CNC Cut SawhorseLearn to CNC cut your own sawhorse. It's easy to cut on any CNC machine. Sawhorses are

elegant and strong. Just about any 3/4" plywood can be used.

Written By: Eric Schimelpfenig

CNC Cut Sawhorse

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INTRODUCTION

These sawhorses were designed to be strong, and material efficient. You can cut one sawhorse outof a 3'x4' piece of plywood. This means that you can get two out of a full sheet of plywood with roomto spare. They use simple hardware. They are designed to work with any 3/4" thick plywood. This isa great project if you're new to CNC and want make something useful for the shop.

This guide will show you how to import your SketchUp model into VCarve or Aspire and mill it on aCNC. (Skip a few steps to get to the files and build guide if you're already comfortable with importing)

TOOLS:VCarve Pro (1)

SketchUp Make (FREE) (1)

PARTS:2.5" 1/4 x 20 bolt (14)

x2 for two sawhorses

Nylock Nut (6)x2 for two sawhorses

Plywood (1)3/4"Any 3/4" plywood works. For one sawhorseyou need a 3"x48" piece. A full sheet will getyou two sawhorses with some extra room.

2x4 that is at least 34.75" long (1)

Wood Glue (1)

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Step 1 — Importing SketchUp models to VCarve

SketchUp models can be imported easily into VCarve or Aspire.

When importing a model it can be laid out flat on plywood automatically

For this to happen, each part of your model needs to be a separate group or component

To learn how to use groups and components read here and here

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Step 2

First start a new VCarve or Aspire drawing.

Next to go File>Import>Import Vectors and find your SketchUp model

If you get an error message saying that your SketchUp model cannot be opened, make sure yoursoftware is up to date.

Step 3

The next dialog box has a lot ofoptions. Don't worry though, we'll listthem below so that you can makethe right choices. The reallyimportant ones are highlighted.

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Auto Orientate - Largest face istop face This means that all of thegroups and components will of yourSketchUp model will be taken apartand laid flat. VCarve will take the

CNC Cut Sawhorse

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largest face and lay that one flat.Sometimes your parts can bereversed, so be careful here.

Orientate by Material This optionwill treat a face (or faces) that youpaint with a color of your choosingas the top face. This is great forreally controlling the way that yourmodel is pulled apart and laid flat.

Gap between parts Once your partsare laid out on the plywood, this isthe gap between them. You're verylikely going to be changing this later,so leaving it at it's default is justfine.

Three Views This option will takethree 2D snapshots of your modeland lay those vectors out.

Create Circles for polygons &Refit Arcs SketchUp by defaultmakes segmented circles andcurves. This isn't ideal for CNC.Thankfully the software actuallycreates smooth curves automaticallyfrom your SketchUp model. You'lllikely want to leave this checked.

Group Imported Parts If you makea group or component of somethingin SketchUp, the software will treat itthat way when it's imported. If youuncheck this, you'll get "loose"geometry.

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Replace outer boundary Thisoption will attempt to trace theoutside of your group or component.Be careful with this one if you haveholes or other features touching theedge of the outer boundary of yourgeometry.

Step 4

Start Toolpathing! Now that youhave your SketchUp model loadedup, start setting up your toolpaths.

You may want to practice with theseimport steps a few times to get thehang of them.

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Step 5

Now that you have your geometryimported you're going to need tocreate toolpaths to get your machinecutting the files. The best place tolearn Cut2D, Cut3D, VCarve andAspire is at Vectric's site. Click hereto learn how to make toolpaths.

Step 6 — Gather your hardware

Check the list of hardware in this guide. Nearly all of it can be gathered from a local hardwarestore.

The only hard to fine part is the weld nut. These can be ordered online at Fastenal. They show upfast and are reasonably priced. If you can't wait, or can't order one you can get a regular 1/4x 20nut and washer and just grind down the edge of the washer a little bit.

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Step 7 — Gather Plywood

Your plywood can be just about any3/4" thick plywood. I've designed thisproject to accommodate varyingplywood thicknesses as long asthey're close to 3/4"

This means that you can get partsout of scraps you have around, ortuck parts into other jobs as you millthem.

One of my favorite types of plywoodfor projects like this is this stuff it'seasy to work with and cheap to buy.

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Step 8 — Setup toolpaths and mill

If you're using Vectric's VCarve or Aspire you can import SketchUp models right in and maketoolpaths for them. A great guide for that is here. This is good if you want to modify the sawhorse.

If you want to skip right to the fun part we have created the ready to cut files for you. They can befound right here. VCarve, Aspire, and DXF files can be found here.

You'll notice in our milling files we have the material thickness set to .725". If you're using plywood~3/4" you shouldn't have to change this. If you do, just make sure that your slot for the weld nutsleaves .125" of material. You don't want it thinner or you can break through the wood, too thick andyour bolt won't line up.

This toolpath is setup with tabs. Despite having a vacuum table, I've found that the tabs help keepeverything in place. Feel free to modify this to suit your machine and needs.

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Step 9 — Glue it up!

Glue up the small and large legs.Use regular wood glue.

You can use some of the assemblybolts to line things up when you gluethem.

You'll need to clamp the legstogether while the glue dries

Check the diagram to make surethat you assemble the large legproperly. The weld nut slot must beexposed so that you can bolt on the2x4!

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Step 10 — Cut your 2x4

This sawhorse is designed to havejust about any type of wood on thetop. This means that you canreplace or modify it any way you'dlike.

Use this dimension guide to cut aregular 2x4

Step 11 — Sand it up!

After you've glued the legs up takesome sand paper and/or a handrouter and round over the edges andsmooth everything out.

Even though these are sawhorsesand not show pieces it's always agood idea to sand things out toprevent any splinters.

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Step 12 — Sawhorses Assemble!

Assembly is pretty straightforward,just assemble all the parts using thisguide.

A 7/16" wrench and socket will beneeded.

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This document was last generated on 2017-06-20 04:58:08 PM.

Step 13 — Make a few more!

Congratulations, you know have one of the strongest and most elegant sawhorses anywhere, andat a cost that's under a cheap plastic one.

Go make a few more! If you want a big set, mill a part or two every time you run your CNC so youcan turn scrap into tools.

If you want all of the files (SketchUp models, pictures, DXFs, PDF build guide) just go here anddownload them all.