How to Stretch Canvas - Part 1

www.choosecanvas.com


Stretching your own canvas is fairly easy once you know the procedure and have the proper tools and materials. Note that the canvas referred to below is pre-primed; but you could also use the following procedure with raw canvas and, after it has been stretched, prime it with two coats of acrylic gesso. Please read through all of the instructions first, since certain steps must be prepared for in advance.



First you will need to gather a few tools and materials: canvas pliers, stapler/staples or hammer and tacks, stretcher strips, and canvas. In addition, a T-square is convenient to help you insure that the stretchers are square. Then follow these steps to stretch your canvas:







Select the appropriate-sized stretchers for the canvas you want to build. Your art supply store has a variety of pre-cut wooden frame rails (or stretcher bars) that have interlocking mitered edges.



Once your stretcher frame is assembled on a flat surface, you should verify that it is square. Do this by taking a tape measure and checking that the diagonal distances from both opposing corners are equidistant. (They almost always will be.) If you encounter an offset, you can correct it by attaching a small metal right-angle brace on the inner frame corner. A small plywood right-angle triangle attached to the rear frame corner will also help correct any shift.



For frame rails longer than 36 inches, an interior brace should be inserted between these rails to support them from bowing inward after the canvas has been attached. This will also protect against frame distortion during periods of fluctuating humidity. If this type of support rail did not already come with your pre-cut frame, you should cut a piece of similar wood and attach it with the type of braces detailed in step 2.



Take the canvas and lay the primed side down on a clean, flat surface. Place the frame atop the canvas and then cut away any excess material so that there are two inches of excess canvas bordering the frame on all sides. It is important that you leave this border material because this is what you will use to grip, stretch, and attach the canvas to the frame.



Part 2 of how to stretch canvas to follow shortly.

What Stretcher Bars do we use?

www.choosecanvas.com

Choosecanvas use only top grade 1.5 inch wide gallery stretcher bars (the wooden frame over which the canvas is placed).
The stretcher bars are made from light but very strong pine wood with male/female joints at each end to guarantee a perfect fit.
Our canvases come complete with corner wedges for maximum stretch.





Over time canvases naturally may sag a little. Should this happen tapping the wedges lightly with a small hammer will retighten the canvas.
This procedure can be repeated as necessary, to keep your prints ultra tight.

http://www.choosecanvas.com/blog/?page_id=6

How to make your own stretcher bars

http://www.choosecanvas.com/

You can use materials and tools that anyone can find at their local hardware store, and often make large canvases for a tiny fraction of the price that it would cost you to buy them already made.
The inner frame, or structure, of every canvas is created out of 1×2 wood, and quarter-round trim.

Once decided on what size to create the canvas, you should cut four pieces of 1×2s (one for each side of the canvas), with 45 degree angles at each end.
You can use a miter box and hand saw, or power tools - either way works just fine. The most important thing is to make good, equal, 45 degree cuts at each end so that the wood fits together properly at the corners.

One cut of the saw actually creates an entire corner, as you can see in the picture to the left. All you need to use is a simple hand-powered staple gun to secure the corners together, and usually place 3 staples on both front and back of the joint. With 6 staples fastening each corner, the entire frame becomes very strong and rigid.

Once all four corners are stapled the frame might look complete, but it’s really not. When stretching canvas, it’s important to keep it raised off of the frame; which is why it is important to go to the trouble of cutting quarter-round trim pieces as well, to make a lip, or edge, that runs along the entire outside border of the frame.

You can cut the trim pieces with whatever tool you used on the other pieces of wood. However, it may be easier to use the miter box instead of a power tool, since the trim pieces are so thin. If you do use a power saw, brace the trim piece with another piece of wood so that your fingers don’t have to be anywhere close to the blade when cutting.

Unlike the 1×2s, a single cut with the saw does not make a perfect corner out of two trim pieces. It will always be necessary to take one piece back and cut off another small amount to get the right angle. Its best to lay a long piece down and mark just once where the next cut is, and then repeat that process again and again. Cutting all at once doesn’t usually work out well since the angles to cut on the quarter-rounds are trickier than on the 1×2s.

To create a raised lip or edge, you’ll need to place one flat side of the quarter-round against the stretcher bars, and the other flat side facing outward. The curved length of the quarter-rounds should be facing inward toward the center of the frame.

Now all that’s needed is to fasten the quarter-rounds permanently in place. Nail them to the frame with headless nails. The ones I recommend come in a package labeled “wire brads” but finishing nails would work as well.

Make sure to buy nails that are no longer than the width of your quarter-round and 1×2 combined, and space them along the trim pieces about every 4 inches, or until it’s solidly in place.

When the entire frame is finished, it’s time to start stretching the canvas. All you need is a square or rectangular piece of canvas a little larger than the size of your stretcher bars, and the same staple gun used on the corners of the frame.

Because of the depth, the entire front face of your canvas will have the same feeling, from the center to the edge.

Although there are other solutions for making canvases, this is how to make home made ones.

http://www.choosecanvas.com/index.php?main_page=page&id=3