# Canvas Stretcher Frame Joint



## rooney1111 (Nov 9, 2011)

Hi there everybody, this is my first post so hope I have put it in the right place! I need to make a special type of mitered tenon joint in a standard profile which is used to make frames to stretch canvas prints. Hopefully I have attached pictures of the joint and wonder if there is a fairly easy solution for low production runs. At the moment I have to cut them by hand at about half an hour a piece! The main cuts are 45 degrees and the other about 80 degrees to allow for the insertion of a wedge which allows the canvas to be tensioned after stretching. Any help much appreciated.


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## AxlMyk (Jun 13, 2006)

A tenoning jig and dado set would be my best guess. I would think it will still take some effort to make them.


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## theexpozay (Oct 4, 2011)

looks like a job for a CnC


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## rooney1111 (Nov 9, 2011)

AxlMyk said:


> A tenoning jig and dado set would be my best guess. I would think it will still take some effort to make them.


Hi there, thanks for that but this is where my almost comlete ignorance of routing in general kicks in! What is a tenoning jig or dado set. Can you give me any links to websites where I may find them. I appreciate it may still be a time consuming solution but if the result is good then I will be happy as this will only be for low production. Once again thanks for your reply.


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## rooney1111 (Nov 9, 2011)

theexpozay said:


> looks like a job for a CnC


As I understand it CnC is a computerised approach and as such probably not cost effective for low production output but any information to the contrary would be appreciated. Many thanks.


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## Tempest (Jan 7, 2011)

rooney1111 said:


> Hi there, thanks for that but this is where my almost comlete ignorance of routing in general kicks in! What is a tenoning jig or dado set. Can you give me any links to websites where I may find them. I appreciate it may still be a time consuming solution but if the result is good then I will be happy as this will only be for low production. Once again thanks for your reply.


Tenon jig on a table saw:










Dado blade:

Dado Blades

I don't think you need a dado blade, but it would make the deep mortise doable in one pass. Multiple passes would do it with a saw blade.

One side of the miters could be cut with a saw blade and jig. The other side with a router table a jig.

These are probably made with a special cutter at a factory in two stages.


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## bobj3 (Jan 17, 2006)

Hi Tempest

You can't use dado blades with that fixture unless you rework the fixture 1st. you will see 4 holes drilled and taped out but they can't be used the norm but you can drill some more holes up higher to hold a backer board to ,then you can use the dado blade set and make one pass but with care but the backer board must be replace all the time  so to say make many of them..

Done this many times 



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Tempest said:


> Tenon jig on a table saw:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


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## theexpozay (Oct 4, 2011)

CnCs are very expensive. That being said, you could probably sub the work out to a mill. Failing that you could do it with several different passes on a router table with a verity of bits. 
I would start with a rabbiting bit and cut a rabbit out of a long piece of stock. (that would be the bottom most groove. I would then flip the stock over and change to a 3/4 " dato bit and with several pass remove the material on the top except for what you need for the 1/4" round. I would then cut the pieces to length with either a miter box or on cross cut sled on a table saw. I would then cut the next to slots with a slot cutter on the router table. I would install a bearing follow round over bit and cut the 1/4 round. Finally I would use a miter jig and cut the miters on a table saw.

I would recommend you use a soft to medium hardwood for this not pine. Try Poplar or if that is not hard enough, maple.


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## Tempest (Jan 7, 2011)

bobj3 said:


> Hi Tempest
> 
> You can't use dado blades with that fixture unless you rework the fixture 1st. you will see 4 holes drilled and taped out but they can't be used the norm but you can drill some more holes up higher to hold a backer board to ,then you can use the dado blade set and make one pass but with care but the backer board must be replace all the time  so to say make many of them..
> 
> ...


Fair enough, never used one like that. Just trying to show him what it is. I would make a custom fixture similar to that to do the work.


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## bobj3 (Jan 17, 2006)

Hi Tempest

Got ya, I did that see below 

http://www.routerforums.com/attachm...sh-corner-bridle-joint-t-bridle-joint-472.jpg

http://www.routerforums.com/attachm...sh-corner-bridle-joint-t-bridle-joint-471.jpg



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Tempest said:


> Fair enough, never used one like that. Just trying to show him what it is. I would make a custom fixture similar to that to do the work.


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## Tempest (Jan 7, 2011)

Super nice setup you made yourself. Great work.


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## istracpsboss (Sep 14, 2008)

Have a look at a Woodrat. The Amazing WoodRat Makes Any Woodworking Joint

They are made in the UK and s/h ones are usually available off eBay. They are very good at complex joints. I think you can download a video off their website. You could also throw it open on their forum which is accessible off their website. You'll get specialised advice off users and the designer there.

Cheers

Peter


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## Noob (Apr 18, 2009)

Here is an excellent tutorial on how to make a mitered bridle joint: 
Scott Hutton: Mitered bridle joint

Hopefully that leads you in the right direction.


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## rooney1111 (Nov 9, 2011)

*Thanks!*



rooney1111 said:


> Hi there everybody, this is my first post so hope I have put it in the right place! I need to make a special type of mitered tenon joint in a standard profile which is used to make frames to stretch canvas prints. Hopefully I have attached pictures of the joint and wonder if there is a fairly easy solution for low production runs. At the moment I have to cut them by hand at about half an hour a piece! The main cuts are 45 degrees and the other about 80 degrees to allow for the insertion of a wedge which allows the canvas to be tensioned after stretching. Any help much appreciated.


