Easel Plans on the net? Advice needed
Niall
Having woodsuppliers & all the relevant tools in work..
I decided to make my own easel and looked up
plans on the net
Has anyone maded one of these and if so with what results
Basically there are two plans of the type I want
and I am trying to decide which one to try
One looks sturdier but takes up too much space and does not fold
http://www.itg.uiuc.edu/people/grosser/easel/body_index.htm
The other is foldable but does not look as sturdy
http://www.netexperts.cc/~lambertm/Wood/easel.html
I have never owned an easel and
would much appreciate any help
(Im doing one as a Christmas present)
Regards
--
Niall
MrAoD
>Hi all
>
>Having woodsuppliers & all the relevant tools in work..
>I decided to make my own easel and looked up
>plans on the net
JOAT, you're now superfluous to needs . . .
>Basically there are two plans of the type I want
>and I am trying to decide which one to try
>
>One looks sturdier but takes up too much space and does not fold
>http://www.itg.uiuc.edu/people/grosser/easel/body_index.htm
Yep. Sturdy all right.
>The other is foldable but does not look as sturdy
>http://www.netexperts.cc/~lambertm/Wood/easel.html
Well see, there's the rub. Purpose-built is always going to be sturdier than
multi-function.
>I have never owned an easel and
> would much appreciate any help
>(Im doing one as a Christmas present)
Is the recipient going to be painting in a studio or in different sites, or
both. Form follows function and if s/he's going to be painting anywhere
besides a studio (including a space in a home where the easel will have to be
put out of the way while not painting), I'd say build the fold-up easel.
Best,
Marc
Larry Jaques
<aTAKEcaTHIS...@iol.ie> spake the words:
>Hi all
>
>Having woodsuppliers & all the relevant tools in work..
>I decided to make my own easel and looked up
>plans on the net
>
>Has anyone maded one of these and if so with what results
>
>Basically there are two plans of the type I want
>and I am trying to decide which one to try
>
>One looks sturdier but takes up too much space and does not fold
>http://www.itg.uiuc.edu/people/grosser/easel/body_index.htm
How many people paint full-sized (or larger) portraits?
>The other is foldable but does not look as sturdy
>http://www.netexperts.cc/~lambertm/Wood/easel.html
They don't have to be very sturdy since the brushes
are flexible and the paint is fairly thin. The Lobo
clone is a real keeper. I've been wanting to build
one for several years but it's way down on the list.
This is the one to build, fer sher. I painted my first
3 paintings on a blanket on the living room floor and
found that I preferred the horizontal to vertical
positioning. That made the Lobo ideal. It's also good
for watercolorists who need to have a flat surface for
the more watery effects.
>I have never owned an easel and
> would much appreciate any help
>(Im doing one as a Christmas present)
You're LOOKING for plans on the 10th and want to give
it away as a Christmas present? This Christmas? THAT,
sir, is optimism!
G'luck, and thanks for sharing that link!
-
The advantage of exercising every day is that you die healthier.
------------
http://diversify.com Dynamic Websites, PHP Apps, MySQL databases
-N.
>and I am trying to decide which one to try
I own an easel and never use it. I paint all sizes and usually just hang
the painting on two blocks of 2"x3" screwed to the wall. I also have a
'hanger'. I built a wall of homosote 8' x 16' that projects in front of
the actual wall by a few inches.... this takes push pins well and
provides a smooth drawing surface. Ceiling here is 9' high. The hanger
is just a rail that sits ontop of the homosote wall and drops a thin
piece of wood down with an adjustable block on the end. The painting
gets hung on the block. All these are for vertical painting habits
obviously.
Recently I've been designing and building a ton of studio/shop
furnishings and have been rethinking an easel design although it isn't
at the top of my list (but, as my list is rapidly getting tic'd off, the
easel is ascending). I'm considering making an easel fashioned like a
large crucifix. The arms of the crucifix will all adjust for length and
will retract/extend independently. At the end of each crucifix arm will
be a small wood fixture to grip the edge of the painting, adjusting from
about 4' to 8' painting sizes. This crucifix will be held by a 'hanger'
system that rests ontop of that homosote wall (rolling in a track
mounted just below the top edge of the Homosote wall, hidden from view
so as not to detract from painting visuals). The rolling hanger will be
able to move in its track, laterally, along the entire length of the
wall, with a couple of 'roller blade' wheels or just sealed bearings ...
sort of like a sliding door mechanism. The hanger will have a metal
plate that extends down parallel to and skimming the surface of the
homosote wall I paint on. A small recessed soft urethane wheel will be
mounted near the bottom of the plate so it can glide easily across the
wall as the top of the hanger rolls with wheels in its own track ...
smoothness of operation and no gouges in the homosote wall's surface.
The crucifix will be mounted to the hanger plate by a metal post or axle
... this will allow the crucifix to spin 360 degrees, and to lock at any
position. Provision will be made for vertical adjustment of axle height
as well (the crucifixes may need little spring loaded wheels or nylon
rollers on their ends also to yield maximum stability. One final idea,
is to make the crucifix with a linkage adjustment so it can tilt forward
at the top maybe 6 inches or so, to reduce glare on very large paintings
(the easel I own and never use has this feature and it is a useful
detail: it preempts having to readjust light sources or relocating the
entire easel to eliminate glare of wet or glossy paint).
