home made easel

[lesdix]

My 20 x 16 easel just gave up the ghost. It has fallen apart and I have no idea how to repair it. In fact I do not print beyond 16 x 12 so it was rather big and cumbersome for my purposes.

Has anyone made their own easel? I have got by for the past few weeks with some mounting board on a hinge, but if anyone has any knowledge or experience of making a home made easel I would be interested.

Les

PS I do not buy things on e-bay (too boring to explain why)

 

[Nick Zentena]

If you're only making the same size prints or willing to make a few easels then I can't see it being too difficult. The hard part of easels is the moving arms to handle different sizes. But if you make multiple top pieces then you don't need arms. If that makes sense. Simple one size easels with a replaceable top shouldn't be that hard.

 

[rjr]

Les,

Use Google-Groups (rec.photo.darkroom archive) and search for "Sticky Easel" - that will give a you a recipe how to coat a plate with a sticky, non-permanent glue.

 

[jovo]

If you already have a smaller four bladed easel, and use the 16x20 for that size alone, then buying a used two blade easel is not too big a deal. I have recently purchased two of them on ebay for less than $60 each, one of which is in very good condition (the other one is quite servicable as well, but boy is it ever "ugly!"). I would rather have been able to buy a four blade easel, but the prices are waaaay outaline in my opinion. The two blade is going to do just fine.

 

[Nige]

another APUG member use's acrylic sheet with a appropiate hole cut in it. He's investigating getting some more made up for himself and me Needs a baseboard with stops to butt the paper and acrylic mask to to get it square.

 

[jd callow]

I have made my own easels using 3/4 black foam core. The material is very flat and a easel for a 20x30 weighs about a pound (maybe less). A metal bladed easel is also flat, can weigh a lot and the blades can go out of square pretty quickly.

On the edge of the board I glue a slotted lip. The lips are 2" strips of 3/4" foam core with 3/4" slots at 8" (16x20) 10" (20x20), 12" (20x24) and 15" (20x30). In the slots I place 20" X 3/4" x1" 'blades'. On bigger enlargements where flatness may be a problem I use smaller pieces of 3/4 foam core in the inner slots to hold the paper flat.

This arrangement has worked ro me.

 

[Christopher Colley]

I dont have a 'real' easel right now, though my solution isnt permanent and wont allow a complete edge to edge print, im doing quite well by using a very large psychology book and rubber bands. One band is around the front cover toward the binding to hold one long edge of the paper and another at the very edge of the opening to hold the other side of the paper. The paper goes under these rubber bands, its just barely under the band with no paper poking out of the side of the band that isnt facing the image area..the band covers about 2-3mm of the papers edge, and holds the paper flat enough for me! I never print edge to edge, usually leaving some white border.... this very cheap (not so great) solution works fine for me and my printing style

 

[FeS2]

Find a friend with a table saw, cut a variety of 1/2" MDF particle board to 8x10, 11x14, 16x20, etc.
They're heavy enough and don't slide around.
Patches of double stick tape flatten curled paper.

Cut some window mats for various print sizes. (6x8 window on 8x10 paper looks nice)
Hold the mats down with a few strips of 1/8" masonite. (from the table saw)

 

[albada]

I know this thread is ancient, but I figured I'd show off my home-made easel:

It's a steel panel that covered an electrical box. I found it in a trash bin at a demolition site. The sheet of foam under it makes it easy to grip and prevents it from scratching the baseboard.
I recommend using plate steel (not aluminum) because you can hold down the corners of the paper with hobby magnets.
You can buy new plate steel in a variety of sizes from industrial-supply companies, as in this example which is suitable for 11x14 and smaller: Low Carbon Steel Sheet

 

[mshchem]

I know this thread is ancient, but I figured I'd show off my home-made easel:

View attachment 317980

It's a steel panel that covered an electrical box. I found it in a trash bin at a demolition site. The sheet of foam under it makes it easy to grip and prevents it from scratching the baseboard.
I recommend using plate steel like this because you can hold down the corners of the paper with hobby magnets.
You can buy new plate steel in a variety of sizes from industrial-supply companies, as in this example which is suitable for 11x14 and smaller: Low Carbon Steel Sheet

Well done!

 

[Pieter12]

If you have standardized your printing to a few fixed sizes and papers and if the baseboard and paper stops are intact, you could have some opaque acrylic cut with the appropriate opening(s) and either hinge it to the baseboard or just attach some lips on the baseboard to align it properly. Not sure, but I wouldn't recommend using anything more than 1/6" thick, it might throw shadows. You might contact a laser-cutting service to see what can be made. The edges have to be perfectly straight and even, of corse. Unless you're looking for a certain rough look, which could be cool.

 

[Reinhold]

As Pieter12 described, I've been using standardized easels for years.
I posted a "How To Make a Dedicated Easel" over at FADU (Egland) a few years ago...

Make a Dedicated Easel - Film and Darkroom User

Make a Dedicated Easel Darkroom

www.film-and-darkroom-user.org.uk

Reinhold

 

[jimmelcher]

As Pieter12 described, I've been using standardized easels for years.
I posted a "How To Make a Dedicated Easel" over at FADU (Egland) a few years ago...

Make a Dedicated Easel - Film and Darkroom User

Make a Dedicated Easel Darkroom

www.film-and-darkroom-user.org.uk

Reinhold

Thanks, Reinhold!

 

[jimmelcher]

I know this thread is ancient, but I figured I'd show off my home-made easel:

View attachment 317980

It's a steel panel that covered an electrical box. I found it in a trash bin at a demolition site. The sheet of foam under it makes it easy to grip and prevents it from scratching the baseboard.
I recommend using plate steel (not aluminum) because you can hold down the corners of the paper with hobby magnets.
You can buy new plate steel in a variety of sizes from industrial-supply companies, as in this example which is suitable for 11x14 and smaller: Low Carbon Steel Sheet

So simple! Thanks, Pieter!

 

[gone]

I've made my own easels, it's not difficult, just a little fiddely figuring out the margins.

The price for a large 4 bladed easel is just crazy, I don't see how such a simple contraption can cost that much. My "upgrade" has been to go to a 2 blade easel for 11x14. The RC papers will stay flat enough by themselves, it's just the FB needs to be held down on it's edges.

 

[Pieter12]

My biggest problem with bladed easels is getting the exact margins I want and having them stay square. It can be very frustrating if you don't trim your prints to the edge and want the paper showing in the margins when you mat them with even spacing all around, or bottom weighted. When the white pace is so small, any margin of error (pun intended) will show.

 

[albada]

If the paper curls on my simple-steel-plate easel, I cover it with a sheet of glass and add 0.1 stop of exposure to compensate for reflection-loss. The glass came from the scanner platen on an old HP all-in-one printer, so it covers a bit more than 8.5x11. As a result, my prints have no margins, regardless of paper-type.

 

[Jim Jones]

I preferred a Speed-Ez-El set over anything else for decades. They are compact, reliable, and not too expensive on the used market. You can improvise something much like the Speed-Ez-El from mat board