Wow, thank you everybody for your replies which I am now digesting and investigating. I have also, as suggested, posted on the WoodRat forum as this looks like a low cost possibility.


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## CR1 (Aug 11, 2011)

Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo~!!!

The canvass is the issue. Start from there. 
The Frame has to be loose pieces because they may need to be moved later on because the canvass goes slack.

You can make the frame fixed with glued or pinned joints, but the canvass may go slack and ruin the painting or make it difficult for the artist to use it in the first place.

Check out this video He's a bit goofy but he does a great job explaining it


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## DaninVan (Jan 1, 2012)

CR1; that thread was from 2011... just guessing but the original poster hasn't been here for awhile (or at least that I can recall).
But always good to refresh some of these older questions; I certainly learned something new.


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## DesertRatTom (Jul 3, 2012)

I think the place to start is to buy a set of stretcher bars and study it first hand until you can visualize the joint. Here is a very inexpensive set on Amazon for that purpose https://www.amazon.com/Masterpiece-...294983&sr=8-13&keywords=canvas+stretcher+bars. While there, check for large quantities of standard sizes, it is probably as cheap as making your own or standard sized canvases.

I would like to make these in batches, since most of my wife's paintings are 16x20, but since this is an end joint, once you master it, the "rails and stiles" can be any length. Looks like everything is in 1/8th increments with a little plane or router work to put an edge to set back the canvas from the frame. I'd want to work out some sort of jig to space the blade and fence precisely, and use a standard procedure to make all the same cuts at the same time. This could be a simple stack of spacers. I see that this is a loose joint and that wedges do the stretching work. 

You'd apply the stretched canvas using a canvas stretcher tool then do more stretching with water, and then finally, re-stretch with the wedges. Some of the spacing may depend on the width of the frame, or perhaps for oversized canvases, the thickness.

I'm going to go ahead and follow my own advice and order a sample now. The video above was very helpful on placing the wedges. I think it is more economical to order batches of prefabricated pieces for standard sized paintings, and save making for oversized and odd sized canvases.

Thanks for posting this string, I have a long roll of medium weight canvas I have just been hesitating to start using over this very issue. Here are a couple of links for canvas stretcher bars, at least a place to start.
Stretcher Bar Warehouse: High Quality - Wholesale Pricing
https://imageworkssupply.com/stretcher-bars.html
BEST Artists' Stretcher Bars and Cross Braces - Jerry's Artarama
I suspect by the time you buy, mill and cut your own you're out more than these in bulk will cost. Hand made for large sizes makes some sense, but not necessarily for standard sizes.


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## CR1 (Aug 11, 2011)

bobj3 said:


> Hi Tempest
> 
> Got ya, I did that see below
> 
> ...



Way cool looking jig~!! I would very much like to see a video of it in use and the result


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## CR1 (Aug 11, 2011)

DaninVan said:


> CR1; that thread was from 2011... .


Yah I know. I have a grand daughter who is showing enormous talent and I'd like to get her in the shop and stretcher frame making might be just the ticket. So I went on a tour of You Tube and found the usual plethora of ignoramuses posting tutorials with Glued up joints. Then stumbled across the whole key thing and finally put it all together and realized that the joint is no simple slap dash thing - - Plus I found this thread. 

AND THEN THEN THEN THEN ARRRRGGGGGHHHHHH my lovely daughter tells me about closing out an estate of an elder she knew who was an artist AND he hand built his own frames the old way and as luck would have it she didn't take any pictures of his set up before taking it all apart and selling it off so I don't know what the guy did to solve that puzzle

I'll approach it from a machine perspective he, did it by hand


So even though it's a 2011 thread it appears to be very relevant.


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## Cherryville Chuck (Sep 28, 2010)

Lots of old threads get dug up and some get just as much mileage the 2nd or even 3rd time around.


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## DesertRatTom (Jul 3, 2012)

I was very happy to stumble upon this thread, as my long post suggested. Makng canvas stretchers is an immediate issue for me because my wife is a painter and I want to encourage her to work on larger canvases. I have about $100 worth of medium weight canvas on a roll in her studio, waiting for this very thing. And the wedge video is really helpful as well.


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## CR1 (Aug 11, 2011)

DaninVan said:


> CR1; I certainly learned something new.



Me too. I got here by searching out how to build the stretchers. I have a grand daughter who is showing enormous potential. Putting her own stretchers together and pre treating her own canvas is probably a good idea. So I set about to learn how to do it so I could teach it.

LEMETELLYA there a re a whole lot of self appointed experts on you tube telling people how to do it all wrong. They think the joinery should be fixed. And, well, once the canvas responds to a change in humidity or age the painting will look like crap coz there's no way to stretch it. 

Reason I found out was those little wedges. Nobody was accounting for them. I knew something was missing from the picture. So I kept digging until I figured it out. 

Now I think that purchasing stretchers is the better way to go unless the artist needs something wacky like a a trapezoid or other weird shape.


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