Great idea! It's an elegant solution to carving the complex mitered bridle joints with the key holes! What I also like about it is that glueing the timbers in layers like that makes for a more stable stretcher bar as each layers will be supporting the other. My two main concerns would be to make sure to use a glue that will not fail over time (maybe I would add a few screws as a fail safe). I'm also wondering how cost effective that whole process is against buying single lengths of timber as I imagined buying multiple pre dimensioned timber this way would cost more. All in all this is an excellent idea, thank you for sharing, I'm sure to try it out!
Thanks for the positive feedback. The wood glue I use(for internal and external use) is stronger than the wood. On a couple of occassions when I've disassembled a bar after gluing one of them in the opposite direction, the wood tears at the joint - it doesn't break cleanly. I don't know what time scale it would deteriorate at, if at all? And I would not use screws. I buy the timber for these stretcher bars in packs of 10, 2.4m in length and cut them to the size of the stretchers that my wife requires. It's more economical than buying pre-cut pieces.
Thank you so much for this ! How do reckon this will age ? Do you trust the glue over centuries ? Will try the method on a 100x100cm frame, can't wait. Good day to you, sir.
I hadn't given a thought to the longevity, into centuries, of my stretchers. When I've pulled a laminate apart (because of an error) after a few hours or so of being glued, the joint doesn't separate at the glue, it tears the wood to separate. The glue is stronger than the wood. If you are making 100x100cm frame, you'll need to fit central brace bars. I tried all kinds of complicated methods in making adjustable brace bars and have now found that you can purchase Brace Bar Brackets. They fix to ends of the brace bars and are adjustable allowing a central key to be inserted after you've adjusted the corner keys to re-tension the canvas
I have been searching for a few years,ways to make stretcher bars but found way too many videos with specialized machinery. I can finally stop using strainers. YOU,SIR ARE A GENIUS.
Thanks! this was SO useful. All videos out there that claim to be making stretchers are actually for strainers... This is a real stretcher! I sort of knew how the joint was made up, but I always assumed it was cut. I never realized it could be done laminating. Laminating is actually better for preventing warping in the bars themselves too...
Glad it helps! On some of my wife's larger stretchers I made a central support with dowels at each end. I then made a 4" slot either end of the bar, below the dowels, which then had a sliding piece of wood attached to it with small nuts and bolts, which could be adjusted upwards and tightened, to take the slack out of the middle of the stretcher, when necessary. The other crossbar had to be made in two parts, using the same adjusting method, and joining the central support using dowels, It's not a simple method and because the pressure on the laminate is not on the face of the bar, which is its weakest part, but downwards, which is its strongest, I've gone up to 1m x 1m size canvases without the cross supports and they hold up. It's not the best solution and when I think of a better one I'll make a video.
i watched 10 "How to make stretcher frame videos" and none of them understud what the stretcher part in a stretcher frame is and all of them made a frame. Happy to see you video of someone how knows what it is and how to make it. Thank you very mutch
Thank you Mr Saunders! I came her looking for a video teaching me the way to to it in one piece. But this is way better! And structurally speaking, it's better than one-piece bars, on the same principle that plywood is more structurally stable than solid wood. And the risk of detachment between the pieces is almost 0 if a good glue is used thanks to the fact that the contact surface is very wide. Thank you very much, greetings from Mexico.
Good to hear it's of use to you. And as you say, it is structurally stronger. Many thanks for the comment and greetings from Finland, where my wife and I have almost finished our summer long stay.
I am also married to an artist. So many people (including artists) don't know the difference between a stretcher and a strainer frame. I thought I would never be able to build a proper stretcher, but you have devised a brilliant technique. This is going to score many points for me, thank you!
Hi Rod, thank you for publishing such a fantastic and useful video, I very much appreciate it! Is there any chance you can make a similar follow-up video of the dimensions for keyed/adjustable cross-brace supports and how to cut and install them in a large or very large canvas frame? Also, what type of adhesive would you recommend? I'm not sure how to determine whether a glue is archival or not. Thank you.
Thanks for the very complementary comment. 🙂 I made that video because I couldn't find any other method for a DIYer to make one, outside of owning some serious tools. I've made adjustable cross braces, but not with keys. I make them using 3cm x 3cm hardwood. 1 piece goes across the longest inside edges of the stretcher and 2 pieces go either side of it forming the square to the other inside edges of the stretcher. The 2 shorter pieces forming the square are fixed to the long piece with dowels, tight, without glue. Again, I use dowels where the square brace meets the inside edge of the stretcher. Just drill the holes for the dowels, which are inserted into the ends of the braces leaving half the dowel projecting out the end, again tight with no glue. The corresponding holes for the other end of the dowels in the inside of the stretcher bars can be slightly larger than the dowels to facilitate movement when you adjust them. To adjust them make a 40mm L x 15mm W slots, 40mm down from the ends of the braces where they go against the inside of the stretcher bar. Cut a 60mm x 30mm x 15mm piece of hardwood batten and drill 2 holes in it 10mm from each end. Fix it on top of the slot with 2 small nuts and bolt (I use plastic), with washers large enough to cover the slots to stop the bolts going through when they are tightened. Before the bolt is tightened you can slide it up and down. You need to fit the brace to three sides of your stretcher frame and then tap on the last bar. When the stretcher is adjusted with the keys, the brace will be loose and can be tightened by loosening the nut and bolt and adjusting the brace to edges of the stretcher, then retightening. It sounds complicated and is a bit finicky, but I don't have the time (or the enthusiasm to make another video), but I hope this helps.
