How to Make a Canvas Brace

A strong canvas needs a good support brace.

An artist canvas is the most important material needed to create vivid and unique paintings. Canvases can be bought from craft and art supply stores. The price range depends on the size, shape and the canvas brace. A canvas brace is the wooden frame used to securely hold stretched canvas fabric for a painting. A large canvas with a strong brace can be expensive. Cheaper canvases with a weaker canvas brace may not be efficient enough, depending on the project. You may be able to save money for a quality canvas by building your own canvas brace.

Things You'll Need

• 8-foot-long clear pine 1-by-2 wood
• Pencil
• Hand saw and miter box and clamp
• Hand-powered staple gun
• Staples
• 8-foot-long 3/4-inch quarter-round trim
• 1-inch finishing nails
• Carpenter's glue
• Hammer

Instructions

1. Record the dimensions for the canvas brace according to your preference.

2. Mark the 8-foot, 1-by-2 wood into four equal sections with a pencil. Place the wood in the miter box and line mark with the 45-degree angle slit on the box.

3. Cut each section of 1-by-2 wood at a 45-degree angle with a hand saw. Place the saw through the 45-degree angle slit and on top of the wood. Move the saw back and forward to cut the wood.

4. Assemble the canvas brace. Take one section of 1-by-2 wood pieces and place it against the end of another section of wood to form a right angle (one corner of the canvas brace).

5. Secure the two sections together by inserting three staples horizontally across the line where the two sections of wood meet with the high-powered staple gun. Turn the joined pieces of wood over to the other side and repeat this step. Now you have six staples securing one corner of the brace, three staples on the front and back. Secure the last two pieces of 1-by-2 wood together by following Steps 4 and 5.

6. Join the two corner 1-by-2 pieces of wood together to complete the four-sided canvas brace. Secure them together by following the procedures in Step 5.

7. Cut the 8-feet long pieces of quarter-round trim into four pieces following the procedures in Steps 2 and 3.

8. Secure the quarter-round pieces onto the 1-by-2 brace to form a raised edge so that the canvas fabric does not lie flat against the brace. Put one piece of quarter-round on its flat side on the edge of one side of the brace, with the curved edge of the quarter-round facing inward. Place another piece of quarter-round flat against the side of the 1-by-2 section adjacent to the first quarter-round. The two adjacent quarter-round ends should form a right angle.

9. Attach the two adjacent pieces of quarter-rounds to the canvas brace with 1-inch finishing nails and a hammer. Gently tap the nails through the quarter-round and 1-by-2 wood. Finish securing all four pieces of quarter-round pieces of wood to the brace so that the four corners form right angles. The canvas brace is complete.

References

• Emptyeasel.com: How to Make Your Own Stretcher Bars for a Stretched Canvas Painting
• Lindateachesart: How to make a canvas stretcher: Canvas Stretcher: Make it or Buy it?