Saunders Easel Lift Support Repair

Mal Paso · Oct 14, 2019

I bought a 16x20 Saunders 4 blade easel online and it arrived with the Gas Strut that holds the easel open totally dead. The previous owner described it as a spring and I think he oiled it with something that ruined the gas seal. I discovered there are 2 16x20 models, one with a prop arm one with a Gas Strut. There doesn't seem to be any standardization with struts and finding just one is a bear although lots of companies will make a thousand for you. I finally found a company, Lift Supports Depot, that had tech support and were willing to sell just one for about $30. SX060PSS20E32 was the part number. It's Stainless Steel and better than the old one but it was all about fit and I had spent a full day of looking by this point. The instillation required a #10 screw x7/16x1/4 long and a #10 screw x7/16x1/2 long bushings from Ace Hardware, a few washers to shim the Strut parallel and a new #10 screw to trim to length as the threaded hole in the easel is blind tapped.
Maybe this will save someone a few hours.

voceumana · Oct 14, 2019

The original stuts usually have failed at some point--somewhere on this forum a replacement that works has been identified. I suggest spending some time searching this forum to see if you can find it. (In case someone doesn't provide the info in this thread.)

Mal Paso · Oct 14, 2019

voceumana said:
The original stuts usually have failed at some point--somewhere on this forum a replacement that works has been identified. I suggest spending some time searching this forum to see if you can find it. (In case someone doesn't provide the info in this thread.)

That would be my luck. I found 2 threads that had no solution. So I posted one.

Jim Blodgett · Oct 15, 2019

Thank you for posting this solution/source. I have the same issue with a Saunders 16x20 I was given and will now follow through repairing it. This is exactly the type of post I hope to see when I come here each day, thanks again.

msage · Oct 15, 2019

Years ago, ten (?), I bought one of these easels with a dead gas struts cheap. Saunders offered a kit to retro-fit to a manual lift. I bought one of the kits, installed it and I still have and use to this day.

Steve Goldstein · Oct 15, 2019

Could you post some photos of the manual lift kit?

Neal · Oct 15, 2019

Nicely done.

msage · Oct 18, 2019

Steve Goldstein said:
Could you post some photos of the manual lift kit?

As I mentioned, it was several years ago. I searched on their website and ordered the part. Are they still in business?

AgX · Oct 18, 2019

"one with a prop arm one with a Gas Strut"

Could someone enlighten me on this terminology?

Mal Paso · Oct 18, 2019

I believe Saunders sold to Tiffen before they disappeared. There are dead links to Tiffen but nothing on their site. I typed Saunders into Tiffen Search and they asked me to "Please use another Term". LOL

Mal Paso · Oct 18, 2019

AgX said:
"one with a prop arm one with a Gas Strut"

Could someone enlighten me on this terminology?

One has a small mechanical arm which drops into a slot when the easel is opened, to hold it open while inserting paper but it must be lifted by hand to close the easel.
The ones with struts are like modern auto hoods and trunks, a pneumatic spring. You just open and close it, the easel stays open until you push it closed or the strut dies. (Humor)

AgX · Oct 18, 2019

Thank you. I thought you were referring to different features at same easel... Seemingly I was both negligent in reading properly and somewhow foolish.

At reading the title my first thought was of substituting the defunct gas strut by an automotive one from auto scrap. But those are designed for larger forces and longer anyway which would necessitate modifying its mount.

Jim Blodgett · Oct 19, 2019

I've been thinking about this off and on over the past few days and I think a knife hinge, like you would see on a toy box, available at most hardware stores, would work. I guess the trick would be to get the right size and position it correctly. I'm going to putz around a little and see if it will work.

Okay. It's a couple hours later and I am editing this post to report that it worked. I dug out a knife hinge that I think you could buy at any hardware store for maybe $1.29, drilled two 1/8" holes, tapped 6-32 threads in the holes and used 2 6-32 machine head screws and a few washers to mount the hinge to the easel in just about the same spot the gas cylinder once was. Works just fine.

Even if you had to buy the 1/8" drill bit and the smaller ones that lead up to it - 1/32, 3/32, maybe 7/64, you would still be under $10.00. Wait. You still need a tap for the threads - you might be another 5 or 6 bones out of pocket if you had to buy a tap and holder - might as well get a cheap tap and die set for $20.00 for the next time you need some threads in something.

Saunders Easel Lift Support Repair

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