coriat's easel

[coriat]

OK, my newest wannabe thing is to get an easel. I gather it wouldnt be too hard to make one since i 1) got good wood crafting equipment 2) know how to use them :)
But i was kinda wondering what a good easel needs, i never used and/or seen one.

So far i have thought of these points:

1) an upper and lower clamp, so i can put canvas/a wooden plank with paper between them.
2) the 2 clamps should be adjustable in height, for different sizes.
3) Lower clamp needs more support because it will carry the weight.

I'm pretty sure i need these 3 at least...
I was wondering about these things.

Should i extend the lower clamp so that everything that will fall off the drawing (ex. charcoal or pastel) will fall on the clamp and not on the ground?
What is a good size for an easel?
In the shop i've seen them from small (20 centimeters) to huge (almost 2 meter). I have a thing going on for huge ones because they look cool, but something tells me this may not be a very smart choice...any ideas on this?

also, if anyone can give me some links to what they think is a good easel, i'd love to have them :)

i'll post some drawings on how i am planning to build it tomorrow :)

thanks in advance,
coriat

PS. if anyone knows a tutorial about making an easel, let me know! :) - - i'm not _that_ good of a craftsman.

[negativespace]

These sites have some info on how to build an easel:

http://www.itg.uiuc.edu/people/grosser/easel/

http://www.am-wood.com/july97/easel.html

[Lionel]

These guys seem to know what they are doing :)

http://www.studioproducts.com/cgi-bin/forum/ikonboard.cgi?act=ST;f=1;t=2243;st=35

[coriat]

hey thanks negative space and lionel.
W O W, the easel in the link lionel posted is sooo cool.
i wish i could make something like that, seems like fun :)

and the upper link from negat.space is great...its nice, looks cool, and is easy to make.
I think i spend about $50 on the material. For an easel of about 1.8 meters high. The only thing is that the work is going sloooow :) i think i spend about a day at what a real woodscraftguy would spend an hour.

But it is a friggin hell lot of fun... I think i just found a new hobby.. making wooden stuff :D

I just need to think of a use for the easel :p

I'll post pictures tomorrow (i think, i first need to get the whole film full).

[Andrew]

It assembles easy and is very sturdy. The next one I build will be for me.

Andrew