Frank A. Edmunds Universal Craft Stand, 6111

Frank A. Edmunds Universal Craft Stand, 6111...and my thoughts! I could tell it was going to be a good product when I realized the instructions were painless. I saw the illustration, read the first two steps out of the many, many, and just put that away and looked at the box photo and had it together in literally about 3 minutes. That is with polyneuropathy and carpal tunnel hands!It is sturdy, goes in and out of the sizes I want in height really easily...I am tall even in a chair, and the entire thing is just easy. The bolts and hinges or whatever you want to call them are sturdy, do not slip and the only complaint is the head on the Phillip's head bottom screws did NOT like an electric drill and stripped one of the two quite ferociously. That is easy to fix if I ever need to.I have embroidery hoops, traditional ones, from 3 inches to 12 inches and one that is 24 inches and about 6/8ths inch thick! Yes, I do! I love that but will get around to that when I have time. The point being, it fit in the clamp! So do my painting canvases from small up to 18x24 inches, the frames are not all that thick but wide enough to hold onto, and in painting one about 11x14 inches horizontally, it is great! I have a monstrous easel but cannot set it up here, so if I need to it can double as an art easel when angled properly for me.It also held a tray perfectly even and firmly that was wood -- a serving tray -- with a can of soda, snacks, a sandwich, and a brownie. The flooring here is hideous, old, flattened shag carpet and it has to be on that for whatever I use it for and it did fine on all my adventures! Oh, the alien Xtolffrosintzi, he's from Jupiter, wanted to use this for a directing table for the stuffed animals I get him from the thrift store so he won't be lonely when he's in the walls when I am away and that worked out really well for him. He used a very large baking sheet and there was no mess. Don't worry, they are full of fluff, beans, shavings, straw, or strips of thin plastic that look like the hair on Xtolffrosintzi's stomach, and though they are all cats, he puts them back together, albeit with different parts, and sends them up to the ship that cloaks itself above the house yet still manages to ruin the flower bed by shading it at all times. (He won't leave...HELP!)I absolutely love this and it will make my life so much better, enjoyable, creative, and happier. Where I have to do things at is the small bedroom I am in that has two giant office desks, one with cabinets, and bookshelves, a huge chair, giant speakers, well...I could go on but the point is I have about a 6' x 4' floor space and whatever I do off the computer as to be there. So, it not only holds everything I need it to, but it stows away when I want and does not take up any space anyway.I could have said it was really great, looked exactly like the photos, and did precisely what it is described for, but I am an artist. Details, kids, details!I definitely recommend this, if you haven't guessed, and say it would make a terrific gift for anyone who could use it! Aliens, too! By the way, the price is excellent! You can get a lame, lightweight table stand or lap stand for about ten bucks less or even that cost a stupid amount more. This is the ticket!

My wife does cross-stitch projects every day, and has been using this stand for four months. She loves this stand. I didn't think it would be nearly as sturdy as it is, but it locks down tightly and is really simple to adjust. We looked at a bunch of different stands, but I'm really glad she chose this one.It's easy to put together if you lay out all the parts in groups and follow the diagram. I think it took me under 10 minutes, and if I recall, all you really need is a phillips screwdriver. That's for the screws that connect the base to the pieces that stand straight up. You gotta get those tight, but everything else is just bolts and wing-nuts.My wife only uses hoops, but it can handle all sizes, and there are lots of accessories to handle other types and shapes of projects.Initially I thought there would be a problem because it doesn't swivel and I know cross-stitchers need to get to both sides of their work. But she just loosens one of the Tri-wingnuts and lifts the work straight up to access the back. Pretty simple. I included a couple of pictures to better illustrate her 'technique'.No doubt this will last a lifetime, and it was priced about right.Pros+ Super adjustable.+ Wide plastic-handled Tri-wingnuts for adjusting the three most used joints are easy on the fingers.+ Collapses or disassembles easily for storage.+ Very stable.Cons- Only has three plastic handled Tri-wingnuts - but there are seven more small metal wingnuts. At least three or four more of the bigger plastic ones would have been nice. Although they're actually used far less, the small ones are hard to get tight for delicate hands.

I had no problems putting this together, all I needed was a phillips head screwdriver for the two screws. The carriage bolts I easily tightened by hand. The instructions were clear enough, I had a little difficulty understanding how the very top part and clamp fit on but I just followed the instructions and it all worked out. I was not missing any parts and all my pieces were properly drilled. I will say that some of the pieces look exactly like other pieces, the only difference being the placement of bolt or screw holes so I am wondering if people who thought their pieces were not drilled were just using the wrong piece. Also the bolts come in various lengths, and you really need to measure them against the handy ruler included with the instructions. If you use the wrong one in the wrong place you will be sorry later!! Also, for me, the 4" bolts just barely cleared the wood, but there was definitely enough bolt to get the wing nut screwed onto and I really don't want a lot of bolt sticking out anyway because they will just catch on things like furniture and human legs!!!I was able to place my 8" embroidery hoop in the clamp with no problem and it left plenty of room to stitch. I did use a folded plastic bag as a "buffer" just to keep from damaging either my hoop or the clamps and to just make it seem tighter.As for sturdiness, it seems sturdy enough for what I want to do. I don't think it would take a really heavy frame, or a person leaning on it, very well. I haven't had a chance to use it much (I only put it together last night!) but it was fine for my crewel embroidery. Mine is wobbling a bit, not because of the stand but because I have it on an uneven tile floor. I just put a foot on each of the bottom pieces and that solved that. I can't criticize the stand for that as the floor is the issue not the stand.I have read some comments saying that the stand is too short. Well, the height is clearly stated in the description. Also, it is quite adjustable. It is working fine for me. I am working sitting up straight on a sofa. I don't think this has enough reach to accommodate sitting back in a recliner for example, but that would also depend on you and your recliner.For the price, I think this is a great stand. Compared to others on the market it is VERY inexpensive. As for me, the other option was a significantly more expensive, and hard to get, metal stand. I decided to try this as an inexpensive alternative to see if it would even work. Well, it did. I was really liking embroidery but thought it would be better if I could stitch "two handed" and I was correct. With this stand I have both hands free for stitching.The ONLY issue I can see right now is that you either have to take the hoop out, or be a contortionist, to really get to the back of your work. But I have also learned the method of stopping with a "cast off" with three small seeding stitches and then clip my thread from the front of the work rather than take it to the back anyway. My work is much neater and more even with this method!Edit for that last paragraph: Now that I have had time to use it a bit more, I can tell you that you absolutely CAN get to the back of your work if you are using an embroidery hoop just by raising up the arm. I can't say how that would work with a large Qsnap because I don't use them, but with an 8" embroidery hoop you can just loosen the top arm a bit, lift it up, and you can easily see the back of your work.