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Step 2Work Horses
Work horses are a very easy and cheap solution for a desk, and in this case they are the main pieces of construction. I could bought some but I barely spend a dime building this two. This is what i did:
First of all keep in mind the hight of your desk surface, usually desk tops range from 27" to 30" , I use 29" for the top of my. I subtract the thickness of the panel 1-1/2" which gives me 27- 1/2" for the top of the horses. The length of the top piece (horizontal) is 28", the same depth of the door panel. I set back the legs 2 - 1/2" from the edges, (see note 1 in the pic).
Keep in mind the angle of the legs, which will be roughly the same as the hight 27 - 1/2".
For this I attached a piece of 1 -1/2" x 3/4" under the main runner of the bench between the two legs to get the angle. (see note 2). At the bottom of the horse I got 8 - 3/4" between the legs (see note 3).
Next I drill a 3/8" hole on the horizontal piece, at roughly 1 - 3/8" from the top , and also in the two pieces for the legs to drive the 3" machine screws, keep in mind that the machine screws are 1/4" dia, but the legs are in an angle, that's why we need a 3/8" hole to bare some room for the screws (see note 4).
When I fixed the hight of the work horse tighten the screws and every thing was in order I put two drywall screws into the 1 - 1/2" (the angle piece) to secure them, see images.
At this point the horses are still a little bit wobbly.
At the bottom of the legs I put a 7 - 3/4" piece from 2 1/2" from the floor to secure the legs, and also as support for the 2 last pieces of pallets (shelves).
When everything is in place and secure, the work horses were very stiff. From here the rest is very straight forward.
First of all keep in mind the hight of your desk surface, usually desk tops range from 27" to 30" , I use 29" for the top of my. I subtract the thickness of the panel 1-1/2" which gives me 27- 1/2" for the top of the horses. The length of the top piece (horizontal) is 28", the same depth of the door panel. I set back the legs 2 - 1/2" from the edges, (see note 1 in the pic).
Keep in mind the angle of the legs, which will be roughly the same as the hight 27 - 1/2".
For this I attached a piece of 1 -1/2" x 3/4" under the main runner of the bench between the two legs to get the angle. (see note 2). At the bottom of the horse I got 8 - 3/4" between the legs (see note 3).
Next I drill a 3/8" hole on the horizontal piece, at roughly 1 - 3/8" from the top , and also in the two pieces for the legs to drive the 3" machine screws, keep in mind that the machine screws are 1/4" dia, but the legs are in an angle, that's why we need a 3/8" hole to bare some room for the screws (see note 4).
When I fixed the hight of the work horse tighten the screws and every thing was in order I put two drywall screws into the 1 - 1/2" (the angle piece) to secure them, see images.
At this point the horses are still a little bit wobbly.
At the bottom of the legs I put a 7 - 3/4" piece from 2 1/2" from the floor to secure the legs, and also as support for the 2 last pieces of pallets (shelves).
When everything is in place and secure, the work horses were very stiff. From here the rest is very straight forward.
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Nov 22, 2011. 2:03 AMacoleman3
says:
oh....is the set back on the top of the sawhorse legs to keep the ends of the support rail from spiting out? i have a feeling they are.
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