gallerywraps?

sheilainuk

Grumbler in Training
Joined
Feb 2, 2006
Posts
5
Loc
skelton in cleveland, united kingdom
Hi there! I am new to this so I hope you will bear with me! I am a picture framer in England and I have recently been asked to do stretch some canvas and leave with no frame ( I believe you call them gallery wraps). What I would like is some advice on whether to fold the corners or cut them, also I find the stretcher bars warp slightly. Can anybody help me out please? Perhaps there is another way completely that I don't know about!
shrug.gif
 
ok........ basically small stretching projects.....

I like to keep the corners whole without too much cutting. I like the style where the extra is balanced on both sides of a corner. Sort of looks like "hospital corners" on a bed from each side.


One trick is to spray the corner with water and hammer the overlaps with a hammer to flattem them prior to stapeling from the back side. Then give the stretched canvas to the artist for painting.

As far a warping is concerned. You could always use heavier bars.
 
You can relieve the corners of the stretcher bar ever so slightly with a very sharp chisel so your neat folds don't project outward.
Warped stretchers can be caused by size or quality. You should be able to use standard weight stretchers for this project as long as they are a good quality.

Q: Is the image getting wrapped or just some of the white canvas of the margins? If you wrap some of the image around the stretcher, it will probably produce a crack in the image where it bends.
 
Hi Wally, Yes the image is getting wrapped as well. Someone told me that if the canvas was over stretched that could warp the bars, but surely if that was the case it would be apparent straight away, not a few days after when the customer has it on his wall?!
 
You may want to make sure the corners are square. Pushing them into a square door jam is a simple trick.
 
Sheila,

Welcome to the Grumble! I hope you find our ideas as interesting as many that I see on the framing forum on your side of the pond.

Regarding gallery wrapped canvasses, over here they are usually done on heavier strainer bars up to 1 1/2" square and either the image is wrapped around the outside face of the bars or, in some cases, a black margin is printed/painted to the outside of the image which covers the outside face of the strainer bars. Most of them have a brace down the middle of the long sides to strengthen them.

I recently built my first gallery wrap frame from scratch and sort of learned as I went. You should relieve (bevel, much like most stretcher bars are bevelled) the face of the strainer bar, that which is behind the image of the canvas before you chop and join the strainer. Also, the brace should be slightly narrower than the thickness of the strainer so it doesn't leave its outline down the center of the canvas after all is completed. When attaching it, you would flush it up to the back edges of the strainer which would leave it inboard of the canvas.

I rounded the edges of the strainer that were in contact with the canvas with a hand plane. You could also run the stock through a router or sand the edges to soften them.

Regarding the canvas corners, on most of our bought gallery wraps, the corners are folded square with the corner of the strainer on the bottom and top and stapled in place. That leaves the sides of the stretched canvas clean and with no folds which is preferable if one is to hang the canvas by itself. I didn't have any trouble with the folds lying flat, you simply have to take your time and be careful when you fold so the canvas is seated deep in the under fold. I did learn that it is easier to make that corner fold before you staple too close to the corners. I was about 8" from the corners and I will probably leave more room, 12" or more next time. I got the corners folded OK but it would have been easier if I had a bit more room.

Good luck.

Framerguy
 
Thanks everyone for your advice. I think I will do the orders I have and then knock it on the head - after all we are supposed to be FRAMERS, aren't we??!!! Besides the chap that wants me to do these wants them done cheaply (approx £8 -£10 each), not worth the bother, I think!!!!
 
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