Portable Drawing Table

[Ghastly]

I decided I'm going to need a portable drawing table if I'm going to be drawing stuff at CN-Geek Expo next week in Toronto. I can't draw on a horizontal surface. It strains my neck and back crouching over a flat table and I don't particularily enjoy drawing on a clipboard.

Anyways, I have plenty of scraps of construction grade spruce kicking around the house from the many home rennovation projects I have on the go so I decided to use some of them to build myself a nice little portable drawing table that gives me just the angle I like for sitting comfortably and drawing (I like an angle somewhere in the neighbourhood of 50 to 60 degrees for my drawing surface).

I haven't bought the green rubber mat for the top of the table yet. I had hoped I had enough of that matterial left over from the other drawing table I built some time ago. The experts may be able to draw on anything anywhere but I tell you, when you're an amature hack like me having good tools really goes a long way towards improving your artwork.



There's a picture from the back with the drawing surface in the upright position. The inside of the table can be used as a carrying case for paints and pens and brushes and what-not.



This is the table closed and latched.



This is the table closed and latched from the front. You can see the nice soft rubber feet I used on the bottom to help keep it level and prevent it from slipping and scratching the top of whatever table I put it on.

I'm going to be attatching these mounts for these short screw-on legs I have that way if I'm out somewhere and there is no table for me to put it on I can attack the small screw-on legs and put it on a chair and it will be at a usable height.



Here it is from the front with the table open. The plywood top is smooth enough to draw on but I want to get a mat to protect it anyways. It is, after all, construction grade spruce and thus very prone to dings and dents. Plus the mat give the drawing surface a bit more spring.

It'll be nice now to have a table I can quickly and easily take with me anywhere. This also means I won't be stuck down here in my basement geekroom drawing the comic. I'll be able to go outside and draw on nice days or even just sit upstairs in the dining room and draw. It is rather dismal having to draw down here in my dungeon lair all the time.

The drawing surface is about 18.5" x 20" if I remember correctly.

[Rkolter]

Damn nice table!

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If anyone is in the St. Louis area and needs a drafting table, I have one. It's pretty decent, and I have no plans for it. It's yours for free.

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You could sell those you know, Ghastly.

[Ghastly]

You could sell those you know, Ghastly.

They take too long to make plus if I was selling them commercially I'd have to use hardwood, not construction grade spruce. Even with construction grade spruce the wood's not exactly cheap (I made my table out of a left over piece of 2"x12" ripped to make the smaller boards and some left over 5/8" plywood). I like woodworking but if I had to do it for money it would probably be a whole lot less fun.

Besides, the construction of this table is so simple (I didn't mitre any of the joints or anything, it's all butt-joints) that anyone with even a little bit of skills could make one themselves.

[Faub]

Nice. How much does it weigh, though? It looks like it might be a bit of a pain to carry around.

[Ghastly]

It it was hardwood it would weight a freaking tonne because all the wood is very thick. But spruce is a light wood so it weighs surprisingly little.

If I was making them proffessionally I'd use a hardwood and the wood would be much thinner. I'd dovetail the joints too instead of using butt-joints. I'd probably use particle board for the drawing surface too. Smoother, flatter, doesn't warp. Particle board isn't pretty, of course, but since the final product would have a mat on top of the drawing surface it wouldn't really matter.

I also would use a better handle and a better latch. This was just built out of "stuff that was handy" which is why it was built the way it is.

Still, it's a perfectly functional and even aesthetically pleasing table if I do say so myself.

[ShiftyFuton]

Insert pictures and text here.

It's. . .it's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen.
/Draws on a flat table.
//And my body hates me for it.

[CJBurgandy]

do you mind if I print out the pictures and attempt to make one myself. It does look pretty simple contruction wise. And since I haven't used a rotarty tool before, I'm sure I can ask my dad to do the dove tail joints. I'm pretty sure I have scrap wood around somewhere.

[Xmung]

drawing on flat surface... bad.
drawing on an angle... good.
drawing on an angel... best!

nice job ghastly - whack a patent on it! you never know...

