Sleeping in sheets dried in the sunshine and breeze is like no other experience. An electric clothes dryer accounts for about 6 percent of U.S. domestic electricity usage. Drying clothes outside can reduce your utility bill significantly, by as much as $100 to $180 annually. If you have the space for a clothesline, it is well worth stringing one up and investing in some clothespins.
Dig two holes in the ground in a sunny location where you want your clothesline to sit. The holes should be four feet deep, and wide enough to fit the 8-by-8 posts that you will build.
Lay out the lumber on the saw horses. Measure and mark on a 16-foot 8-by-8 post the spot four feet from the bottom of the post. Those four feet will be in the hole. Measure and mark a spot about six feet above this mark. The cross beam will be placed at this height.
Lay the crosspiece over the main post at the spot you marked and square it with the carpenter's square. At this place you will cut a half-lap joint with which the main post and crossbeam will support each other. Mark the location with a pencil.
Cut the half lap on the main post and the crosspiece with the circular saw. This is something like cutting teeth into a jack o' lantern. Cut the area to be removed on each piece into slices that extend to the depth of half of the post and the crosspiece. If the saw blade does not cut to halfway through the post or beam, use a handsaw to complete the cut.
Clear away the unwanted wood from the half lap with the chisel. Fit the post and the crosspiece together (like Lincoln Logs) and check that they are square and tight. Drill a hole through the post and the crosspiece where they join, drop in a carriage bolt and tighten with the socket wrench.
Cut two diagonal knee braces 4 to 6 feet in length with the circular saw. Cut angles at the top and bottom of each knee piece. Cut the top ends of the knee angles 50 degrees and the bottom ends at 40 degrees.
Drill two holes for carriage bolts at the top end of each knee piece and into the main post, drop in the bolts and tighten them with the socket wrench.
Affix three pulleys at equidistant points on the cross beam. Drill holes in the crosspiece and screw in the pulleys to the cross piece.
Put the main post in the hole, plumb and square, and fill the hole with dirt, packing it down hard. Repeat the entire process with the other pole.
String the cable, one line between each set of pulleys.