canvas fix..

framah

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I have an old canvas piece come in that has rotted away at the edge where it wraps around the stretcher bar, leaving me with the art with nothing to wrap...only a flat piece of canvas.
I know the best way is to have a knowledgeable person reline it with new canvas and restretch it.

Any thoughts on how to remount it without spending that kind of money?
They don't want to spend but say it is a relatively valuable piece... $1,700 or so.
Some sort of nori type glue to an archival board?
It's 25 1/4 x 40.
 
There have been a few that I have had to sew strips of canvas to the existing canvas for stretching. I believe that is an acceptable practice for lower priced canvas art with I consider $1,700.00 as lower priced. just a suggestion...
 
Would you consider any sort of adhesive to attach those strips?
Yeah, I don't consider $1,700 to be relatively valuable, either.
 
I believe that we used BEVA gel (At the recommendation of someone on the Grumble) the last time we had to reline.
I've been meaning to contact the seller, Museum Services Corporation, to determine if our remaining Gel was still any good.
It has separated over the years.

Brian
 
Since you are not experienced with restoring canvases, use extreme caution.

I would not want to self-insure a $1700 painting just to save a customer some money. And it might become even more valuable if you do something that ultimately causes damage.

This should be handled by a conservator. I am a framer that prefers very low risk.

There seems to be no end of ways customers find to make us partners in their financial problems.

Joe's suggestion about sewing strips is probably the least invasive. But what if some other part of the canvas fails while you are stretching it? You will own that problem, too.

Beva strips would probably work, but I would like to experiment on 20-30 yard sale paintings before trying it on a customer's artwork.

There are classes on using this technique, but even after a hands-on class, I would not feel confident in doing a job like this.
 
Actually, I was thinking of maybe sandwiching between acrylic and an 8 ply rag mat so it could be put in a frame.
Definitely the least invasive.
Rather not do any sewing or gluing if possible.

After 26 years, I have no desire to learn or do any relining of canvases.
I'm lucky I managed to get the wife to agree that the way over detailed gold frame was too far gone in shedding pieces of the surface and go with a new simpler gold frame.

Now to convince them to have someone else do any work on the canvas or just sandwich it.
 
I think that the acrylic might be a good solution. I think I got stuck on the value. I did think of this and remarked to myself that I would do it on a $300 painting. It is probably pretty low risk.
 
Funny... she has decided that she wouldn't like the glare of the plexi so she is wanting me to just re-stretch it, knowing that they will lose a couple of inches along each side.
Doesn't want to just dry mount it to something flat...again loss of "value".:faintthud:

So much for the "Value" of it. She managed to convince her hubby the old frame is junk and the new one would look way better, so I'm sure she will convince him to re-stretch it as well.
Alpha female, Omega male.
A perfect example of the need for a PITA button on the computer. :thumbsup:
 
It would not be "unchanged" since there would be some residue of acrylic adhesive, but I have found that I can peel canvas right off of regular Kool Tack if I mount it at 150F for 20-30 seconds. It will let loose on the edges overnight if you need to increase the dwell time.

I am doing this on $20 street paintings, however.
 
Funny... she has decided that she wouldn't like the glare of the plexi so she is wanting me to just re-stretch it.

A perfect example of the need for a PITA button on the computer. :thumbsup:

I would be extremely nervous about restretching, knowing some has deteriorated already. Who knows what other surprises might be waiting.

I think your initial idea of sandwiching would be far preferable.

Everyone has a PITA button installed, right?:beer:
 
All things considered, it sounds like its time to walk away. I don't see many win-wins here. mostly lose-lose.
 
Yeah Larry..
I gotta agree with you.
When he called a couple of weeks ago, just from his description of the frame damage and the fact that he let slip the he figured it would only cost about $200, I told him i wasn't that interested. He called me a week later and convinced me to let him just bring it in and let me see it.

After seeing it, I KNEW I didn't want to have anything to do with that frame damage. His wife brought it in and, apparently has taken over the project.
She agreed with me about the frame, so at least three was that.


Sorry, a bit distracted, my local radio station is playing Janis singing Summer time!!!
Oh, yeah!!
 
Well, it does go with the age of the music.:nuts:
 
I do not remember the last time I listened to the radio.

In the car its SiriusXM; 60s on 6, 70s on 7, pop, Electronic Dance Music (go ahead and judge me), Willie's Roadhouse and a couple of others.
In the shop its my ancient Zune that I keep waiting to die with the best ripped from about 400 CDs, mostly 60s and classical and SiriusXM streaming
At home, I seldom listen but when I do it usually Honky Tonk on Directv's Music Choice.
 
You can't be everything for all people. Send this job and its worries to a pro. Move on and win.
 
Where my mind is heading as well.
 
I've done strip lining but I was on a new piece where the artist had decided to paint to the edge of the canvas. With an older and obviously more fragile canvas, the options would be to outsource the lining to a conservator or turn down the job. Anything short of that will only add to the cost of having it done correctly at some future date.
Also a word of caution about a DCO with acrylic on an oil painting. If there is any vehicle (usually linseed oil) still active in the paints it could cause a bond at the contact points of the pigments and acrylic.
Taking the owner's word as to the "value" of the piece might also turn around to bite you should something go south in the process. I would require a 3rd party replacement cost appraisal. Jerry is the pro on that kind of thing, so maybe he'll chime in.
 
Well.... that went as well as expected. I waited a couple of days and she called me so I told her I was going to pass on working on it for one of your main reasons.. if I screw up the canvas while trying to re-stretch it smaller, then I'm on the hook.

The second reason is that I just didn't want to do it in the first place. I don't ned the money THAT bad. :beer:
 
The second reason is that I just didn't want to do it in the first place. I don't ned the money THAT bad. :beer:
[/QUOTE]

We all need to do that more often IMHO.
 
Good for you Ralph! The wise decision for sure.

I actually had a returning customer today, whose project I rejected about 5 years ago. Oversized (46x60). He wanted a metal frame and glass. The kind of metal frame with hardly any lip. Original art, not inexpensive.

I was not going to touch that. I told him why I wouldn’t and although he was polite, he also didn’t believe me.

Well, guess what? The glass snapped and it actually took a big hunk out of the art. So he had to spend money on restoration.
He isn’t sure if he wants to reframe this at this time, as “the fun is out of it now”.
He did bring me something else to frame, I think this is a test drive for him really.

I never have a problem saying “no” if I truly don’t want the headache.
 
A few years ago, Paul McFarland recommended floating canvases with Dual Lock. He specified that the idea was purely for decorative framing, not preservation. I hesitated, because I didn't know the temps at which the adhesive might give way. But sharing the idea, just for the heck of it. At the time, he said people were unstapling canvases and floating them flat, with all the staple holes showing. I've since floated a couple of cheap tourist paintings by mounting them on Canvas Mount Cor. But the acrylic was very thin, with no texture to speak of. And it wasn't varnished.
 
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