Evil Genius.Pictures

After my wife's objections died down, I acquired my sixth studio easel. It is a Richeson Dulce (Italian for dum ass) pine easel. 

I actually wanted the minty beechwood one from Curry's in southern Ontario. It has a ratchet system, however the store people wouldn't know for another 4-6 weeks whether they would be restocking that model.  So I bought the one in the adjacent picture from Delta Art & Drafting Supplies in Edmonton, Alberta. It is made with interlocking sections of pine or a kind of wood that the Brazilians call 'pine'.  It seems harder than white pine.

There are a few modifications which I make to most of my easels, the need for which should serve as a warning about easel design flaws in general.  Most easels have a base that allows for wheels (castors or casters -Am.) to be mounted with truss head screws. I have wood floors, so off I go to Ikea's Home Organization Dept. for a set of four soft castors $12 CAD.  They don't need to lock, but they should have urethane or thermal setting plastic wheel edges that do not scratch wood floors.

Why So Many Easels?

I have too many unfinished paintings.  A situation which I hope to change by keeping the canvases viewable on the easels.

Wheels

All six H-framed Studio easels are on wheels.  My home modified set of wood drawers which passes for a rolling tabouret is also on wheels.  This makes everything instantly mobile.

Winches

Three of the studio easels now have hand winches.  Recently I added one to a heavy beechwood easel as it was impossible before to raise and lower it while a large canvas was mounted.

Inadequate Knobs and Bumpers

Often the supplied knobs are too small with cutting edges; I replace the important ones.  Bumpers with a good grip are not only added to the lower shelf/box and upper clamp but also to the front of the base in order to stand a folded easel safely on a wood floor.

The modifications listed here (and others) make the easels more useable, secure in holding large canvases, render them mobile and  generally create a better piece of equipment. studio furniture.

Changes made to my new H Frame Easel

• Soft castors for mobility and protection of wood flooring.
• Semi-gloss water based urethane varnish coating to facilitate cleaning and deter warping.
• Strengthen counter torque on carriage bolts. Pine wood too soft so I epoxied the bolt heads.
• Add wood lip to mast's upper clamp so canvases cannot fall out.
• High friction surface added between the box and the mast to keep it from sliding down.   (Designs vary but this one relies on friction against the front side of the central mast)
• Eight soft rubber bumpers: four on top of lower box/shelf, two on upper clamp, and two on front of the base to allow the folded easel to stand on the floor in an upright position.
• Knobs were good and did not have to be replaced on this model.
• Later, I also had to reinforce the upper clamp with thin, high density Baltic plywood. The clamp's pine wood was prone to splitting and I had to glue it back together.  This was more of a repair but the addition of the dense plywood resulted in a significant increase in strength.