Custom canvas size
 

Does anyone know of a company that stretches custom sized canvas?

I really hate stretching my own and try to use standards, but cannot this time.

Thanks for any help.

There's an outfit in Austin that does this. Don't have the contact info at the moment, but will have it for you a little later today.

Kim, there's a lot written here about New Traditions panels. They will make up the panels at any size you want, or you can a ready -made size and trim it with a utility knife.

Linda Brandon just got a custom - size panel, and I think it had reinforced cradling on the back.

Kim, you wrote: I had not stretched a canvas since college (a LONG time ago!) until last year and thought it would be difficult. Even in college I stretched only a few canvases.

Then I started to really enjoy using the Claessens linen which comes on a roll. I began stretching my own canvases and found it to be surprisingly easy. In the past year or so I have stretched at least a couple dozen canvases, up to 30x40" in size. I like the flexibility of being able to have a canvas in any size I want, when I want it, and with top quality linen available in a wide range of textures and weights. I can also easily remove and restretch a painting, too, if I need to.

Kim, I'm not sure if you've stretched a bunch of canvases lately and just don't enjoy the process, or if you may not have much experience with it and may be thinking it's a difficult thing to do. It's really not hard, and to me, well worth doing myself.

Thanks all-

Chris, I have never used a panel; I will have to try that. I guess I am leery of using if for the first time on something important. Linda had also mentioned ABS panels and I tried to find some locally, but did not. I am going to read that link you posted again.

Michelle, maybe I have not been shown or learned how to do it right, but I am never happy with mine that I stretch - they are just not tight enough and I may not have enough patience. My husband does it for me and they are better, but still not perfect. Besides, waiting on him is torture. I agree I should learn to do this better. That's a goal I wrote down for this year as a matter of fact, but I am procrastinating.

Steven, whenever you have that information on an Austin company that does it I'd love to hear.

Thanks!

Dear Kim,

Perhaps I am using the term "panel" a bit too loosely. When I say "panel", I mean a firm surface, either directly affixed to, or adhered on a rigid support. In opposition to the "springboardy" quality of a stretched canvas, where behind the linen lies only air.

I know many painters who are impassioned about each type of surface. Like most things, there isn't a right or wrong, just the thing that you personally prefer. I like the rigid surface, but I can name a dozen painters who hate it.

KIm,
I don't know the answer to your question about stretched canvasses, but if you are interested in trying ABS panels you might try calling Laird Plastics in San Antonio, 210 657-6001. They should have 4ft x 8ft sheets of ABS.

Kim,

If you need to stretch your own REALLY custom size, here's an idea:

I have a composition I am working on that measures 30 1/2 " x 35 1/2 ". I successfully achieved this in a stretched linen canvas using (Utrecht) heavy duty stretchers that were 30" x 36". What I did was to knock the four corners out of kilter by 1/4 " , and then trim the protruding tenons with a saw. Then I stretched the linen over the specially prepared stretchers as I normally would. You need to use heavy duty stretchers, and 1/4" is about as far as you can push each corner. But this doubles to 1/2" overall!

Garth

Chris,

I bet I would love working on a rigid surface, I just need to get my hands on some. I have an email into New Traditions and will try some soon even if I do not get my large one from them.

Chuck - thank you! I am calling them this morning. I must have emailed a dozen places in SA, but only one answered me.

Garth, thank you for that information, sounds like a lot of work though!

Chuck - I got myself an ABS panel yesterday. The company you mentioned was out of stock, but they sent me to others.

I already have my piece I cut (30x60") and sanded. I am looking forward to using it, but I am not sure I will use this material for that size again. I got 1/4" and it's fairly heavy. My husband assures me it is not too heavy to go in a frame and hang, but it seems like it is going to have to be a pretty heavy-duty frame. Next time I will try 3/16" perhaps.

I did get a quote from New Traditions, but it is costly. I want a panel as cheap as canvas dang it! And lightweight, and ready-made, and, and...free pizza.

Kimberly,

I know that there has been some information on the use of ABS panels here. I was initially interested in it, but when I mentioned it to my plastic fabricator, he said not to use it because it warps really badly.

I don't pretend to be an expert on plastic, but I have been researching aternatve substrates for my pastels for quite a while now. My husband is also a electrical and materials scientist and is quite knowledgeable.

I would use canvas if I could, Claessens # 13 DP being my favorite.

Get yourself a good canvas stetcher, the Holbein, though pricey is excellent and makes canvas stretching a breeze. For me a 40" x 60" canvas would be a medium one considering the size I work.

I use Twin Brooks Pro Stretchers in Maine. You call them with your measurements and they send them out the same or the next day. They take a bit of work to put them together but their keying system works really well. The stretchers are ash, and quite reasonable.

Their phone number is 1 800 856-1567 or www.twoponds.com

Chris Polson is the owner.

Sharon, when you refer to the Holbein stretchers do you mean the stretching pliers that are made of some exotic substance called molybdenum (or something like that)?

I've heard they are the ones to get. What is it about those canvas stretching pliers that makes them better than the run of the mill $20 ones everyone else makes?

Sharon,

Thank you for this information - you may have just saved a painting. I've been staring at that huge heavy things for days and wondering about it. I will do it on canvas and cut the ABS into smaller sizes. I would think they'd be free of warping at 20x24 or smaller...don't you think?

Sorry I didn't get back to you, Kim -- dodgy computer connections and a thrill-seeking, risk-taking life have limited my visits. Anyway, after I investigated the Austin folks I referred to earlier, I decided I didn't have enough confidence in what I saw to recommend them.

It is worth it! It is the molybdenum Holbein.

I can't tell you how many large canvasses I struggled through and ripped and cheap pliers I broke before digging that one up.

The jaws are rubber coated and 4" long giving a more even grip. I found the cheap ones ripped the linen as well.

It simplifies the stretching process and I have done some massive canvasses with it. I have had mine for 9 years now and the rubber is starting to wear off the jaws, but it is still usable.

Kimberly,

You are doing some lovely work and I would not put any of it on ABS after what I learned. Not only does it warp pronto, but it absorbs moisture. I think that this would put a surface painted with oil at risk.

Use them as kitchen cutting boards.