[NT[_2_]]

Hi


I've never really been a trestle sort of person, but am thinking about
making some. And I figured I might as well make the best I can. So...
What size timber is best? Is timber best?
Are there any familiar features to incorporate?
Any wish-list features you dont usually see but would be handy?
Any design dos and donts?


Cheers, NT

[Cash]

NT wrote:
Hi


I've never really been a trestle sort of person, but am thinking about
making some. And I figured I might as well make the best I can. So...
What size timber is best? Is timber best?
Are there any familiar features to incorporate?
Any wish-list features you dont usually see but would be handy?
Any design dos and donts?


Cheers, NT

NT,

There are many types of 'trestle', but I Presume you mean a "saw horse" type
of 'trestle':

Here's a link to an American site that may be of some use.

As for timber sizes, I usually use 3"x2" for the top and 2"x2" for the legs
with 2"x1" for any spacers that are needed.

As for designs and do's and don'ts - there so many different types, it would
be dificult to give specific advice without knowing exactly what you want to
use it for.

Cash

[Andy Dingley]

On 17 Feb, 21:26, NT wrote:

I've never really been a trestle sort of person, but am thinking about
making some.

What for? Makes a big difference.

Best "portable handyman" trestles I've found are the Lidl ones. Steel,
foldable, 7 quid.

For timber framing I use huge great heavy things. 6x4 timber and
upwards. Sets of three or four are useful, not just two.

If you just make each one slightly longer than the others, they'll
stack far more easily than most of the other complicated ways of doing
it. Three legged ones are useful for stability, but hard to make
strong and stable. Construction should be simple and screwed-on
plywood sheet gussets braces better than any complicated joinery you
might have time for. It's well worth making the top spine from deep
timber and keeping all the steel fastenings at least a saw-blade depth
beneath this. That way you can cheerfully saw right through your
trestles! It doesn't cause as much wear as you'd expect and it saves a
huge amount of time.

[NT[_2_]]

On Feb 18, 1:11*am, Andy Dingley wrote:
On 17 Feb, 21:26, NT wrote:

I've never really been a trestle sort of person, but am thinking about
making some.

What for? *Makes a big difference.

Hi Andy

I'm kind of in idiot mode at the moment on this. Other than sawing
wood I dont yet know what I could do with them.


Best "portable handyman" trestles I've found are the Lidl ones. Steel,
foldable, 7 quid.

For timber framing I use huge great heavy things. 6x4 timber and
upwards. Sets of three or four are useful, not just two.

If you just make each one slightly longer than the others, they'll
stack far more easily than most of the other complicated ways of doing
it.

Nice one... perhaps 2 the same length but differing leg positions to
allow neat stacking.


Three legged ones are useful for stability, but hard to make
strong and stable.

That's got me thinking if there's some way a 4 legger can be shifted
into 3 leg mode.


Construction should be simple and screwed-on
plywood sheet gussets braces better than any complicated joinery you
might have time for. It's well worth making the top spine from deep
timber and keeping all the steel fastenings at least a saw-blade depth
beneath this. That way you can cheerfully saw right through your
trestles! It doesn't cause as much wear as you'd expect and it saves a
huge amount of time.

right... what sort of depth would you recommend? I really am very
deprived of trestle experience. Cost of materials isnt really an
issue.


thanks, NT

[John Whitworth[_3_]]

"Cash" wrote in message
...
NT wrote:
Hi


I've never really been a trestle sort of person, but am thinking about
making some. And I figured I might as well make the best I can. So...
What size timber is best? Is timber best?
Are there any familiar features to incorporate?
Any wish-list features you dont usually see but would be handy?
Any design dos and donts?


Cheers, NT

NT,

There are many types of 'trestle', but I Presume you mean a "saw horse"
type of 'trestle':

Here's a link to an American site that may be of some use.


No link, Cash!

JW

[Cash]

John Whitworth wrote:
"Cash" wrote in message
...
NT wrote:
Hi


I've never really been a trestle sort of person, but am thinking
about making some. And I figured I might as well make the best I
can. So... What size timber is best? Is timber best?
Are there any familiar features to incorporate?
Any wish-list features you dont usually see but would be handy?
Any design dos and donts?


Cheers, NT

NT,

There are many types of 'trestle', but I Presume you mean a "saw
horse" type of 'trestle':

Here's a link to an American site that may be of some use.


No link, Cash!

JW

Thanks John,

Damned old age catching up with me. :-)

Link below (I hope).

http://www.woodworkersworkshop.com/r...ex.php?cat=463

[pcb1962]

On 17 Feb, 21:26, NT wrote:
Hi

I've never really been a trestle sort of person, but am thinking about
making some. And I figured I might as well make the best I can. So...
What size timber is best? Is timber best?
Are there any familiar features to incorporate?
Any wish-list features you dont usually see but would be handy?
Any design dos and donts?

Assuming you mean a saw horse sort of trestle, I got some of these:
http://www.rutlands.co.uk/hand-tools...horse-brackets
Just add 5 lengths of 4x2, once you've cut the legs it takes 2 minutes
to assemble and break down if you're short on storage space.

[Matty F]

On Feb 18, 2:11 pm, Andy Dingley wrote:

If you just make each one slightly longer than the others, they'll
stack far more easily than most of the other complicated ways of doing
it.

I needed to make 20 trestles to hold up table tops. I decided that all
the trestles around were horrible and wouldn't stack well so I
designed trestles with offset legs. The thickness of a trestle when
folded flat was 40mm (2 pieces of wood thick).

[Andy Dingley]

On 18 Feb, 19:09, pcb1962 wrote:

Assuming you mean a saw horse sort of trestle, I got some of these:http://www.rutlands.co.uk/hand-tools...ds-&-shelving/...
Just add 5 lengths of 4x2, once you've cut the legs it takes 2 minutes

I was given a couple of sets of the old orange steel version of these.
Quick and simple, yes, but they were also expensive and fell apart
when lifted for carrying. A damn nuisance and I gave them away again
in turn. Maybe the plastic ones are better, but I still wouldn't
trust the rigidity of something that tried to do all of its stiffening
in a couple of inches of overlap, rather than a foot of plywood.