All purpose presentation easel a DIY project

You never know when you are going to need or want an easel to show off your art work, maybe your kids want to finger paint who knows they could be the next Van Gogh. Building a display easel is very simple and can be done in just a few hours.

You want to start with two pieces of wood cut to 2x82" these pieces will form the front legs of the easel. Using a table saw cut the tops of the wood to a 15* angle. Take a measuring tape and measure 78" from the bottom of the wood (up to the angle cut) mark this spot on both pieces.
Using a drill, drill a 3/8" hole through the widest side of the angle as a right angle to the cut. Repeat for the second front leg.

To make the back leg cut a piece of wood down to 2x81" long, using your drill, drill two 3/8" holes in the widest side of the wood. One hole should be 39" from the bottom of the wood and the second at 74" from the bottom.

Your art work needs something to sit on so to make the cross bar cut a piece of wood down to 2x47".

Now you are ready to assemble your easel. Take the front and back legs and lay them on the floor next to each other with the back leg in the middle. Rotate the front legs to the angle is facing the back leg and line up the holes. Slide a bolt into the hole and place a washer and a nut on the end, keeping it loose enough to adjust the angle. Stand up the easel and spread the from legs so that they are 45" away from the back leg. Tighten the bolt and you have the angle right and lay it back down.

To attach the cross bar, measure 38" up from the bottoms of the front legs find the center and drill a 3/8" hole in each and bolt the cross bar to the legs. To keep the legs from spreading too far you can attach a chain between the cross bar and the back leg. To do this you thread the chain through the hole in the back leg and tie it off. Attach an eye screw to the cross bar and loop the chain through it to keep limit how far the legs can spread to the angle that you want to work or display at.