Tuesday, October 12, 2010

About the Stretcher Strips and Stretcher Frame

Buying stretcher strips and stretcher frames is a common need if you are an artist or someone who has to work with large pieces of canvas. Fortunately, buying them is so much easier these days, thanks largely to the Internet.

All one needs to do these days is log in to an online store and place an order. There’s no running around from store to store, and everything can be ordered with just a simple click of your mouse. The prices are also lower than what it costs to buy them at brick and mortar stores.

Moreover, if you are buying stretcher strips or frames in bulk, you can avail of very attractive wholesale discounts.

While buying a stretcher frame, it’s not unnatural to worry about its quality. This is all the more true if you are buying it online. Dimensional stability in wood, which can be best described as the ability of the wood to stay straight, is what tends to worry the buyer most. The best way to address this problem is to use stretcher bars that use splines.

Some of the best quality bars and frames available in the market today use long bars that are sectioned together using finger splines, which in turn greatly increase the bars resistance to twisting, bowing or warping. The sectioning also makes the bars stronger; so they resist bending more than one piece construction. The concept is similar to why plywood is so strong.

It is also advisable to choose bars that are clear of knots. While the presence of small knots may be acceptable (as they do not render the bars weak), larger irregularities are a strict no-no.






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