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Author Topic: first canvas gallery wrap!!!  (Read 6490 times)

jareddimartine

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first canvas gallery wrap!!!
« on: January 08, 2009, 10:52:02 am »

Just completed my first canvas print/coat/wrap...  

I used the following:

fredrix 901WR 24" roll
Clearstar Type C semi gloss (cut 3/1 w/ distilled water...)
Blick heavy duty stretchers
printed on a 9800 using Imageprint 7



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AlanG

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first canvas gallery wrap!!!
« Reply #1 on: January 08, 2009, 02:12:47 pm »

That looks fine to me. I have started doing wraps also. I'd like more information about the coating. I see they have semi-gloss and also something called 30 degree satin. Is there any reason that you chose semi gloss over the satin? What do you think of the finish? I wouldn't want it too shiny.  It doesn't look shiny from your photos.

I presume you sprayed it. What kind of sprayer and compressor did you use?

By the way, a word of advice to others who are planning to wrap. Place some cardboard over the back of the canvas (not the photo side) to protect it when working. I dropped my staple gun and put a hole through one photo.
« Last Edit: January 08, 2009, 02:13:28 pm by AlanG »
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Alan Goldstein
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jareddimartine

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first canvas gallery wrap!!!
« Reply #2 on: January 08, 2009, 09:42:18 pm »

Quote from: AlanG
That looks fine to me. I have started doing wraps also. I'd like more information about the coating. I see they have semi-gloss and also something called 30 degree satin. Is there any reason that you chose semi gloss over the satin? What do you think of the finish? I wouldn't want it too shiny.  It doesn't look shiny from your photos.

I presume you sprayed it. What kind of sprayer and compressor did you use?

By the way, a word of advice to others who are planning to wrap. Place some cardboard over the back of the canvas (not the photo side) to protect it when working. I dropped my staple gun and put a hole through one photo.

Alan,  Thanks for the reply!

Your questions:  I chose the semigloss because it would allow me to choose a wider range of what type of gloss I wanted...  I experimented on a couple different pieces of scrap mat board to see just how the finish would lay, and how it would reflect.  I decided the full on was too shiny, and I had heard that a 50/50 cut was almost equivalent to the satin, which I tried and found too dull, so I was debating between a 3/1 cut and a 3/2 which was somewhere between the two...

This image was for a personal project, so I decided to use the glossier of the two, because there were no repercussions if I didn't like it.   Luckily, I do.  The image seems to sparkle due to the shine from the canvas' surface, but it doesn't give off any glare or reflection that would take away from viewing it.  I'm going to stick with this ratio for now.

I did spray it.  I have a big craftsman 30gallon compressor, so I just went to Home Depot and bought their $80 Husky Pro hvlp gun.  Worked like a charm!  Easy to use, very even spray, the trigger was a little softer than guns i've used previously, but it was an easy adjustment.  Came with a cleaning kit for easy clean up too...

Having the compressor makes this a lot easier, as I grapped a staple gun for it too.  My hand staple gun just didn't seem to want to knock the staples all the way in... I had to use a hammer on several to push them through.  Not exactly comfortable...

Good tip, btw... I almost slipped myself once or twice, but with a razor knife!  

I have a little bit of work left to do on the corners, I think I need to bring them in towards the middle a little bit more so you can't see the white edge of the canvas behind the print.

Tomorrow i'll be wrapping print #2, but on a 1" thick stretcher instead of 2.
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AlanG

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« Reply #3 on: January 08, 2009, 11:14:33 pm »

Thanks for the info. I'll get the semi-gloss then.
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Xanthor

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« Reply #4 on: January 09, 2009, 01:33:10 pm »

A friend of mine and I are wondering - can you spray before you stretch?  Does it mess up the coating if you stretch after you spray?

LOL do you zip then tuck or do you tuck then zip?    Okay I couldent resist.

So which is it?  Spray then stretch or stretch then spray?
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jareddimartine

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« Reply #5 on: January 09, 2009, 03:42:25 pm »

Quote from: Xanthor
A friend of mine and I are wondering - can you spray before you stretch?  Does it mess up the coating if you stretch after you spray?

LOL do you zip then tuck or do you tuck then zip?    Okay I couldent resist.

So which is it?  Spray then stretch or stretch then spray?

I sprayed then stretched.  I was worried about the possibility of harming the print while stretching, and didn't see a reason not to spray first.

