Making Stretcher Bars
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Artists wishing to make their own stretcher bars begin by determining the size of the painting they are going to make and purchasing boards of an appropriate length. For most paintings, 1"x4" boards are adequate, although for especially small paintings, smaller dimensions may be used. Stretchers on opposite sides of the painting must be of equal length. Each side is carefully measured and cut with a circular saw. Next, the interior corner of each stretcher bar severed, cut off at a 45 degree angle beginning from the outside corner. This is how each stretcher bar is made to fit with the stretcher adjacent to it.
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Wood glue is applied to the angled edges and each corner is clamped together to form right angles. While the stretchers are drying, right triangles large enough to cover each corner are cut from plywood. For larger paintings (several feet wide and several feet long), an additional bar is placed in the middle of the stretchers, running from top to bottom or left to right, in order to provide more support. When the corners are done drying, the clamps are removed and the triangles are nailed to the back of each stretcher. These triangles are used to form a more secure bond at each corner.
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Finally, a quarter round the length of each outer edge of the canvas is cut. The corners are angled and the quarter round is nailed to the outer edge of the front of the canvas. The curved side of the quarter round runs inside the canvas, and the straight edge is flush with the outer edge of the stretchers. The quarter rounds serve to keep the canvas from pressing directly against the stretcher bars. If the canvas were to lay flat against the stretchers during the painting process, the faint outline of the stretcher bars would be visible as paint collected along the perimeter of it.
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