Chase Morgan
Grumbler in Training
Hello everyone,
This being my first post I would like to offer some of my background. I'm a long time lurker of the Grumble and greatly appreciate this amazing resource from those who take the time to offer their insight and experience. I'm not a professional framer, but rather a photographer. I participate in local art shows and decided I wanted to try my hand at making my own frames - nothing fancy, just standard black and white moulding to get my feet wet. I enjoy working with my hands and seeing the finished result of my hard work. During that process, this forum has been invaluable to me when it comes to all things framing, and has answered many questions for me that I otherwise wouldn't be able to answer. I do my own printing for my photography and find myself starting to print on canvas. Previously, I've always printed on fine art paper and would mat and frame my prints. Now, with learning canvas, I have a question I haven't been able to get a definitive answer to regarding stretching canvas.
My question has to do with stretching a canvas that is going to be framed in a traditional frame - not a float frame. My understanding is float frames are typically used for gallery wrapped canvases, where the image wraps around rather thick stretcher bars, usually 1 1/2 inches. What I would like to do is use 1/2 or 3/4 stretcher bars that can sit inside the rabbet of a traditional frame. In doing so, is it standard practice to staple on the back, or do you staple on the side of the stretcher? I'm having an issue with my canvas pliers, in that they have a small tang to hook on the inside of a gallery stretcher to introduce a good stretch, but don't have enough canvas to do that with the thinner 1/2 or 3/4 stretcher bars. Most other pairs I see, I honestly don't understand how you can stretch a canvas with little margin to do so, as they just seem to pull the canvas up and away from the stretcher bars. This is fine if you staple on the side, but if you want to staple on the back, the canvas is now lifted away from the bars. It's kind of hard to explain, but I hope that makes sense. I've been researching canvas pliers and eventually found John Annesley's. I see three pairs that he offers - two that are "wraparound" and one that is "traditional sidetack". The wraparound pliers are very similar to the ones I have, and can only assume the "wraparound" name would be associated with gallery wraps. Whereas the "sidetack" pair is likely what I'm looking for. They appear to have a considerable curve, where you would grab the canvas from the back, pull tight utilizing the curve in the pliers, and staple on the side. Link to these pliers: https://www.johnannesley.com/canvas-pliers Canvas Pliers
Ultimately, I don't think stapling on the side is really that big a deal, considering I'm going to be framing it and you won't see the staples. Also, since I do my own printing, I can always print with larger margins to utilize the pliers I have and staple on the back. However, even though I'm not a professional framer, I always try to do the best job I possibly can and am curious as to what the real professionals do, or would suggest.
Thank you for your time!
Chase
This being my first post I would like to offer some of my background. I'm a long time lurker of the Grumble and greatly appreciate this amazing resource from those who take the time to offer their insight and experience. I'm not a professional framer, but rather a photographer. I participate in local art shows and decided I wanted to try my hand at making my own frames - nothing fancy, just standard black and white moulding to get my feet wet. I enjoy working with my hands and seeing the finished result of my hard work. During that process, this forum has been invaluable to me when it comes to all things framing, and has answered many questions for me that I otherwise wouldn't be able to answer. I do my own printing for my photography and find myself starting to print on canvas. Previously, I've always printed on fine art paper and would mat and frame my prints. Now, with learning canvas, I have a question I haven't been able to get a definitive answer to regarding stretching canvas.
My question has to do with stretching a canvas that is going to be framed in a traditional frame - not a float frame. My understanding is float frames are typically used for gallery wrapped canvases, where the image wraps around rather thick stretcher bars, usually 1 1/2 inches. What I would like to do is use 1/2 or 3/4 stretcher bars that can sit inside the rabbet of a traditional frame. In doing so, is it standard practice to staple on the back, or do you staple on the side of the stretcher? I'm having an issue with my canvas pliers, in that they have a small tang to hook on the inside of a gallery stretcher to introduce a good stretch, but don't have enough canvas to do that with the thinner 1/2 or 3/4 stretcher bars. Most other pairs I see, I honestly don't understand how you can stretch a canvas with little margin to do so, as they just seem to pull the canvas up and away from the stretcher bars. This is fine if you staple on the side, but if you want to staple on the back, the canvas is now lifted away from the bars. It's kind of hard to explain, but I hope that makes sense. I've been researching canvas pliers and eventually found John Annesley's. I see three pairs that he offers - two that are "wraparound" and one that is "traditional sidetack". The wraparound pliers are very similar to the ones I have, and can only assume the "wraparound" name would be associated with gallery wraps. Whereas the "sidetack" pair is likely what I'm looking for. They appear to have a considerable curve, where you would grab the canvas from the back, pull tight utilizing the curve in the pliers, and staple on the side. Link to these pliers: https://www.johnannesley.com/canvas-pliers Canvas Pliers
Ultimately, I don't think stapling on the side is really that big a deal, considering I'm going to be framing it and you won't see the staples. Also, since I do my own printing, I can always print with larger margins to utilize the pliers I have and staple on the back. However, even though I'm not a professional framer, I always try to do the best job I possibly can and am curious as to what the real professionals do, or would suggest.
Thank you for your time!
Chase