Today I am finally sharing a table I designed and built over two months ago. I LOVE the way it turned out. Check out my DIY Sawhorse Console Table!
I love the size of this table… It’s long and narrow and looks cute in just about any room of the house. As always, I will walk you through the entire build here, and you can also download the FREE printable plans at the bottom of this post! clicking HERE or the button below!
The first thing you will need to get is sawhorse brackets. I found mine at Home Depot in the hardware section by the sawhorses. The come in a package of 2 that look like this…
I created all of my bases first. This is really simple and uses 2×4 for everything keeping the cost really low… Yeah! Make the cuts according to the plans. Each sawhorse uses three boards cut at 27.5″ each.
All you do is fit the ends of the board into the bracket and use a wood screw to hold it in place.
Each bracket will look like this…
Next, you will 3 smaller pieces, each at 16.5″. These will fit into the teeth of the bracket and clamp down on it like this.
At this point I cut my pieces that run between each leg. These will hold the boards to run under that bottom shelf. I cut each of these pieces 12″ long, and each end is cut at a 14 degree miter.
I used my Kreg Jig K5 to make 1.5″ pocket holes one each of these pieces. You can see how I aligned it in the jig below.
Next, I used 2.5″ pocket hole screws to attach all of these boards. I lined each one up 3.5″ from the bottom of the leg boards.
Next, I cut three more 2×4 pieces, each at 14″.
I attached these to the leg braces using Gorilla wood glue and 2″ finish nails.
I used my Ryobi Airstrike Finish Nailer for this part. LOVE this nailer… No hose or compressor. It’s as awesome as the brad nailer. Trust.
Now for the bottom shelf. For this part I used two 1×4 boards cut at 58″. I lined them up evenly and side by side and attached using wood glue and finish nails. I also naturally forgot to photo that part… My bad. At least it was an easy part! 😉
Now for the top! I planked this one using my Kreg Jig. I really don’t plank anything now without using pocket holes. It makes the overall look so much nicer. Everything just lines up so much better.
I cut the longer boards first. These are 1×6 cut to 59″ long.
Next, I added pocket holes down the sides of 2 of these boards. I used 3/4″ pocket holes for this part. I also added two pocket holes on the ends of each board to attach my breadboards.
I attached these boards using 1.25″ pocket hole screws through the pocket holes. I don’t use glue on this part because I’m too messy… The pocket hole screws are strong enough without it I have found.
My final step was adding the breadboards. I suggest measuring the width of your planked top before making this cut. Wood can run different widths so I do suggest measuring here to get an exact fit. I attached these boards using 1.25″ pocket hole screws as well.
To attach the top to the base I used a line of wood glue on the top of each sawhorse base and used 2″ finish nails through the tabletop and into the bases. I finished mine using a stain by Varathane called Ash. You can find it at Home Depot. The great thing about those sawhorse brackets is that you can get them a little messy with stain and they wipe right off… No need to tape them off.
Here she is all finished off!
What do you think? I love how it turned out!
Let’s talk cost…
Sawhorse Brackets – $7 for a set of 2 making total cost $21
Lumber – $48
Total Table Cost – Under $70! Can I get a woohoo? 🙂
Also, for those of you who may ask… Did you notice my new floors. I absolutely love them. Best decision I have made in a long time. They are faux wood tiles from The Tile Shop called Cottage Grey.
Thanks so much for stopping by guys! Let me know if you have any questions at all!
~Whitney
Download the free printable plans by clicking HERE or the button below!
I have to admit 1. that my husband is the DIY guy and I can’t even hammer a nail, but I just found your projects and plans today and am enamored with your projects, enthusiasm,
and skills. 2. I have not looked in detail of this project, but my first look led me to think that this might be a console and/or buffet that could be made portable…such that the top and crosspieces which fit into the sawhorse brackets could simply be lifted off as a unit and stored say in the garage over the winter and then set up for the next family/neighborhood BBQ, etc. I would love something like that. We don’t have a large patio nor storage area, so am looking for something portable rather than permanent as we have severe winters here in Wyoming.
Would this work as a breakfast bar type setting also.
Found a bunch of discrepancies, just a heads up for folks trying to follow along at home. The material list has 2 1×6 boards, but the plans call for three. Also, material list calls for 1.5″ pocket screws but the plans call for 2.5″. Then there are parts in this thread above that list 1.25″ pocket screws. Very confusing to follow.. Can you clarify any of it Whitney?
