SORG Easel

[David Sorg]

Thank you Leslie and Enzie!

The manufactured version of the easel (I used to make them myself) has been available for a little over 2 years, and although I've not become financially wealthy with them (nor did I expect to), I HAVE become rich in the pleasure that artists have expressed to me with the use of their easels. I'm probably not saying it properly, but it's similar to the thrill I get when someone buys a painting of mine. The money is great of course, but the "vote"(?) for the product after using the easel is a much warmer pleasure.

...that having been said, my wife Patti and I ARE using some of the money from easel sales to get out of snowy Denver and bask in the art and the WARMTH of Scottsdale this weekend

[Linda Brandon]

Doctor David makes house calls.

After I read the post above, I emailed David, whining and bleating plaintively until he and his wife Patti came by my studio and performed a complete physical exam on my easel.

The Sorg easel is a terrific piece of studio equipment and David is a wonderful person, thanks again, David!

[Enzie Shahmiri]

David,

Is it necessary to have the additional weight on in the back of the easel, if you are working on paintings 30" x 40" or smaller? I am talking about the real heavy piece that goes on the peg on the bottom of the frame.

[David Sorg]

Hi Enzie,

Yes, use additional weight(s) as your canvas get heavier. The largest weight supplied is 25 pounds. That 25lb. weight should always hang on the "short" side of the weight hook. Because it counterbalances the entire assembly plus the additional weight of a smaller canvas it always remains in use.

Somewhere around the size of an 18x24 or so, depending on whether you're using light vs. heavy stretcher bars vs. 1/4" panel, etc., you'll notice that the easel starts getting a little heavier to lift or that it wants to drift down a little of its own accord. That's the time to add the 5 pound weight to the "long" side of the weight hook.

As you get to progressively larger/heavier canvases, you would pull off the 5 pound weight and add the 10 pound weight instead to keep things approximately compensated so that the whole easel continues to be balanced between drifting up or down. For even larger paintings, you would add the 5 pound weight back onto the long side of the hook. If even that's not enough, you can either buy additional weights at a sporting goods store, or perhaps just hang a bucket from the weight hook and add stuff (rocks, paint cans, phone books???) until everything is balanced again.

In practice it's not too finicky; you can do a wide range of canvas sizes without changing the weights. There is enough friction in the entire mechanism to keep things where you put them. As I approach needing to add or reduce weight, I first tend to slightly tighten a knob or two on the paint tray to increase the friction or "drag" a little bit until the canvas remains where I want it.

[David Sorg]

Now in Linda's case, no amount of weight changing would make her easel work properly. I can't believe how nice she was about an easel that had a warped base, a too tight carriage, and canister holes that were too small for the canisters. I would have been questioning, if not yelling, many moons ago...

I have had the pleasure of meeting some of the greatest people over the last couple of years with this easel, but Patti and I both put Linda at the top of our list!!

(can I say that in this forum ?)

[Enzie Shahmiri]

Thank you for the clarification David!

[Jeff Fuchs]

Reviving an old thread,

I picked up a Sorg Easel today at Jerry's Art Supplies in Houston. They were marked down to $400. I told the manager I would post this on the web, and he said to be sure not to imply that this price was available in all locations. The Houston store rents empty space next door, and I have the feeling they need to clear it out. They have a few left.

I didn't pay shipping, since I picked it up. If you're a local, they'll deliver very cheap.

[Leslie Ficcaglia]

That's a real bargain. Hope you enjoy it, Jeff! I love mine.

Leslie