Easy 2×4 Workbench Legs for Mitre Saw Station
See how and why I doubled up 2x4s to build easy, yet sturdy legs for my mitre saw station workbench.
Plus, see the notes below the video for how and why I did this differently for my workbench.
Subscribe to the Heartwood Art YouTube Channel
for more helpful tips like this
Enjoying this series?
It’s all about my mitre saw station build
See all the posts in order
What You’ll Need for This Project
See the hand and power tools I used to make this part of the mitre saw station.
About the Workbench Leg Build
Doubling up on 2x4s for the legs is a lot sturdier than using a single 2×4.
If you’d rather use 4x4s, I have an easy way of notching them out with a mitre saw.
Either way, that notch gives support to the long spanner boards that will run across the front and back of the 6′ mitre saw station bench.
It also gave me a good way to add casters to the legs without drilling straight up into the end grain of the wood.
Leg Dimensions

The tall, solid leg is 31”.
The long mid leg on the front is 24”
The gap above and below the mid leg is 1.5” as that is the width of a 2×4.
The short leg on the bottom is 4”.
See how working with a temporary mitre saw station helped me determine these lengths.
Custom Lengths
I cut all of the 31” and 24” boards.
Because I did not have a stop block on my temporary mitre saw stand, I hand measured each of those cuts and some were up to 1/16” off.
So, I measured the length for the little bottom board for each leg separately to ensure it made up the difference and my legs would be square on the bottom for sitting on the floor.
Prepping for Glue Up

Next, I laid the 31” bottom boards out side by side
Then placed the small 4” boards on top, ensuring that the bottoms were dead even.

Then I clamped the 4” blocks down on the two outside blocks. That helped ensure the whole row stayed in place.
Next I laid a 2×4 across the lower section.
And then laid the 24” boards above that.

Then I placed a 2×4 across the top.
After checking that everything was square, I was ready to glue up the pieces.

I moved the clamps to the 2×4 cross pieces and began removing each 4” and 24” board one at a time, applying glue, and then replacing.

Next I placed another set of 2x4s over the 4” and 24” pieces and moved my clamps to those as a way to apply even pressure across all of them until the glue dried.
What I Would Change Next Time
This method worked okay, but two of the legs came out uneven at either the top or bottom.
If I build legs like this again, I’ll have at least 4 more clamps to hold everything in place, like leaving them on the first 2x4s I laid across the legs.
I’ll also put a piece of plywood vertically across the top and bottom edges and bar clamp them, top to bottom, to ensure each leg is exactly even at both top to bottom.
Have You Tried It?
Have you built bench legs like this?
How did they turn out?
Any tips or tricks you learned along the way?
Pin It For Later


I know nothing about building from scratch. You are teaching me so much. Even if I won’t build it, I know what to look for if I need to use it. Hope you had a wonderful Easter!
Thanks so much, Marilyn!! Glad you are finding the builds, and thinking behind them interesting.
Hi MaAnna, this is exactly what I was looking for, I will get busy now that I have a solid plan that makes sense. Thank you for sharing your passion for building practical solutions.
You’re so welcome!!! I’ll always build legs this way now. Lap joints are just so easy with a mitre saw.
What am I missing? I cut all the pieces as per the instructions, but it doesn’t add up for me. 4″ + 3.5″ (the width of the bottom 2×4 apron) + 24″ + 3.5″ (the width of the top 2×4 apron) = 35″. Have I misunderstood something?