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I have read with great interest all the information and advice on stretching canvas on this wonderful forum. However I have this large painted canvas (abstract with lots of bits stuck on!). It was bought abroad and doesn't look like its been stetched before. Far too heavy for tac board and am reluctant to put it in the Hot Press due to bits stuck on to it. Wondering if stetching it is my only option.
I have discussed all my worries with the customer ie. that paint may crack etc and she has signed one of my little disclaimer forms. I haven't stretched a pre-painted canvas before and also have not to date ruined or damaged any work (unless you count the time I accidently spat on a photograph while blowing off a speck of dirt (not to be repeated)). What I'm looking for is someone out there to tell me that it will be ok!!!!! or advise me on what they would do.
You should be all right in stretching this painted canvas since you have stretched raw canvas before. Things to think about:
where is this art from - what type of fabric was used and is it strong enough to be stretched - is the fabric stretchy and prone to sagging afterwards
work from the center out to the corners
check your fabric tension as you go - you can pull out a few staples and tension.
do you have enough border to get a firm grip for stretching
watch the edges when turning upside down to avoid scuffing of the painted surface
A huge thank you to all. Prospero I must have missed that one on my previous search. Thanks also to to mitreman, with all this very welcome advice I will make a start tomorrow. I'll let you know how I get on.
Stretching is the best way to go with this canvas. Some canvases from Asian countries and some aboriginal canvasses are out of square so they can be a pain in the neck sometimes. Some are on flimsy fabric and already have cracked from rolling them up. You don't have any control over the condition they are in, but if handled carefully they can be successfully stretched.
I know that stretching should be done from the centre and work out towards the corners, but I have found that especially with previously stretched canvasses, this can be quite problematic and sometimes the canvas doesn't end up exactly right at the corners so it has to be undone then redone.
My strategy to get the canvas in the right place on the stretcher frame is to staple the corners first. One staple at the corners on the short sides, then on the long sides. This locates the canvas and then I staple in the centre of each long side, then work out from the centre. Same for the short sides.
Recently I have been using the same method for new canvas with great results.
That question is a hard one to answer....... how much tension to apply is a touchy/feely thing. It all depends in how strong your hands are, the weight of the canvas and how "spongy" the canvas is. This is where practice makes perfect.
Basically, just enough cantilever pressure is applied to the canvas pliers to remove any buckling so that the canvas is flat and smooth in all directions. If your are using keyed stretcher bars(the preferred material) you can always add a little more pressure by hammering these keys in a bit.
I suppose the short answer is: "No more than you have to".
If the canvas is flat and does not have any 'flap'' if you rock it back and forth, then it is tight enough. No need to tune it to a high C.
btw. I don't have any pliers. I have only had one canvas where I wished I had. It was very thick stuff and with the paint on it had the feel of a thick piece of leather. I couldn't get it flat with finger grip. But with a few taps on the wedges it came good.
I'd be lost without my canvas stretching pliers - not necc for drum skin-tightness but for holding the canvas at JUST the correct tension/in the right position while I staple - my hands alone don't do 'leverage' - not consistently - and you need it, not least of all, if doing many - or one large one, to ease the stress on your own wrist/finger joints.
I totally respect the fact that others get on well using canvas pliers but I've never got on with them - even when i borrowed some of the really posh(over £100 a pair) ones.
The only time i ever regretted that was the job i had about 6 years ago when i had to stretch 70 canvasses in a week(smallest 1x1metres, largest 1x3.2metres). I didn't have a pneumatic wide crown staple gun then either, so was using an Arrow T50(jaysis - the blisters!), but i made enough money to take 2 weeks off to let my hands heal. 2 weeks off! those were the days!
Roboframer wrote:not necc for drum skin-tightness but for holding the canvas at JUST the correct tension/in the right position while I staple
I always found the trusty thumb and forefinger to be the best tool for that job, as long as both had the prescribed quantity of skin on, but i know there is a more rational way
As 2 of you have commented, pliers are not required.
However, they do save my hands. They are not quite as forgiving as they used to.
And as a friend of mine used to say..... "my middle name is not Manuel Labour" He was an iron worker / rigger erector for over 30 years and knew how to use tools to save his back. Have you ever tried to move a 1,000 ton press? BTY, have you ever seen one person take a bear hug of a full size refrigerator and lift it! He could actually do it in his younger days.