This easel may sound like overkill, but it will allow me to hold an 8'
painting, rotate it to paint on it in another position (which I often
do), tilt it forward if gloss and glare become an issue, and to slide it
anywhere along a 16' section of wall. As I often work on very large
paintings, I can manage these adjustments without putting undue stress
on my shoulders from the lifting, carrying, and rotating (I currently
have a shoulder injury). As a final feature, my painting storage rack is
located at the end of the 16' wall, so with a flick of the hand, I can
slide a 8'x8' painting directly into the last slot in the painting rack
and have the entire wall freed up for drawing, working on other
paintings, or viewing (I move things around allot when I make art). The
easel will also be compact, only 4"-6" deep and the crucifix will be
about 4'-5' square when retracted. The whole enchilada will slide into
my painting storage area when not in use, or can simply be lifted off
its tracks and leaned against a wall for storage. Of course, modularity
is an option: a seperate free standing base (even folding, wheeled,
etc..) with a metal axle rod mounted on it can be made to hold the
cruxifix so it functions as a traditional, highly adjustable,
free-standing easel.
This design may not be directly applicable to your easel needs, but I've
found that easels perform certain functions and also dictate your
working habits, and can also be quite restrictive. Unless the easel is a
gift or conceived of as a generic device, you might want to spend a
little time considering individual painting habits and processes, then
get something that fits your bill, or design something from the ground
up that meets your specific needs.
Cheers,
Neal
To contact me very carefully remove the Firing Pin from my email
address.
David L
> Hi all
>
> Having woodsuppliers & all the relevant tools in work..
> I decided to make my own easel and looked up
> plans on the net
>
> Has anyone maded one of these and if so with what results
<snip>
If you're looking for some really nice ideas for an easel, you need to check out the Mabef brand.
They make a huge line of very high quality easels. Here is a Yahoo search for them. Take a look at
their French Easels!
http://search.yahoo.com/bin/search?p=Mabef+Easel
-- David L
Keeper of the "Who's Where in Rec:Woodworking Master List"
David L
> I have never owned an easel and
> would much appreciate any help
> (Im doing one as a Christmas present)
>
I happen to have some knowledge in area of easels, having once been a painter myself. However, I
would need more info before I could be of any assistance -
[1] Is this person you're making it for an oil painter or watercoloursist? Dictates style of easel
needed.
[2] What size canvas does this person use? Determines size of easel needed.
[3] Does the person have their own studio? If so, portability is not so much an issue.
[4] Does he/she work out in the field, or indoors? Portability would be an issue if used in the
field.
If you do intend to build an easel I would recommend to make it out of Beechwood (Fagus
grandifolia). All the best easels are made of this species - it's a good hard, strong wood that
wears well, and its fine grain can be worked very smoothly. The only finish you'll need is a very
little bit of raw linseed oil.
Christopher Mosley
> Regards
> --
> Niall
I've made an easel. I used the design used by an art school.
It was very rugged. The easel could fold flat but the height
could not be reduced by folding. It was a studio easel, for
drawing and oil painting. *Not* one of those boxes that held
supplies and had extensions that could fold out - for taking outdoors.
If you want I will try to post ascii instructions to this
thread.
Andy Dingley
>Basically there are two plans of the type I want
There are three sorts; tabletop, studio, portable. You need to get
this right or they complain !
I made this studio easel a few years back, from a plan in "Weekend
Woodcrafts" (?) of 1994 (is that US magazine still going ?)
http://codesmiths.com/shed/things/photos/easel_lrg.jpg
Construction is pretty simple. The front part is a rigid "ladder" of 3
vertical rails and two spreaders. the central rail is doubled, with
horizontal canvas supports that can slide up and down (a T block
behind the rail, and a bolt through that front handle). The front feet
are hinged, and have little wheels to allow it to move around, if you
tip it forward first. The rear strut is telescopic, the narrower top
piece slides between two grooved lower struts, with a long slot in it
and another tee-nut / bolt and handle to clamp it up. The diagonal
strut is hinged off the back foot, and has a loose pin at the front,
to allow dismantling for transport. All of the hinges are big 3/4"
dowels, apart from the three adjustment bolts there's no other metal
in it.
Niall
A couple of things:
I have no woodwork experience
so the small tips given are all useful, thanks
A few of the guys where I work are handy with tools
so I would make the easels in work.
I am making two, one for me too! (One for my sis)
I like the Lobo copy for its flexibility but may
beef up the suggested guage of timber
What would be a good timber to use?
(Happy medium of price & quality)
We dont use biscuit jointers in work though
and the Lobo copy is full of them
Can I use a dowel instead or other alternatives?
Many Thanks
Niall
Andy Dingley <din...@codesmiths.com> wrote in message
news:005dvugrb5uksuqv4...@4ax.com...
charlieb
Do you like Go-Bots, Transformers and other folding toys?
If so I made just what you're looking for. It's light,
works free standing, folded a little it'll sit on a table,
fold it some more and it's a table for doing washes, folded
it more and it fits under the bed or in the back of a closet.
No plans but enough images and views to make one.
http://www.wood-workers.com/users/charlieb/Easel.html
It's a lot sturdier than it looks. The most complicatd
joints are the through tenons for the "ladder" and the
sliding dovetail joints for the canvas, pad hold ons.
The sliding dovetails are easy if you have access to
a router table - especially if it has a JoinTech fence
system. The Incra fence system would probably be just
as good.
--
char...@accesscom.com
woodworking site
www.wood-workers.com/users/charlieb
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