custom stretcher bars

[Timh]

just an enquiry to all framers so I can ascertain demand

is there much call for stretcher bars, slotted with braces/centre bars custom made to size.

I know there are several suppliers doing off the shelf and imported but as a framer I can find these sometimes poor quality and don't always match up well.

very interested in comments from every one

[Kwik Picture Framing]

We make our own, Using MDF 40mm wide moulding.

[stcstc]

We make our own, Using MDF 40mm wide moulding.

thats not a stretcher bar - stretcher bars have keyed corners


tim there are a few companies doing them

also there is a couple of companies that sell something in between like the slotted bar and braces as you know

there is also an italian company that make a machine, thats not mad money (1500 euros or so) that make bars with metal adjustable fittings

[Kwik Picture Framing]

Which machine? stcstc. We need to get one, Where not big on canvas, but for that kind of money,Not bad?

[stcstc]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L96JZik1oPQ

[prospero]

I have given a bit of thought to this from time to time. Yes, a source of good quality custom sized stretcher bars would be welcome. As said, there are people who do this but to my exp they are either very poor quality or very expensive.

One way I thought of is to get a couple of table saws with a sliding jig - one set to cut the outside shoulders on the tenon and one to cut the slot. The shoulders are 45deg, but the slot has a funny angle somewhere between. You wouldn't need a bells'n'whistles type saw, but I think you would need one where you could used stacked blades to cut the slot. The settings would be very fine, so once set up you ideally would have to leave it as a dedicated machine. There again if you did different weight of bar you would need another two saws..... And another router setup for cross-brace mortices. And another saw for cross-brace tenons.

More to it than meets the eye.

[Kwik Picture Framing]

Cheers stcstc, have you got one of these?

[stcstc]

nah, looked at it while ago, but canvas isnt as big as was

[markw]

I am always interested in a quality product but there are a few who offer very good stretchers (I use Harrison Moore for mine). I would say that the price of Stretching a canvas with good quality stretcher bars is often fairly high and can be a cost that customers often fail to factor in when they appear with a canvas for framing. Its a hidden factor - perhaps the reason that some framers use stretcher moulding to avoid having to order custom made bars. The resulting stretched canvas may look good for a while - but when it relaxes a bit over time, the lack of wedges will show the shortcomings of an inexperienced framer. cutting stretchers from MDF moulding is certainly not good practice - but no doubt Kwik.

[Timh]

Thanks for the comments so far

I checked out the machine that makes the joints in one movement but costs £35k. A German machine. There is one only in the UK at John Jones in London.
This probably wouldn't pay for itself easily.
Not sure about the metal cornered Italian one. tapping a key seems so much easier

I used to supply Edward Henry with stretcher bar moulding in the length which I think they had a BRF machine to make the joints in one pass.

I do have a process where we could possibly make them from Tulip, and in different sizes. I will test and invest if the interest is there.

Yes they would be a little more pricey than what you would pay from say, Wessex but I would be aiming at a higher quality product which could be ordered in any size down to an eighth of an inch increments

[Tudor Rose]

We use Bird & Davies in London to make custom sized stretcher bars for us and they have always been very good quality, no issues at all and always to the exact mm size required. As with all things you get what you pay for I guess.

[prospero]

Apart from custom one-off sizes, there are metric sizes. I seem to get quite a few. 600mm isn't quite the same as 24" no matter how you jiggle it. Might be worth making a batch or two in the most useful sizes. As far as I know there is no source for a comprehensive range off-the-shelf metric stretchers in the UK.

Unless someone knows different.