leg component with a sharp hole saw. Only drill one of the large holes. Then clamp this double leg com-
ponent to the main rail with that first large hole over the next hole you want to drill. The leg assembly with the hole in it is now your drill
guide for the main rail holes. This guide makes drilling the rest of the large holes much safer. It really contains the hole saw and keeps it
from wandering and can help keep the holes true. The last 4” hole drilled is the second 4” hole in the two leg assembly. For that hole, you
can use one of the holes in the main rail as your guide by clamping the rail over the last large hole you need to cut.

If you lack access to a large corded electric drill you can use a cordless drill with a hole saw in it to cut a router template in ¼” or ½”
plywood. Just drill very slowly. Then use a jig saw and cut ¼” or so inside of the layout lines of the 4” hole. Clamp your router guide over the
hole and trim with a bearing guided pattern bit.

Then drill the series of gradually smaller holes in the legs with hole saws (or using the jigsaw and router template method). The handles
near the top of the 2-leg assembly are made by drilling two 1-1/2” holes and “connecting the dots” with a jigsaw.

After the large holes are cut, the edges of the holes can be eased with a small roundover bit. This makes using the holes easier and more
comfortable to handle.

Next, bore all the ¾” dog holes and the ¾” hole at the tops of the key hole slots. A drill press works best for this to keep the holes running
true. Alternatively, you can use a drill press adapter for hand held drills too. The dog holes are on 2” centers and each series of holes is
spaced on 12” centers and in the middle of the rail (the web area of your plywood truss, of sorts).

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Now you are ready to mill the slots in the rail. I made a jig to guide my router and limit
the travel of the router with stops. It is essentially a small frame with two guide rails and
cleats the register on the top and bottom edges of the horse rail. Center it over the area
to be slotted (see photos to right). The router plunges down inside the top hole already
drilled for the keyhole shape, and then plows the slot. Having the hole to plunge into is
very handy and causes most wood chips to be ejected down the hole and away from
you.

Alternatively you can make a pattern jig and use a bearing guided pattern bit.

The last steps are to cut the half-lap notches and the bevel at the top and bottom of the
legs. I cut just inside the lines for the notches, so the notches almost fit. Then shave
them down with a couple of final passes with a circular saw, jigsaw, and files, until the
notches fit snuggly. For the bevel cuts, your saw should be set at 15°. Make sure you are
cutting the bevel in the correct direction. The top and bottom cuts are parallel to each
other. Ideally, the notches are identical in width and the legs are interchangeable with
other sawhorses you build.

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Heavy Horse:
It is recommended that as a stand alone miter saw stand, that the 4-legged (Heavy Horse) version be used. The 8’ Tri-Horse is best used in
the small shop configuration where it is connected to another Tri-Horse, for added stability. See video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kpJcG8J1-bs&feature=youtu.be

For many users, a combination of Tri-Horses (3-legged) and Heavy Horses (4-legged) will be ideal. The Heavy Horse model can be made
by cutting two sets of legs out of a single sheet of ¾” plywood and making the rails out of carefully selected 2x12 lumber,1-1/2” LVL, or
using the doubled ¾” plywood approach. Some of the best features of the Tri-Horses, can also be used on traditional 4-legged (Heavy
Horse) versions:

• The deep rail you can plug things onto

• The boring and slotting for adjustable height fixtures
• Cord management

Advantages of the 4-legged design:

• Rail can be made of 2x12 or 1-1/2" by 12 LVL of any length

• Extremely strong and stable

Advantages of the Tri-Horse:

• Light weight
• More stable on uneven surfaces
• Funky looking
• Made of a single sheet of 3/4" ply
• Useful as a door bench/buck
Figure 8

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Accesories and Other Uses:
Miter saws can be mounted on a box with a channel in the middle that fits over the deep rail (see image). This "saddle box" can also
make the saw easier to carry. The “saddle box” dimensions will vary, based on the footprint of the saws you plan to use. The box in the
photos has a top that is 14”x22” and is 10-1/2” tall. The slot in the middle is 1-1/2” wide.

The simplest way to adjust the height of the miter saw, or other accessories on the rail, is using dowels in the dog holes (see image).

The miter saw work supports can be made with ¾” plywood tops and with 1/2” plywood legs in a “t-shape” with an 1-1/2” wide space
between the legs so it fits over the rail. I made my prototypes with ¾” plywood legs, but plan on ½” thickness ply for future versions. I also
plan to set the legs into dados in the tops. The center of the legs has a 3/8” slot for a t-slot bolt (5/16” x 3-1/2”) and star knob that hold
it to the keyhole slots on the horse rails. This hardware can be found at Rockler or Woodcraft stores. If you do not want to make your
own work supports, there are work supports made to clamp to 2x thickness material (like these http://www.rockler.com/roller-
support-with-universal-clamp).

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The Knockdown Shop

8ft 6ft 4ft

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 Thank You for your support
This system is very new. Please let us know if you have any questions or comments that will help continue the development of these saw
horses and the accessories that go with them. We appreciate your business. Thank you!

Basswoodmodular.com

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