There is a point at which an easel stops being equipment and becomes part of the building. A two metre canvas weighs what it weighs, and once it is up there, the honest question is not whether the easel will hold it. It is whether you will ever move it again, or just paint the top third standing on something you should not be standing on.

The Mabef M02 Plus is built so that you move the painting instead. The canvas holder is raised and lowered by crank, and on the Plus the tilt is crank driven too. You turn a handle and the working angle changes, with both hands free and the canvas never leaving the easel.

Behind that it is Mabef's largest frame. Two extensible sliding masts, canvases to 235cm and 40kg, a mast that reaches 390cm, four castors with levelling bolts, and a base with a utility tray and two drawers.

Perfect for

What makes the M02 Plus different

The one difference between this and the standard M02

We sell both, so here it is plainly. The M02 and the M02 Plus have the same canvas capacity, the same 40kg load, the same double mast, the same height range and the same footprint. They are the same easel.

The difference is how you set the angle. On the M02 you loosen two large brass wingnuts, move the canvas by hand, and tighten them again. On the M02 Plus you turn a crank. That is it. The Plus is 3kg heavier for the extra mechanism.

So the question is not which easel is better. It is whether you change the angle enough for a crank to be worth it. Plenty of painters honestly do not, and the standard M02 is the right buy for them. If you do, you will use this every session.

Why steam treated beech

Mabef build in solid beech, steam treated before it is worked, then oiled and stain resistant, with brass plated rust proof hardware. On a frame that stands nearly four metres at full extension and carries forty kilograms, that stability is not a finishing touch. It is the reason the frame stays square, the masts keep sliding and the crank keeps turning smoothly a decade later.

The oiled finish is the practical half. Paint sits on the surface rather than soaking into the grain, so a wipe keeps it looking like an easel and not a palette.

Specifications

For full details of the Mabef warranty, including how to register your easel, see the Mabef warranty page.

Mabef, and why we carry so much of it

Mabef have been making easels in Italy since 1948 and have never once diversified into anything else. No brushes, no paint, no pencil cases. Just easels, for three quarters of a century, by a family who clearly think about hinges more than is strictly healthy. We find that faintly wonderful, and it shows in the joinery and in the warranty they are willing to put behind it.

Art Shed carries over forty Mabef lines, one of the deepest Mabef ranges in Australia: field easels, studio masts with cranks, lyre easels, sketch boxes, table easels, sculpture trestles, print racks, stools and the full run of beech palettes. Not a token three models and a special order form. If you are building a studio around Mabef, or matching an easel you already own, we almost certainly have the rest of the family in stock.

Getting the most out of your M02 Plus

Level it before the first canvas goes on. Roll it where you want it, then wind the levelling bolts down until it stops rocking. A tall easel finds every dip in an old floor and magnifies it at the top.

Use the crank rather than your back. That is the entire point of this easel. Bring the work to your eye line instead of bending to meet it.

Keep the drawers for tools, not for ballast. They are there so the brushes live with the easel. Loading them with heavy gear does nothing useful.

Wipe the tray while paint is still wet. Oiled beech forgives a great deal, but cured paint around a crank mechanism does not do it any favours.

Then put the biggest canvas you own on it and work the whole surface without once climbing on anything. That is what this easel is for.

Questions about the Mabef M02 Plus Studio Easel