Burning and Dodging frame

[George Collier]

I use simple wooden frame about 12x15 inches, strung every 2 inches or so with a grid of very thin fishing line. I place cut-out pieces of black paper on top to block the image, holding at different distances from the easle for edge sharpness or blur. The fishing line is so thin that it never shows.
I'm thinking about trying to build a support of some kind, suspended from above, or standing on the counter around the easle, to fix the position (for more accuracy, when needed), with adjustable height to control edge blur, etc. I have a large 16x20 easel, and allowing for raising the easle to place paper, it presents some challenges, which is why I'm considering suspension from above. I also don't want to have to clear off the counter every time I want to do this.
The whole frame thing works really well, as opposed to different shaped "lollypops" and other wire held devices. Has anyone ever tried to set it up like this? It doesn't have to be rigid, in fact a little vibration (the dodging frame only) might be nice.

 

[Donald Miller]

There used to be a technique that was called a jiggle frame by some. It amounted to a wooden frame suspended on springs mounted on the easel or baseboard. A person could do this with a clear acetate support mounted in the frame and then place the dodging or burning masks on the acetate.

 

[George Collier]

Thanks for the reply. What I'm looking for, though, will work for an easle larger than the baseboard, and for any easle.