Backing oil paintings

[Zolf]

I have a few reasonably expensive oil paintings to frame. How do you guys finish off the back: paper it or let it breathe?

Has any of you used these stepped floats? Whats the best method of attaching them to the paintings?

I appreciate all the help I can get. Cheers, Zoltan.

[prospero]

As a general practice I leave them open. Some people like to run tape between the frame and stretcher to keep dust out. I don't like to see canvases with bits of tape residue stuck to them. If they are open the canvas can be more easily inspected.

The simplest way to fix canvases into floater frames is screws from the back. One in the centre of each side will suffice on most cases. Bear in mind that if the canvas has to be re-tensioned at any time, don't fix it back in the same holes.

[Zolf]

Thanks for the advice. In the meantime I finished two out of four and decided to leave them open, I thought my work is neat enough; the customer was very pleased. (I don't even have tape, I can't think of an instance I'd have a need for it.) I thought about the screws, though my approach is not to put holes into any part of the canvas . I think I'll experiment with some springs. Or hidden brackets.

[prospero]

I depends on if you the regard the stretcher bars as part of the painting. They do after all have lots of staples/tacks in them already. To my mind, a few more screws are neither here nor there..... If it were an old and delicate canvas or something with historical significance I might think twice about screwing into the bars. But in a case like that you are unlikely to want to float it.

You could devise some system of hooking clips around the inside of the bars, but this could present a danger of the clips touching the back of the canvas. I would stick to the screws. As long as you don't do something silly like putting too long a screw in and coming though the front, it's the elegant solution.

One point. Make the holes in the frame bigger than the screws and put a washer on the screw head. Don't tighten the screws too much. Canvases vary, but this way allows for a little movement if the frame or bars should expand or shrink.