Zach is taking a painting class this semester at Texas State. He wanted an easel to work on paintings at home. I did a search on the internet for easel plans, and found a couple I liked and passed the links on to Zach. He liked the 3 leg easel designs since they have a smaller footprint and can fold up easier to store in his small one bedroom apt.
I used a thin plywood strip in the lower frame support that can be replaced when/if it gets full of paint. It is held in place with a couple of tacks, and is held between two oak strips. The upper and lower canvas supports slide up and down in a 3/8 inch slot. A 3/8\
The knobs are constructed such that when they are tightened, the captured nut is drawn in tight to its mortised recess. The nut recess area is covered so the knob can only be screwed on the bolt in the correct orientation. Otherwise, if it was reversed, tightening the nut will exert force to push the nut out of the mortised recess. The rear leg adjustment is made out of walnut. The bolt can slide up and down in the slot in the rear leg, such that it can fold up tight against the back of the easel front for storage, and can be tightened in an intermediate position to change the angle of front plane of the easel.
Zach and Easel