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Author Topic: Canvas streching  (Read 1469 times)

jim t

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Canvas streching
« on: February 24, 2009, 10:25:14 pm »

I'm having trouble figuring out what size strecher bars to obtain.  I'm doing a few 24x50 size canvas prints that need to be gallery wrapped.  Length of the bars is not the issue, rather thickness is.  

What do you recomend?  Is 1 1/2" standard.  Is that standing out from the wall or laying flat on the wall?  Does a lot have to do with personal prefrence?

Also, any suggestions on where to buy from would be appreciated.

Jim
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Paul2660

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Canvas streching
« Reply #1 on: February 25, 2009, 08:40:45 am »

For a piece that large, I would consider a 1 1/2" or even 2" bar.  This is the shoulder height, which is what you will gallery wrap around.  Giving you 1 1/2" or 2" depending on the frame of edge.  

You can consider mounting the hanger two ways.

1.  traditional method of mounting the hangers to the edges of the frame, just like a framed print.  This will force the piece to hang with a slight down angle

2.  Use eye screws and mount your hanger inside the frame.  This allows the piece to hang flush to the wall and makes for a nice look.  I will state that during the
hanging with this method, it's very easy to damage the canvas due to pressing on the inside and creating a bump or bulge that will be very hard to get out.

Also for a piece of this size, you might want to consider corner stiffeners and at least one inside strengthening brace in the middle of the frame.

Paul Caldwell
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Paul Caldwell
Little Rock, Arkansas U.S.
www.photosofarkansas.com

framah

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Canvas streching
« Reply #2 on: February 25, 2009, 09:32:54 am »

Actually, forget about using screw eyes to hang this size. Use pinch cleats or as they are called in the framing business, Z bars. They are aluminum bars that interlock into each other and hold the piece tight to the wall and spread the weight load out along the length of the piece. Screw eyes and will still leave it handing away from the wall at the top as well as place all the weight load onto the singular point where the eyes are screwed into the wood as well as the point where it is hung on the wall.

I believe the 1 1/2" size you are referring to is the width. The thickness of that is around 3/4" and is too small for what you want to do here.

As for what size bar to use,  I would go with the larger ones. The ones in my store  that I use for the large pieces measure 1" on the side and 2 1/2" across. This is plenty to hold the size you listed and do not need any interior braces nor would you need to use corner stiffeners as the amount of wood in the corner joint of the bars is plenty to hold itself together.
If you want the sides to look deeper then you can always add more wood to it. I did  that on a triptych I stretched for an artist. They were 2 @ 3x8 foot and 1 @ 4x8 foot and she wanted the sides to be 2 1/2" thick so I added more wood to the back... and no interior braces or corner pieces for any of these were needed or used.

To eliminate the possibility of damaging the canvas from behind, add a piece of foamcore onto the back of the stretcher bar and that will eliminate that problem. It will also eliminate the problem of dust and dead bugs from building up behind the canvas.

Any other questions, feel free to email me if you'd like. I'm in my store framing pretty much every day.

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