frameless easel

I want to make one of these, I trawled all the posts but see nothing in regard to the glass I want to use so I'm asking you guys your opinion.

First I want to use a plain old bit of white conti board as a base, but Iwas thinking of using a piece of picture frame glass to lay over the paper, I understand from someone who runs a glass shop that this kind has a non reflective side. would that be ok ?. I am not sure about distortion though through the glass.

What size are you aiming for?

If the size is reasonable, glass may be optional. That would totally avoid any risk of distortion due to the glass.

I've made borderless easels from scraps of plywood with plastic laminate on one side, with double-sided tape used to hold dow the paper.

I don't think distortions from the glass would be an issue so much as the internal reflections. And the dust and fingerprints. There is plenty of depth of field at the paper end of things with the lens stopped down to f11 (50mm) so the paper doesn't have to be perfectly flat - glass isn't a requirement for a sharp image.

I do a fair bit of borderless printing and it isn't any big deal: you can buy a borderless easel on ebay for not much money; make a vacuum easel out of an old graphic-arts camera back (google for DIY vacuum easels); use a low-tack adhesive and a scrap bit of laminate; place strips of refrigerator-style plastic magnet on a cookie tin; just lay the paper on the baseboard; or trim the borders off after you make the print.

I would agree with Nicholas - I have several borderless easels that have adopted me through the years, and I use them from time to time, I have a vacuum easel which I also use sometimes, but don't like the noise, and when working with large sheets of paper I tack them down to a board with a low tack adhesive. I like as few things as possible between the two layers of emulsion - an enlarging lens is a necessary evil.

I took some 1/8th inch rare earth magnets and set them into drilled out pockets in strips of flat black painted hardwood that was about 1/2 x 1/2 inch x however long in pairs. Short strips up to three inches long got only needed one magnet each, longer pieces have two or more as needed.
These are plenty powerful enough to hold a sheet of FB paper flat to a piece of steel plate or a large easel with blades move out to maximum, as long as the paper isn't badly curled the wrong way in the first place. Rare earth magnets do need to be in something you can get a grip on to lift, otherwise they are a pain to place or remove by themselves.

Cheers

I have been using this method for 20 years. Cut your melamine/conti board to required size. Screw black painted 1/2 inch square battens to 2 edges, making sure angle is exactly 90 degrees. Trace edges of required paper sizes using permanent marker pen. Spray surface with 3M Spraymount. Compose image using guidelines. Place paper, press flat with edge of hand, expose. The paper is easily lifted of by sliding finger nail under edge of paper. There is no residue left on back of paper. When stickiness is no longer sufficient to keep paper flat, re-apply spraymount. When sticky surface gets a bit grubby, clean with White Spirit (turps substitute) and start again. I have Focomat 11c; the standard thicknesses of Melamine board (in UK anyway) don't match the exact thicknesses needed for autofocus to work, so I have built up the back with 1mm card to required thickness. Admittedly I only use RC paper, but see no reason why this should not work for FB, given that no discernable adhesive transfers to the paper, at least using RC. See photos.