[Patch]

Woah..thats nice but i normally use a hard cover book i dont like anymore (currently using: The mysteries of the psiquic powers) but like xmung says drawing on an angle: good!!!..go for a patent!!...i

[Jigglyman]

So... is that board that holds the drawing platform attached with hinges or something so when you bring the platform up, the board goes with it?

[Phact0rri]

I am so glad I prefer a small piece of wood laying on the floor to draw with. strangely I can't sit at a table or use a uniformed surface when I draw. I like lots of space and laying on my chest just works best for me.

however that is an aethetically nice looking table Ghastly

[CJBurgandy]

I use a drafting table. Much like Ghastly, I'm far more comfortable drawing at an angle.

[KathleenJ]

Very nice! I was looking into getting some kind of angled table surface about this size that could attatch onto a kitchen table, or desk, or whatever...but a portable setup like this, with the interior storage space, would be very handy.

Generally, though, I draw all curled up in a couch or chair using a book or binder or somesuch thing at an angle as a surface.

[Birdie]

Man I draw on a little scrap of scrap paper that will lie between my keyboard and my mousepad. I need a better surface. I'm thinking of stealing a desk from my university (they don't lock up at night) and using that since I do my best art during class.

[Ghastly]

do you mind if I print out the pictures and attempt to make one myself. It does look pretty simple contruction wise. And since I haven't used a rotarty tool before, I'm sure I can ask my dad to do the dove tail joints. I'm pretty sure I have scrap wood around somewhere.

Sure thing, go for it. It's a very simple construction. A box with a big hinged top is basically all it is. Little rubber feet on the bottom and a cheap handle and a window latch.

If you're using 2" thick softwood like I did you can get away with butt joints. 1" and you can probably just use a mitre joint. Dovetail joints will look the best though.

nice job ghastly - whack a patent on it! you never know...

Thanks. Probably unpatentable. Other people have probably built similar tables before so "previous art" probably comes into play. The design is so simple it would be easy enough to reverse engineer anyways.

So... is that board that holds the drawing platform attached with hinges or something so when you bring the platform up, the board goes with it?

Nope. The back of the box and the weight of the drawing panel hold it securely in place. As well I put some silicon rubber pads on each end of the stick to keep it from slipping. You could shorten the stick to change the angle if the angle I use isn't to your liking. By moving the base of the stick forward I can increase the angle to almost 90 degrees. It really stays in place I had come up with all these more complex designs to hold the table top up but this one was the easiest and worked best.

Very nice! I was looking into getting some kind of angled table surface about this size that could attatch onto a kitchen table, or desk, or whatever...but a portable setup like this, with the interior storage space, would be very handy.

Very easy to build, you don't need a lot of tools, you could even get by without powertools. I put a lot of work into finishing the table to make it look more fancy-schmancy, but if all you want is something functional and don't care about the looks you could whip something like this together in less than a couple of hours even without powertools.

[Phalanx]

You know, the construct of that table is almost like a very large portable easel...

Probably what it is.

You know, if you used some strong plexiglass or tempered plastic for the lid, and added a strong bulb on the inside you'd get a lightbox!

One question, though. Doesn't having only a single strut result in wobblyness?

[Ghastly]

One question, though. Doesn't having only a single strut result in wobblyness?

Nope. Because the table top is 5/8th of an inch thick and the connecting edge is supported along the entire length by one long, single hinge, the table is increadably stable.

[Jim North]

Pfft. My Where's Waldo book kicks that thing's ass, easily.






*pathetic sob*

[LAGtheNoggin]

Ah, found 'em! Knew I'd seen this type of easel before, it was only a matter of time to find 'em on the 'net.

These easels are known as easel boxes (or table easel boxes to be precise, sometimes sketch boxes too), they've been around for over 200 years I'm guessing, most are built to support a canvas as the example above shows. They also have a rather more elaborate system to hold up the drawing surface due to their smaller hinges - unsure whether they come with rubber feet though, if not, how difficult are they to stick on?

The Ravenna Table Sketchbox Easel's the one I'm after ^.^

[Warren]

I think I like the window latch to keep the box closed best of all... a real DIY look.