Anyone who has tried to cut a 2.4 metre length of timber balanced on a Black & Decker workmate knows the problem. The board tips, the saw binds, and you end up crouching on the garage floor with your knees locked together. A decent pair of sawhorses fixes all of that in an afternoon, and it costs you less than a decent hand saw. They raise the work to a comfortable height, support long boards at both ends, and give you somewhere to clamp things that isn't the corner of your bench. Build them once and they will outlast half the tools in your workshop.

What You Actually Need Before You Start

This is a deliberately simple build. No fancy joinery, no dominoes, no pocket screws if you don't want them. The design is a classic trestle: a top beam, four splayed legs, and a stretcher brace near the bottom to stop the legs spreading when you lean on it.

For timber, three lengths of 2.4 metre CLS is plenty. Grab one length of 47 x 100mm for the top beams and two lengths of 47 x 75mm for the legs and stretchers. CLS is planed smooth, kiln dried, and cheap as chips from any timber merchant. Check each length for bowing before you buy — sight down the edge and reject anything that curves like a banana, because your horses will wobble forever.

For fixings, I prefer M8 coach bolts for the leg joints. Wood screws alone will work, but the legs take a lot of racking force and bolts resist it far better. You'll want eight bolts per horse (two per leg), plus washers and nyloc nuts. Add a box of 5 x 80mm screws for the stretchers.

• 1 x 2.4m of 47 x 100mm CLS
• 2 x 2.4m of 47 x 75mm CLS
• 16 x M8 x 100mm coach bolts, washers and nyloc nuts
• A handful of 5 x 80mm wood screws
• Wood glue (exterior grade if the garage gets damp)
• Combination square, sliding bevel, tape, pencil
• Circular saw or hand saw, cordless drill, 8mm and 5mm bits, spanner
• Two sash clamps or quick-grip clamps

The Cutting List

Everything comes off the three lengths with very little waste. Work on a flat surface and cut all the matching parts together so they end up identical — this matters more than you'd think, because mismatched legs mean a rocking horse.

• Top beams: 2 at 900mm (47 x 100mm)
• Legs: 8 at 700mm (47 x 75mm), mitred at 15 degrees on the top end
• Stretchers: 2 at 750mm (47 x 75mm)
• Optional sacrificial battens: 2 at 900mm (25 x 50mm)

The 15 degree mitre is what gives the sawhorse its splay. Set a sliding bevel to 15 degrees, or simply mark 185mm in from the end of the beam and cut to that line — close enough for a trestle. A splayed leg is far more stable than a vertical one, and it lets you stand closer to the work without banging your shins.

Assembling the First Sawhorse

Lay the top beam on your bench. Measure in 100mm from each end and mark the centreline of the first leg. Then measure a further 100mm along and mark the second leg position on the same end. Repeat at the other end. You now have four leg positions, all sitting on the beam with their mitred faces flat against it.

Clamp one leg in place and check it sits square to the beam when viewed from the end — use a combination square against the beam face and the leg edge. Clamp it, then drill two 8mm holes straight through the leg and the beam, roughly 30mm apart. Push the bolt through from the outside, add a washer, and nip up the nyloc nut. Do the same for the remaining three legs.

With all four legs on, stand the horse up and check it doesn't rock. If one leg is proud, plane a sliver off the foot rather than messing about with the joints. Now fit the stretcher. Position it about 250mm up from the floor, centred between the legs, and screw through the leg into the end grain of the stretcher with two 5 x 80mm screws per side, glued and clamped. The stretcher is what stops the legs from splaying when you drop a heavy board onto the horse, so don't skip it.

Building the Second and Matching the Pair

Build the second horse exactly the same way, using the first as your reference rather than the tape measure. Lay both horses side by side on the floor and run a straight edge or a long spirit level across the two top beams. They need to be within a millimetre or two of each other or your timber will rock as you cut.

If one is slightly tall, take a block plane to the feet of the taller horse until the straight edge sits flush. Small adjustments here save a lot of frustration later.

Finishing Touches and Using Them Well

Screw a 25mm softwood batten to the top of each beam. This is sacrificial — your saw bites into the batten rather than the structural beam, and you can replace it for a couple of quid when it gets chewed up. Give the whole lot a coat of boiled linseed oil or a wipe of Danish oil. It's not essential, but it slows moisture movement in a damp garage and keeps the timber from drying out and splitting.

When you use them, a few habits make the difference between safe and sketchy:

• Set them on firm, level ground. Grass and gravel are not your friends here.
• Space them roughly 600–900mm apart for a 2.4m board, so the overhang is short.
• Stand to one side of the cut line, never directly behind the saw.
• Clamp the workpiece if you're cutting anything short or awkward.
• Never cut between the horses with the board unsupported — that's when it pinches.
• Store them flat against the workshop wall on a couple of hooks, or nest them if you splay the legs inward slightly.

Total build time is a lazy Saturday morning, and you'll wonder how you ever managed without them.