So I hung them in my little spray booth, hit em with 2 coats, let em dry overnight, then stretched em the next day.  No problems whatsoever.  The canvas is still really flexible after spraying...

Oh, and I tuck then zip.  
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jareddimartine

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« Reply #6 on: January 10, 2009, 09:00:09 am »

Did gallery wrap #2 last night...  I used a much thinner stretcher bar, just to see how the effect would be different...  What do you guys think?




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dgberg

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first canvas gallery wrap!!!
« Reply #7 on: January 10, 2009, 10:52:49 am »

Quote from: jareddimartine
Did gallery wrap #2 last night...  I used a much thinner stretcher bar, just to see how the effect would be different...  What do you guys think?




Looks real good. Did you stretch by hand? The only thing I see is the corners look just a tad white. The canvas was not tearing was it? It may just be a reflection. I am starting a canvas gallery wrap business and have just ordered the Gallery Stretcher. Cannot wait to get started.
Dan Berg
« Last Edit: January 10, 2009, 10:53:34 am by Dan Berg »
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jareddimartine

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first canvas gallery wrap!!!
« Reply #8 on: January 10, 2009, 02:20:17 pm »

Quote from: Dan Berg
Looks real good. Did you stretch by hand? The only thing I see is the corners look just a tad white. The canvas was not tearing was it? It may just be a reflection. I am starting a canvas gallery wrap business and have just ordered the Gallery Stretcher. Cannot wait to get started.
Dan Berg

thanks Dan!  Yeah, i stretched it by hand...  My 2nd time stretching...  Not too bad...  The white marks are just reflections from little puckers in the corners...  No tears, but with the real thin stretcher bars I found it MUCH harder to get a good tight wrap on the corner than I did with the big stretcher bars.  They're not terribly noticeable in person, and this one was a gift, but I either need to improve that or only use the larger stretcher bars when I start working on my exhibition pieces...

The Gallery Stretcher looks amazing!  I've considered trying to build something similar, but It's not as bad as I thought by hand...

Just out of curiousity - what type of staple gun are you using?  I have a simple spring powered one that isn't quite powerful enough for me... I keep finding myself having to hammer in the staple to get it flush, and it's pretty annoying...

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dgberg

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« Reply #9 on: January 27, 2009, 09:06:31 pm »

Quote from: jareddimartine
thanks Dan!  Yeah, i stretched it by hand...  My 2nd time stretching...  Not too bad...  The white marks are just reflections from little puckers in the corners...  No tears, but with the real thin stretcher bars I found it MUCH harder to get a good tight wrap on the corner than I did with the big stretcher bars.  They're not terribly noticeable in person, and this one was a gift, but I either need to improve that or only use the larger stretcher bars when I start working on my exhibition pieces...

The Gallery Stretcher looks amazing!  I've considered trying to build something similar, but It's not as bad as I thought by hand...

Just out of curiousity - what type of staple gun are you using?  I have a simple spring powered one that isn't quite powerful enough for me... I keep finding myself having to hammer in the staple to get it flush, and it's pretty annoying...

I have a Senco SFW10xp. 1/2 crown stapler using 3/8" length staples. Very fast and seats the staples flush every time.  Worth every penny especially if you have the air compressor.
Dan Berg

Andrew Stagg

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« Reply #10 on: January 28, 2009, 03:51:15 am »

Both those canvases look good for initial attempts. It does take time to get the tight stretching correct without cracking.
The main thing that I find with stretching, is not to stretch too tight when first stretching. Stretch just tight enough to get a taught flat canvas with a little give.
Then the 'drum' tight stretch can be achieved with the pegs that are knocked into the corners of the frame after stretching (wedges).
By creating the taughtness this way, you can avoid many of the cracking issues generated when trying to stretch really tight first time out.
This is also why I stretch by hand, not using a machine.

I hope this helps.

Best

Andrew Stagg

www.bristolcanvas.com
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Bartone

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first canvas gallery wrap!!!
« Reply #11 on: January 30, 2009, 11:36:11 am »

any closups of the corners? I'm doing OK with the stretching and the staples, but the (hospital bed) corners are messy looking. I ordered one from White House a while back - they slit the corners and removed the extra canvas, matched the edges of the remaining canvas so there was NO overlap. Hard to explain, sorry. I'm not sure quite how they accomplished it so perfectly (they probably do this all day), so I'm thinking it's not an option. Also, on the back of the canvas - do you trim off much or just leave enough to cover the edges?
bartone
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