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Lowes Art Easel


Here is my art easel following the plans from Lowes Creative Ideas. I liked the design of the easel because it looked very sturdy and looked like it can take a lot of abuse from a toddler.

The easel was easy to build and really did not cost as much as the estimated cost if you substitute for cheaper materials.

To bring down the cost I did the following
  • Used 1/2 inch plywood for the easel back board instead of 3/4. The 1/2 inch is strong and stiff enough.
  • Substituted for the cheap not even sure if they are pine or douglas fir boards instead of Poplar for the legs and trough. The boards were white and not super straight and filled with knots, but if you search the stack, you can find a few that are "good enough".
  • Bought a 2'x4' laminated MDF sheet for the art board from a local hardware store. The plan showed a 4'x8' hardboard; a bit overkill when the artboard is only 19"x25".
  • Used fishing line and swivels instead of chain attached to screws. The project materials list 15ft. of weldless steel chain. Aside from the aforementioned 4'x8', the easel needs just about a foot or less of chain to tether the locking pin.
If you are an avid fisherman and have big game tackle, you can attach the locking pin as I did. Simply drill a hole just big enough to fit the barrel of a large barrel swivel. If the ring on the swivel is a bit larger than the barrel, use pliers to squish the ring slightly to the size of the barrel. Then use a brad/nail/or a very thick solid stainless steel wire leader driven through the wood to pin the ring that is burried in the hole (the same way some wooden fishing lures are made, wish I could have found a link). Here are some pictures if my horrible wording is confusing.



In the above picture you can see the nail on the left. That nail goes through the ring of swivel. That prevents the swivel from being pulled out. Then just attach the easel locking pin with a thick leader. I used 250lb mono.

Here are a few more picts. Thanks for looking.




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