On a regular basis my better half has expositions which are on location, outside her atelier. She uses easels to display her intuitive paintings. This instructable is about creating a usefull painters easil. However, if you are interested in the paintings, then please do check out her website: www.marlongrootzevert.nl/

The easels she has used so far, were bulky and hard to move by european car. She would like to have an easily foldable easel, which she can move a few of in her car. She asked me if I could make some.

So it's tinkering time!

The easels should be:

Easy to make
Foldable so that a few of them (say, 6?) fit easily in a european car.
Possible to hang paintings at two different heights of about 15cm difference.
No loose parts, these tend to get lost.
'Clean' looking: not to much 'stuff' on it and if possible no hanging ropes or chains.

This instructable shows the design I came up with. I hope you like it and maybe you can use it yourself.

Step 1: The End Result First

The easel consists of three legs which are connected on top with a piece of rope. The other 4 parts can rotate and 'snap' into place by a smal screw which fits in a hole.

I know, I know,... words on paper (or screen) are not always very clear. So please take a look at the pictures and video for the end result and I will I stop typing here.

Step 2: Material List

The material list for this easel is short, you do not need a lot of stuff.

3x wood, 20mm x 50mm x 2000mm (for the legs)
1x wood, 20mm x 50mm x2200mm (for cutting the other pieces)
1x "hooked screw" 50mm
4x screw 4mmx40mm
2x screw 3mmx25mmm
4x M4 ring
1x 5mm thick rope of approximately 200mm

Step 3: Cutting the Parts and Blue Print

Ok, now it is time to cut the 4 different parts and the 3 legs:

Parts: Part A, B, C and D
Legs: Part 1, 2 and 3

Please check out the drawing (also available in PDF for easy printing) and the photo's. It should be pretty much self explanatory.

Drawing.PDF
Download

Step 4: Assembling the Parts

I am sure that, at this point in the instructable, you have a pretty solid idea of where each part has to go. Still, a picture is worth a thousand words. Even better: pictures and an animation. So, please see the pictures and animation for the assembly of the easel.

The rotating joints are created by using the 4mmx40mm screws and the metal rings. The screws go through the 4mm diameter holes of parts A,B,C and D and are screwed into the parts 1, 2 and 3. At the time of creating the easels, the local hardware store was out of M4 rings, so I used M5. In this case it works just as well. The two screws 3x25mm are used on Part A and Part C. They fit into the holes of part B and D respectively.

Please use the drawing given in the last chapter to look up the dimensions where to assemble Part A,B,C,D onto Part 1,2,3.

Step 5: The End

I do hope that you like this instructable. Please do check out the website of Marlon Groot Zevert if you like any paintings you saw in this instructable. Most of all, please let me know if you have any commends or better; if you have remade this project!