Pochade Box Updates

I've done some reconfiguring on my homemade pochade box. If you're interested in making your own, the design comes from Jim Serrett.

Below are some pics of my improvements. I took off the friction lid supports from the sides and installed friction hinges to keep the lid at whatever angle desired. The friction lid support brackets worked great but could get in the way sometimes, especially in transport. For a better design using friction lid supports, visit Josef Sy's design.

As you can see, the lid brackets are gone, resulting in a little less weight, less parts, and an overall sleeker look. The friction hinges seem to work perfectly. You can also see some of my plein air essentials: portable brush washer, adjustable view-finder, sealable pallet (craft-bead jars and box from Walmart) and brushes.

Here's a detail of the friction hinges. They're some form of hard plastic material...very lightweight yet strong. After running all around town trying, with no avail, to find these things...I finally ordered them online. I got the idea from Bryan Mark Taylor.

Here you can see my homemade brush holder. It's basically a strip of 1/2"-3/4" square dowel (left over from the pochade project) glued and nailed to a 3"x9" strip of 1/4" birch plywood (also left over from the pochade project). I drilled various sized holes in the plywood to accommodate my brushes. On the underside of the brush holder are 2, 1/4 round dowel rods attached to the strip of square dowel. The side of the pochade box has 2 holes drilled to match these round dowel pins so that it will slide into the holes and become stable. I mounted it on the left side because I'm right handed and didn't want the brushes to interfere with me working.

Here's a detail of the underside of the brush holder with the dowel pins. When not attached, it lays perfectly inside the box when it's closed. Notice the sealable clear jars from the craft section at Walmart...this is a must if using acrylics outdoors. I wasted so much unused paint before these little contraptions. Maybe when I get a little more experienced and quicker with the brush, I can go to a more limited pallet of 4 colors...but I haven't got that far yet.

Also, the tripod is a Sunpak 7575 that I bought on sale from www.buy.com for $25 and free shipping! It's a little bulky though, but I wanted something that could hold some weight.

Go here to see the pochade box process.