This past weekend, I built a 4ft x 4ft stretcher for a new painting. Here are the steps I took:
1) buy wood - 1in thick x 2in wide is a good dimension if you want your painting to have thicker edges. Try to buy wood that is not too warped.
2) cut four pieces of wood the same length. In my case, 4 feet long.
3) use a compound mider saw or other tool to cut a 45 degree angle at each end of the wood
4) use a corner clamp to hold the ends of two pieces of wood together.
5) drill two starter holes into the joint, where the ends of the two boards meet
6) use the drill to place a screw in each starter hole, securing the ends of the two boards together
7) repeat steps 4-6 for each corner of the stretcher
8) use a mider saw to cut your corner supports. For a 4ft x 4ft canvas, my corner supports are about 11 inches long, but you can work with different sizes.
9) place the corner support where you intend to screw it in. Stack the corner support on another board so that it meets the center of the board that it will be nailed into. See picture for clarification. The object is to minimize the amount of surface space between the stretcher and the canvas.
10) drill a pre hole and then screw the corner support into the stretcher. I used one screw per end of the support.
11) repeat steps 9 and 10 for all four corners of your stretcher.
It takes approximately 1-2 hours to build your first stretcher, but it's worth the effort since the end result will be much nicer than what you can typically buy at an art store.
1) buy wood - 1in thick x 2in wide is a good dimension if you want your painting to have thicker edges. Try to buy wood that is not too warped.
2) cut four pieces of wood the same length. In my case, 4 feet long.
3) use a compound mider saw or other tool to cut a 45 degree angle at each end of the wood
4) use a corner clamp to hold the ends of two pieces of wood together.
5) drill two starter holes into the joint, where the ends of the two boards meet
6) use the drill to place a screw in each starter hole, securing the ends of the two boards together
7) repeat steps 4-6 for each corner of the stretcher
8) use a mider saw to cut your corner supports. For a 4ft x 4ft canvas, my corner supports are about 11 inches long, but you can work with different sizes.
9) place the corner support where you intend to screw it in. Stack the corner support on another board so that it meets the center of the board that it will be nailed into. See picture for clarification. The object is to minimize the amount of surface space between the stretcher and the canvas.
10) drill a pre hole and then screw the corner support into the stretcher. I used one screw per end of the support.
11) repeat steps 9 and 10 for all four corners of your stretcher.
It takes approximately 1-2 hours to build your first stretcher, but it's worth the effort since the end result will be much nicer than what you can typically buy at an art store.
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