Saw Horse Folding Bracket

These are some fantastic sawhorse brackets. The idea was to create something 3D printable that matches the design and functionality of store-bought saw horse brackets. Why print it? Well… I needed a set and why not? These brackets proved to be incredibly strong, exceeding my expectations. I loaded them up with 475 pounds [215 kg] of cement paver blocks, and feel that it could have supported more.

There were some goals in the design of this print. The most important ones were that to build one sawhorse the four parts wouldn't consume more than 1kg spool of filament in order to keep the cost down, and it had to be strong. The prints weighed in at just over 200g each, and the saw horse withstood a static load equivalent to (or exceeding) the ratings of some purchased brackets.

I made a video detailing my journey in making/testing these with lot's of extra info, check it out here:

I printed one bracket at a time on my Ender 3 printer out of PLA material. The overall X x Y dimensions of your build plate must be able to print a part that is 8" x 4.25" [203mm x 108mm] in order for the finished part to work with 2x4 dimensional lumber, this may not be printable on smaller printers…

Print Settings I used:

(in order to achieve the static load I did)

Orientation: This part needs to be printed with the big flat side downward, there is a photo in the package showing this orientation.

Supports: None are needed if it is printed in the orientation shown.

Material: Any, I used PLA but plan on printing them with a more durable material (possibly engineering grade) in the future.

Nozzle: 0.4mm

Layer Height: 0.2mm

Wall Thickness: 1.8mm

Top/Bottom Thickness: 1.8mm

Infill: 14% Gyroid

Print Qty Required for (1) complete Saw Horse: (4) Four Brackets

Additional Parts Required (Non-3D printed)

These sawhorse brackets are capable of pivoting when assembled without half of the top board screws installed. The parts listed below are enough to make either pivoting or non-pivoting.

Per Saw Horse:

Qty (2) 3/16 inch [4.8mm] diameter dowel x 4.25 inch [108mm] long, steel. (I smooshed one end a little bit oblong so that it was an interference fit, further preventing it from falling out.)

Qty (32) #8 x 1.63" long deck screw

Qty (8) #9 x 3.00" long deck screw

Qty (5) 2" x 4" board x 32" long (the dimensional lumber actually measures 1.5" x 3.5", why do they do this…?)

More Info:

In the post I've included the native .sldprt file for easier adjustments based on the lumber you intend on using. There are also .stl and .3mf files as standard practice. If you make another version, please help the community out and post the remix, I would love to see what you come up with. Also, if you print these brackets out please post a make and write a short comment describing your experience, I would like to know and certainly the rest of the community would as well.

For lots more info, including an assembly walkthrough, background info on the design/inspiration, and to witness the load testing performed please watch the video above in the description.

Thank you for checking it out!