I use a pneumatic staple gun with wide staples(about 11mm) - they are much less likely to cut through the canvas. Also its best if the gun has some adjustment for the depth the staple is fired in to - again it stops it cutting the canvas, and means you can set it up properly. For instance with some painted canvasses it can be handy to put the first few staples in, then check it lines up properly with all the corners and if it doesn't and you've set the depth well its really easy to remove the errant staples without damaging the canvas. Once i've finished stapling i go around it with a small hammer and tap in any staples which are left slightly proud - its better to err on the side of caution rather than fire some staples in too far.
Save the carpet tacks for laying carpet - they cut through the canvas and weaken it and they always seem to rust very readily too. If you can afford the extra money get the stainless steel staples.
with regard to staples v tacks, the question was raised on a conservation site a while ago
Here is a conservators answer
My personal preferred method of stretching canvas is to use staples,
because I feel that the action of a stapler driving a staple into
the wood is less jarring than that of driving in a tack with a
hammer, taking repeated blows to get the tack in. I space my
staples a staple-width apart, so that each staple point is equally
spaced along the edge. In this way, I feel the tension points along
the perimeter of the canvas are equally spaced, and, providing that
the canvas was stretched evenly, offers the most uniform tensioning
in the canvas. I also staple through a protective strip of awning
canvas (a twill tape may also be used). This buffers the canvas
slightly from the staples, and offers an easy release strip if
removing the staples is necessary.
Nancy Pollak,
Conservator of Paintings and Painted Textiles,
Art Care Associates
I would caution everyone against placing staples 'a staple width apart'. That would be far too many staples and holes in the canvas.
Staples should be placed at random angles and not in one straight line so that the stress on one simgle thread is minimised. The stretcher bars should be coated with a gas impermeable barrier such as Lineco's metallised tape to insulate the canvas from acid in the wooden stretcher bars.
I can't say that I particularly enjoy stretching canvases, but we all have to do it. In my own case, I don't have compressed air powered staplers and I have found that some manual staplers can be far worse than others, so take care when choosing your stapler.
However the biggest improvement in making the task less unpleasant, was when I bought a decent pair of canvas pliers, which encorporated a cantilever system of levers and pivots so that your hand does not tire so easily.
These better types of pliers cost a lot more than the more basic offerings and may be a problem for those starting out with limited budgets, as I did. It's still worth getting the basic pliers if your budget is limited, but when you can afford the better ones, you'll be very glad to make the switch and ditch the originals.
Mark Lacey
“Life is short. Art long. Opportunity is fleeting. Experience treacherous. Judgement difficult.”
― Geoffrey Chaucer
In the states, conservators are increasingly using copper tacks, with little board "washers". I'm assuming this has to do with the rust of conventional blue tacks, though I've handled very old canvases where the tacks are fine; the canvas has rotted at the edges.
I personally prefer staples; easier to apply, and a broad holding area, but I also have learned not to argue with painting conservators.
The library will probably have books, Artists Handbooks; I have several, by different authors, Ralph Mayer, Ray Smith, and others. Materials and Techniques books, as well. Good sources for how to and about things like canvas stretching.
I was in the conservation lab of the Portrait Gallery in Washington DC some years ago. They were using fine round wire staples made from stainless steel for their stretching. Not the broad flat wire of a T-50 or equiv stapler.
also staple through a protective strip of awning canvas (a twill tape may also be used). This buffers the canvas slightly from the staples, and offers an easy release strip if removing the staples is necessary.
The protective tape sounds good, though I think if there is enough of a moisture problem to rust the staples, the other problems will be far more serious than the staples. One of the problems with museum conservators is the pace of the work is conducive to a certain amount of over thinking, whereas a private lab, with a profit motive, may veer a little in the opposite direction.
Being of the belief, though not always an actuality, that an occasional profit is a good thing, I'll stick with the plain staples.
and also have not to date ruined or damaged any work (unless you count the time I accidently spat on a photograph while blowing off a speck of dirt 
(not to be repeated)). What I'm looking for is someone out there to tell me that it will be ok!!!!! or advise me on what they would do.
But with a few taps on the wedges it came good. 
