My approach is extremely lazy - I just leaned the bit of wood up against the wall so that it was stable (ie not about to fall over) and that was the angle I used.

Recently I built a demo machine around an IKEA easel:

But it will not stretch to A1. As a test, you could have a look at my new frequently asked questions page and see if that helps any - I have added a little blurb to it about angles, but perhaps it does not answer your question, or should be pulled out more obviously. I am going to add an index of Qs to the top of that page one day too.

Surface-wise, I would go for plywood rather than MDF because it is stiffer - it will not bow in the same way as MDF does. Depending on size and thickness that might not be a problem for you though. And I would always put a layer of something smooth on it that has a little bit of "give", some padding. My original machine has a large sheet of smooth card stuck to it (shirt board, it gets called). My easel machine has a big section of a thing called a desk protector. Again, bought from IKEA, it's just a clear rubber mat, with a texture. Use the smooth side - perfect. It's also got a bit of grip, or "tack" to it that holds a page fairly well.

My reason is to allow the pen tip to press into the paper a little more (whether it actually does or not), and also to make it more quiet with hard-tipped pens. It also makes for a sacrificial surface that can be replaced once you've scribbled all over it by accident.

sn

Kelticfox, regarding angle of the board - I use different angles for different pens. For pens like Pigma Microns and Sharpies, my board is only slightly off vertical. I tilt the board quite a bit (I've gone close to 45 degrees) for ballpoints because they need more pressure on their tips to ensure a constant ink flow. A soft backing on the board, like Sandy mentions above, helps ballpoints work better, too.

The board I've been using is a 2-sided melamine panel. It works great, but man, it's heavy. I've been considering moving to a bigger board, and I would use something lighter next time. Perhaps a cheap IKEA table top? (nice and light, but possibly too resonant?). A piece of good plywood is probably the best choice, or an artist's drawing board if the price isn't an issue.

Adding weight to the gondola doesn't do much for increasing pen pressure if the drawing surface is only slightly off vertical (it's good for keeping the cords tight, though). Some gondolas that are designed for drawing on walls/windows have the weights attached to longish posts (perpendicular to the drawing surface) to increase their off-vertical angle, helping to push the gondola toward the surface. Sandy has a better memory for old designs, maybe he can provide a link to what I'm talking about.

I've never liked the idea of moving the weight in that direction, though, fearing it would increase the tendency for the pen tip to wobble. That's an untested presumption on my part, I admit.

As you're coming down to London, any chance you can build 1 and drop it off on the way past? I'm only down by Milton Keynes 😛

Ah that sucks..... I would have invited you to a BBQ or something...

...and everyone knows my BBQ's are the stuff of legends.

I was going off the white PCBs because they go a bit brown in places where they get overheated during soldering (which is always), but the black ones need to be absolutely immaculately clean to look decent. Could always try yellow, or fall back on old faithful blue, or red like the very first polarshields.

Connectors are still in a state of flux - the big green sockets are right angle versions of the 3.5mm pitch pluggable screw terminals that I supply with the vitamin kits (screw terminals because that kit doesn't come with cables), and the white connectors are standard 2.54mm pitch ones with a polarising, and friction lock tab. The improvement here is that previously these two sets of connectors would overlap, so it wouldn't be possible to have both mounted at once - you had to choose. There will still be a collision if the standard upright screw terminals are mounted there, but these 90 degree ones are ok - actually pretty neat.

Thank you for the bbq offer - another trip maybe!

sn

Have no fear, I'll let you know 🙂