I noticed that the depth of the table was listed as 16.5″. I wanted to confirm as you mentioned using 3 1″x6″ boards, so just want to figure out where you lost 1.5″? This is an awesome table, btw…thank you for posting!
That’s correct. A 1×6 board is only 5.5″ wide. Hope this helps!
Thank you!
was wondering your thoughts on turning this into a dining room table for my sunroom. I love how easy the legs were to make and I especially love the metal of the sawhorse brackets. I was thinking I’d leave off the bottom shelf. I’m guessing the biggest issue would be the amount of leg space the sawhorses take up?
So incredibly grateful for your free and awesome plans. My husband and I are new to DIY, just been dabbling a bit for the last six months. The sawhorse table will be our first substantial build. Halfway done with it and super excited already! Thank you for being so generous! We plan on building from many more of your plans.
Can you recommend something to use to get the stain off of the sawhorse brackets? I accidently left some on mine and I didn’t know what would be the best thing to use.
Hi, Whitney! Love this table! My husband and I are new DIYers and we decided to try to take this table on as a project. Everything was going well until we tried to secure the bottom shelf boards. All measurements were correct but for some reason, the two 1X4s will not fit 🙁 Any idea where we could have gone wrong?
I did the same thing! I will have to rip my 1×4 down in order for them to fit in the opening between the legs. I should have placed my legs just a tad further apart. I will know this for my next one! lol
Theoretically the 1x4s and the 2×4 legs should be 3.5″ wide. If the 1x4s or 2x4s are slightly wider than that then you wont’ be able to fit both 1x4s in because the piece you’re attaching them to is only 14″ wide (3.5+3.5+3.5+3.5).
I’m going to build this table this weekend and this comment helped me realize something. I need to measure the width of my 1x4s and 2x4s to really tell me what my 14″ piece needs to be cut to (e.g. slightly larger than 14″? slightly shorter?).
Thanks for the lesson learned!
Hi, Whitney! I just completed this project, modified to be an entertainment table. I am curious as to where you found the metal storage basket. I am interested in getting a couple of them to “anchor” the table a little more. Thanks!
I could be wrong, but I think I saw that metal basket at World Market.
How do you know what size holes to do on each project and what size screws to use? I’m new to the whole Kreg Jig thing and I have split quite a few pieces of wood lately lol.
You have said you like the K5 the best but why do you like it the best what is the difference between the K4 and the K5?
Hey Jen!
The three main differences that I love are…
1. Front clamping – The clamp is on the front of the jig keeping you from reaching around your wood to clamp. This is especially handy when doing larger pieces.
2. The side supports that provide extra storage also really help balance the wood you are adding your pocket holes to
3. Self-adjusting – the clamp is self adjusting on the K5… On the K4 you have to adjust it manually and it’s not difficult, but a big time saver.
I will say that I built a ton of furniture using the K4 and did love it. It’s a perfectly good jig, but if you are considering investing I would spend the small amount extra and upgrade to the K5. Hope this helps!
Yes it does help. I just bought the K4 and I haven’t opened it yet so I think I will be taking it back and exchanging it for the K5. Thank you!
Thus is beautiful! I love it so much, perfection. I have been thinking of creating something like this as a desk for my husbands office. I love the rustic feel of this!
Thank you Emily!
Love these – I’m adding these to my long list of “someday”
We all have one of those lists! 😉
These look great!
Question wrt your Ryobi tools… have you had trouble with the batteries? I had a drained battery that would not charge after only having it for less than a year. I’ve been using it in my Air Strike tools and went to plug it into the charger with just a blinking red saying it’s defective. Have you guys experienced this, too? Ryobi batteries going defective prematurely?
Tom,
I too had that trouble and what I found was there was saw dust in the terminal so the battery wasn’t making a connection. I used my small shop vac and blew the terminal out and wiped the battery tip (the part with the metal connector) and tried again and it worked like a charm. Something to try.
Thanks for sharing that with Tom! I appreciate it! 🙂
Hey Tom,
I have upgraded up to the Lithium + batteries… They are the most expensive, but they last so much longer. I rarely have to change batteries during a project at all, and I haven’t had one go bad yet. Is your previous experience with Ryobi tools the blue tools and batteries. I will say that the new green lines are so much stronger and longer lasting. I hope this helps answer your question!
Thanks for the reply. It was the new Lithium One+ battery that died, which is why I was concerned, since it’s relatively new. I will say it lasted a long time between charges, but this last time charging, it only showed blinking red.