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Stretcher Bars |
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Because stretcher bars are the "unseen" part of the canvas, they're often not discussed. But what use is a really nice canvas if it's mounted on a wooden coat hanger?
Our stretcher bars are:
- 32mm in profile
- Hard wood making our stretched paintings on canvas more sturdy and even less likely to warp over time
- Bevelled edges to prevent cracking
- Bevelled contour to prevent 'ghosting' - an impression of the canvas touching the stretcher bar
- Eco-select making it friendly on the environment
- Inclusive of keys (wedges) in each corner to allow for retensioning those larger canvases if ever required
The first thing to consider is whether or not it's been kiln dried. Wood is a porous material, that is, it absorbs water. When it absorbs water, the wood expands and as it dries it shrinks. All this expanding and shrinking causes the wood to warp over time, much like the pages of a book that get wet - they irreparably ripple. Kiln dried wood is protected from warping and this means you don't have a canvas unevenly sitting on your wall.
The next thing to consider is the quality of the wood used. Low quality wood is likely to crack over time, or break if the canvas is dropped. Kiln-dried pine is great, but Genius Printing uses kiln-dired, Eco-select, hardwood, that does not leach tannins (tannic acid).
Then there's the shape of the bars themselves. "Square" bars rest against the back of the canvas and over time create a visible impression - not good! To prevent this we use bevelled stretcher bars, which are slightly cut away on the side that faces the canvas so that the only contact point on the facing side is on the very very edge - and NOT the entire width of the stretcher bar. This edge is also rounded off so the canvas doesn't stretch over a sharp, 90 degree angled frame edge.
Then there's the physical depth (profile) of the stretcher bar. A stretcher bar that is very small will not sit out from the wall, losing the depth that a canvas print or painting would normally have. We use 3.2cm thick stretcher bars, what we think is the optimal depth for canvas printing.
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