DIY fixed/magnetic easel up to 16x20?

[blacksquare]

Hello,

I use some old simple 2-blade easel (no known brand) and it is really pain to use . It can't be used without a metal "L" profile and tape to get a 90 degree angle (I'm very picky about precise edges).
Here in Central Europe, it is not possible to get, for example, a better quality Saunders, as I can see on American ebay.
RRB frames, which can be obtained from the UK, come into consideration, but the price for the 16x20 format is not quite feasible.

I wanted to go the route of fixed frames in several sizes, laser cut from metal sheets, 3 mm thick. But a friend pointed out to me that even after spraying with black matte paint, reflections can appear at the edges of the photo.
And if I use a thinner sheet, it will be worse to handle and I don't know if it would hold enough 16x20 fiber paper.

Then I thought of some form of magnetic strips on a larger metal sheet, but I don't know how convenient it is to use.
Does anyone have experience with something like this?

Thank you.
Jan

 

[snusmumriken]

Hello,

I use some old simple 2-blade easel (no known brand) and it is really pain to use . It can't be used without a metal "L" profile and tape to get a 90 degree angle (I'm very picky about precise edges).
Here in Central Europe, it is not possible to get, for example, a better quality Saunders, as I can see on American ebay.
RRB frames, which can be obtained from the UK, come into consideration, but the price for the 16x20 format is not quite feasible.

I wanted to go the route of fixed frames in several sizes, laser cut from metal sheets, 3 mm thick. But a friend pointed out to me that even after spraying with black matte paint, reflections can appear at the edges of the photo.
And if I use a thinner sheet, it will be worse to handle and I don't know if it would hold enough 16x20 fiber paper.

Then I thought of some form of magnetic strips on a larger metal sheet, but I don't know how convenient it is to use.
Does anyone have experience with something like this?

Thank you.
Jan

I faced the same problem a decade or so ago. I tried both a magnetic frame and separate magnetic strips on a metal base, but they were much too fiddly to position. In the end I bought a 2-blade 16x20 RRB easel on easelBay.

In place of the tape on your existing easel, have you tried a large magnet? I keep one (from an old loudspeaker) on the RRB easel, to hold the blades together. I glued some paper to the underside so that the magnet will slide off easily and won't mark the black paint. It is then quick and easy to re-position the blades for that 90 degree angle.

 

[blacksquare]

I faced the same problem a decade or so ago. I tried both a magnetic frame and separate magnetic strips on a metal base, but they were much too fiddly to position. In the end I bought a 2-blade 16x20 RRB easel on easelBay.

In place of the tape on your existing easel, have you tried a large magnet? I keep one (from an old loudspeaker) on the RRB easel, to hold the blades together. I glued some paper to the underside so that the magnet will slide off easily and won't mark the black paint. It is then quick and easy to re-position the blades for that 90 degree angle.

Thank you for your reply.
The problem with the current easel was overall poor design. I have now come across an affordable RRB easel 12x16, so I will buy it and deal with the occasional 16x20 differently, maybe magnetic frame for one format will be easier to use.

And thank you very much for the magnet tip, it looks very useful indeed.

 

[Kilgallb]

I have been using these magnets since July to hold paper and the blades on my easel in place.