VARNISH OR FRAME SEALING TAPE?

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SLC_Brande

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Jan 28, 2005
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Salt Lake City Utah
When we build stretcher bars we usually put a coat of varnish over the raw wood to seal it. Is this acceptable,or would it be better for the canvas to use frame sealing tape instead?

thanks!
shrug.gif
 
You are doing alot more than most artists do or many framers for that matter although not many of them will admit to it. I am in the middle of mounting about 80 canvasses that my boss brought back with her from a recent buying trip. We don't coat the stretcher bars with anything. I have my own opinion about how safe this method is but I am not the owner of the gallery any more and I have to speak my opinion and, if it is overruled, I do what I am told to do by the person who signs my paycheck.

There isn't any "do or be damned" with me on this matter. I need a paycheck to survive and so I have to compromise sometimes to what I have held as correct in the past. I don't like it but I am not the decision maker here so that is the reality of the situation.

To answer your question, a solid coating of finish, be it varnish, polyurethane, or whatever, or a complete line of barrier tape on the surfaces that the canvas will come in direct contact with should minimize deterioration of the cotton duck. One is much more expensive than the other but both should provide adequate protection if those are your only choices and protection of the back of the canvas is your prime concern.

Framerguy
 
I agree with Framerguy that any kind of barrier is better than nothing, especially considering that most canvases rest on raw wood. But as usual, the real question is: How much preservation do you want?

Chemical migration is the issue, from the wood into the canvas. In framing, two absolute barriers against chemical migration are practical: glass and metal. They both work forever.

Varnish is good for the short term, but its thin coating eventually cracks and deteriorates, and the contaminants would seep through, just as they would seep through a 4-ply matboard. Clear polyester film (Melinex 516) is better, but contaminants could eventually penetrate that, as well.

For this application, foil tape is the best choice, such as Lineco's rabbet-lining tape. When I use it, I overlap its edges on the stretcher bars after they are assembled. Then I stretch the canvas as usual, using bias-placed stainless steel staples or copper-plated tacks.

I do not include the keys for future stretching; they reperesent more of a hazard than a help until they are needed, anyway. Anyone qualified to key-out a canvas should have keys under the bench.
 
Originally posted by Framerguy:
I am in the middle of mounting about 80 canvasses that my boss brought back with her from a recent buying trip.
Click to expand...
Let me guess.

They came from China or some third world country and the wholesale price was 40 bucks or less each.

If that is the case, why would you be concerned about conservation anyway?
 
Originally posted by Jerry Ervin:
</font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />Originally posted by Framerguy:
I am in the middle of mounting about 80 canvasses that my boss brought back with her from a recent buying trip.
Click to expand...
Let me guess.

They came from China or some third world country and the wholesale price was 40 bucks or less each.

If that is the case, why would you be concerned about conservation anyway? </font>[/QUOTE]I am assuming that you meant that comment in the nicest of terms as you plucked it out of an explanation that would imply that I don't necessarily condone what I have been told to do.

Apparently my boss ISN'T much concerned about conservation nor does she necessarily KNOW much about conservation. I never said anything to the contrary. And I thought I was perfectly clear whose decision it was to stretch these canvasses in this manner. It happens that this batch of canvasses is of lesser known artists that we carry to help promote their art and give our buying clientele a broad variety of art to choose from.

I offered what I thought was fairly basic advice and it seems like lately that isn't enough for this crowd. To clear the air, we carry such artists as Inam, a well known Pakistani artist, Bernard Alaux from Southern FRance, Peter Green, our most popular landscape artist, Kathryn Joseph, her style is vaguely similar to some works of Tarkay only more composed, Greg Lambert, one of the most renowned golf course artists. Hmmmm, no Oriental names as yet????? Let's see, how about John Clark of Atlanta, ....... nope that won't do, maybe Wilfred, he was born in Shangai but technically, he bounces back and forth between his homes in Europe and here in the US.

Ah! Ra Young! Oriental artist, Oriental born, Oriental looking, Oriental touch to his art work, yeah, now we are on track. I'm not sure if Ra Young is from China but I am sure that all those places look alike over there, don't they??

Our canvasses start at $99 for some of the lesser known local artists in 8x10 and go upwards of $8,000 and 3 that I would never divulge the price unless you were a serious buyer.

I guess its the type of discrimination that blacks and gays face every day in their environment. The number of canvasses I am stretching is large but we sell a large number of canvasses. So, if you equate that to your own business, maybe that will explain the number instead of assuming that they are cheap ripoffs from an Oriental sweat shop simply because we have so many to do.

I am smiling all the way through this post so don't take it to mean that you have made me mad at all! I am just amazed at what some people will say with little or no background information when given the chance to do so.

Framerguy
 
I really didn't think that you had any ill intent with your post, Jerry. I guess you missed my move up from HL shop manager to a high end original art gallery frameshop manager down here on the Emerald coast. I have come back home and I have not regretted my time at the HL end of the spectrum either. I learned quite a bit about marketing to a wider span of customers than what my target market was before and now I can carry that knowledge with me if I ever decide to open my own business again.

I have to say that my boss and her husband have treated me like royalty so far! I don't know what circumstances would have to arise to make me go back to building my own clientele database again. I am being paid well for what I love to do and people appreciate my work. I have a steady paycheck (she keeps trying to pay me too often!!) and I don't have all the headaches of operating my own business.

FGII
 
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