i am going to be building a french easel for my girlfriend, and i was wondering were i could get plans, also, any information on where to get the parts for leg extensions, or instructions would be greatly appreciated,
Thanks

Unless you just like a huge challenge, why not simply buy one for her? Now that French easels are made in places like CHINA! – and can be purchased for very little money, why waste all that time trying to build one. Even at the expense of mailing it to Abu Dhabi, I suspect you’ll be better off buying.

The cheapest I’ve seen is one for around $129 on sale. Can you suggest one that costs around what it would be to make one?

I think making one of these yourself and using the threading you would use for a tripod like a pochade box might work out to be pretty cheap.

Have any of you made one for cheap yet?

I just bought a Cheap Joe’s French Easel for $69.99. I went there in person (Boone NC) and compared them with their Julians and Mabofs, and was amazed. Although I was a professional luthier and fine woodworker for over 20 years, I would not attempt to build one of these for the purpose of saving money, especially now that they are selling for under $70.

I examined them closely in the showroom, but when I bought mine, it came in a sealed box. When I got it home and opened it, it was fully assembled and ready to set up and paint. It was just as high quality as the one in the showroom.

The woodworking and design are not that much different than the big names, nor is the wood quality. The only differences are that it doesn’t have a metal liner and divider system in the drawer (but cuts out that extra weight in the process), and it needed an extra coat of linseed oil in my opinion. I oiled it that first night, gave it 24 hours to dry, and oiled it a second time, and now it looks like something costing several times as much. I could not be more happy with my purchase.

You can also buy them from Cheap Joe’s over the web (http://www.cheapjoes.com) or telephone, and they ship and stand behind their products.
Pádraig

Here’s a link to instructions for building an easel:

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

I think you need a diploma to get it right, but they don’t say which one:-))))