Day 1: My first project...EVER.... sheesh....

Hey guys, new guy here. 35 years old and fired up about woodworking. I have been reading online, magazines, books, catalogs, etc. for the past year or so. Finally decided to start my first project. As far as tools go, I have a circular saw, 1 pipe clamp, 1 F clamp, a combo square, a metal straight edge, a bevel gauge, a cordless drill, some bits..thats about it. VERY limited room, I have no workbench.

SO, I figured I should start simple. I have the “Projects for your Shop” book by Michael Teague, and assumed the sawhorse project would be a good starter project, plus would be good to use since I dont have much room. Went to the local big box store and bought some 2×4s, and some plywood.

First off, I needed to make the circular saw guide-jig out of 3/4” MDF and 1/4” MDF. Hmm, what to use for a bench? Well, I have a 16” high bench seat my father in law made for us out of joined 2×4s. It sits under the back porch. I guess thats going to have to work. Yes, 16 INCHES high. A few circular saw cuts later (gotta love the tearout at the end of the cut) , and I was screwing the two pieces together. I thought 1 inch drywall screws would work. Well, as the screws got close to termination, the pieces of wood would separate. A call to my father later, who said I should pre drill the top wood piece (which I then did), and the pieces still didnt hold. Not enough screw to bite into bottom piece, I think. So I countersunk the top piece holes, and they held, but now the screws stick out of the bottom. Not a good thing obviously. But heck, these are for saw horses, and I’ve spent over an hour on this guide. Those screws wont hurt the sawhorse wood. On to the sawhorses.

Using a pipe clamp to clamp the three 2×4s together, and a F clamp to clamp the pieces to my “workbench”, I began cutting the legs to rough length. The legs are supposed to be 33” I cut them to 35-36” to give me some wiggle room. After cutting the legs, I was done for the day as daylight was almost out. So, here are my thoughts and questions after day one:

1-I HAVE to get a workbench. I almost broke my back working on something thats only 16” high.

2- I need more clamps. Two don’t cut it even for something simple.

3-For joining two layers of wood, what size screws should you use? a screw thats < total thickness and use a countersink? one thats equal like I attempted? Where did i go wrong on my technique? How deep do you countersink the holes?

4-I realize a chop saw could have made my legs cutting MUCH easier. I WANTED to be a more “hand tool guy” and here on the first project I’m yearning for powertools. Which I have no room to put anywhere.

5-Not having support under the plywood caused the tearout at the end of a few cuts. Man some sawhorses sure would be handy. LOL.

6-What is cut to “rough length”? Within an inch? two? three?

Hope I didn’t ramble too much…any help, comments would be greatly appreciated. I’m sure I will have tons more questions….