@@rodsaunders149 Thank you for that description. Sorry you aren't interested in making another video, but I get it, it's a lot of work. Which adhesives are archival that you would recommend for this project?
@@lowslow3612 The wood glues I've been using aren't labelled as archival and I haven't come across one when making my wife's stretchers. My description of these stretchers being 'archival' is that the canvas can be re-tensioned by gently tapping the keys into the slots. However, when I first put the video up one person responded that a gallery would not tighten a canvas with this method but would use a fixed stretcher and when the canvas needed tightening, the staples would be removed and the canvas re-stretched using the hand tool and re-stapled.
Re: cross-brace supports. I've just come across brace bar brackets which fit to the ends of the brace bars and are adjustable, allowing a key to be inserted after the corner keys are tapped in to re-tension the canvas, keeping everything square. I've no connection with this firm which sell them: www.lionpic.co.uk/search?q=brace+bar+brackets
Excellent video, thank you. I’ve seen several videos for making stretchers with a more rigid joinery (pocket holes, nailed back supports) but those don’t explain how stretcher keys would fit into the picture. Bit of a head scratcher. I was intimidated by the tongue and groove miter joint but now I see it can simply be laminated. Thanks so much!
Thank you Rod for the informative video. Very well done. I think you're the only one I've found that explains how these are built. I just noticed that you have holes drilled on the right side fronts just below the beveled piece. Are these just for your reference for placement or do they have another function?
thank you so much for posting this - I'm a senior art student, I can't really afford to buy stretcher bars for my large finished paintings (painted them stretched on the wall) -- I made a strainer with nailed corners for now. next time I make one I'll be able to do it properly
What are your thoughts on using thin plywood for the ‘canvas’ and gluing and nailing everything together? I started doing this but don’t know whether it’s frowned upon. I suppose the glue between the plys in the plywood could become questionable in terms of being archival.
Hi, I can't advise you on this; it sounds like a lot of work though. Art material suppliers sell block boards in different wood e.g. Baltic birch and Japanese woods.
Thanks! Very kind. My wife has a show in a gallery in Helsinki this month. We disassembled the stretchers to travel from London with them and will reassemble them in time for their display.
@@rodsaunders149 ive been painting for 35 yrs but always used board mdf ect, and just started usibg canvas. Im thinking of using pvc batterns what dont shrink.
It's a lot easier to make a fixed stretcher frame, but as I said, if you want to tension the canvas once it slackens you will have to go through more work removing it than just (gently) tapping in the keys to add tension
OK. I made this video because I couldn't find any video showing how to make adjustable stretcher bars. Make a video using those plans. I'd be interested to see the finished product.
@@rodsaunders149 I’m a carpenter by trade, so I immediately went to a mitred bridle joint, with one blade. Not to sure if I can describe it well enough. One corner of the joint would have been cut at 45 and then taken the middle 3rd out to form a socket for the blade to sit in. The other would be cut square and the top and bottom 3rds taken off at a 45 leaving the middle 3rd square and projecting out. End result is a single blade 45 mitre with room for one key. All this can be done on a table saw and is reasonably quick and doesn’t require laminating the boards together. I’m curious though, is this the standard way to make the frame for canvas pictures? I also watched some restoration videos to get ideas, and they all seemed to use mitred bridle joints.
I don't know if my method is the standard way of making a mitred joint. I couldn't find a video of how to do it on RU-vid, so figured out this way myself. Your method sounds good, try both and see how they turn out. My wife is the artist in the house and she says all conservation stretcher bars are made with bridle joints. The manufactured wooden ones, of varying degrees of quality e.g. thinner wood, and cheap canvas, are made with the bridle joint, as well.
@@rodsaunders149 I would say that no, your way is not standard!! For this though I think it is superior to a standard bridal joint. I've done bridal joints before, that's why I was happy to see another method. I've already got the frame made, it worked wonderfully. Thanks again for enlightening me!
Thank you so much for the video! I am making a jarrah stretcher and needed a solution that didn't rely on expensive equipment. Also, your kitten was a delight!
Great work! I was looking to frame a canvas which is 150 x 100 cm and thinking I would need some bracing for this. I notice that you haven't glued anything to allow the keys to restretch the canvas. I assume you would also not glue the cross bracing. Is that true?
Thanks! Yes, you assumed right. You make it a tight fit. A frame this size would need a bracing cross. You could glue small wooden stops on one side of the underside of the stretcher where the cross meets, and angle the cut of the tops of the cross, allowing you to tap in a key on the other side of the stop.
Thanks for the reply Rod :) very helpful and I think I can visualise what you are describing, so that's great! On previous canvas stretch frames, I have sliced the top face of the frame with a table saw to create an angle (so that the highest edge is on the outside and the lowest is on the inside). I assume this is for the same reason you have the semi-circular beads (to avoid the "ghost frame" effect). Is there a reason you would go for the beads over an angled face on the frame or is it just availability of tools/materials?
@@maverick040690 I used the bead because I had it, but I also use quadrant when I have that...whatever is at hand. But I prefer either of these options than ripping the timber down for the angle, though I suppose it does make it lighter.
@@rodsaunders149 fair enough. I was thinking it makes a smoother edge and there is less chance of paint cracking as you strech over the corners rather than angling the face. I guess you could always route the edge if you wanted to achieve the effect. Thanks for the help Rod! Will give this a go :)
Rod.... I apologize for my behaviour yesterday....I was pissed off at something, and you got the brunt of it! My apologies. Bill I'm going to delete that terrible review......please forgive me and forget I even spoke!
