I made this for my wife so that she could set up her painting studio with ease in on our kitchen counter. I was inspired by some portable versions with retractable legs, but I found the construction to be a little too flimsy for the money they were asking and, what the heck, I have plenty of scraps with which to work! This particular version is made of cherry scraps. I’ve also made one from oak and will be profiling one made from walnut.
Materials:
- Scrap wood of your choice
- 18×16 luan
- 3 thumb screws with corresponding t-nuts (for clamping down sliding wood slats)
- 3 T handles with corresponding bolts (for adjusting the lower and upper canvas supports)
- 2 Brass clasps (for closing and locking the lid to the box)
- 1 brass handle
- 1 12″ brass piano hinge
- 2 small wood screws
- 4 machine screws (1.5″) with appropriate nuts (two of them knurled for thumb tightening)
- Plenty of glue
- Mineral oil
Build an open box. I use 1/4 luan for a base and cut it to slightly smaller than 16×18 and box it with 2 inch wide material with a 1/4 slot.
I construct a small panel to fit as a hinged lid over this base. The panel serves as a mounting platform for the adjustable slides. The slides are cut from standard width materials (I use 4″ wide boards). The side boards are run through the table saw such that they are cut through the middle at 45 degrees. The central board is ripped at 45 degrees from two sides such that there is at least a 1 inch surface in the middle of the strip. Spacers are ripped to width such that the entire assembly covers the width of the lid.
I used a stacked dado to cut a notch on the backside of each moving piece that is wide enough to hold a bolt in place (the flat sides against the walls of the notch so that the bolt cannot turn in the slot) and a 1/4″ router bit to cut a slot through half of the moving pieces through which the threaded side of the bolts may protrude.
I then drilled appropriate sized hole for the barbed t-nuts through which my thumbscrews will protrude and serve to press into the adjustable pieces. These will hold the sliders in place when the user finds the best position for them. Be careful to offset these parts so that you do not attempt to clamp to the dadoed notch in the bottom of the adjustable pieces. I’ve placed these such that the thumbscrew will press into the moving part beneath the 45 degree angle.
The lid is hinged to the box using a brass piano hinge
The uprights are 3/4 wide pieces dadoed with a 1/2 wide slot into which is placed a 1/2 wide piece. These pieces are 10.5 ” long and are mounted to lower blocks glued in place 3″ from the bottom of the box and 2 inches from the inner sides of the box. The upper brackets are small 45-45-90 triangles glued in place 3 inches from the top and 2 inches from the sides of the lid (giving it the needed 1/4 offset relative to the lower blocks). The slotted pieces are routed to provide an adjustable slot through which a machine screw and knurled nuts can clamp the two pieces together. A machine bolt runs through the upper brackets and wood screws mount the parts to the lower mounts.
The canvas mounts are made from two pieces glued together at a right angle. The upper mount is 4 inches wide. The lower mount is 16 inches wide. Holes are drilled for the bolts to go through and are held in place with t-handles.
To wrap up, mount the brass hardware accordingly and rub several times liberally with mineral oil. The final result is a delight for painters to use on a regular counter top. The adjustable lower bout allows the canvas to be brought down lower than than the counter top allowing the artist to sit comfortable on a stool or stand and be able to reach even large canvasses easily.
