Why You Get Canvas Keys With a Canvas and How to Use Them

Hello, how are you today? Welcome to our blog About Painting and Art. We hope you are very well and looking forward to a new Free Art and painting Post or Tutorial.

Today we want to share with you a special post:

What are the little sticks that come with canvases for?

Have you ever wondered what those little pieces of wood are for, or plastic in the case of some cheaper canvases, which come with a stretched canvas? Sometimes the canvas keys are stapled on the back in a small bag, sometimes they are already glued to the mitered corners of the stretcher bars (the wooden frame that the canvas is attached to).

These pieces of wood are wrenches or canvas clamps, which are used if the canvas starts to sag a little on the stretcher. This can happen over time due to changes in temperature, humidity, and aging. He places them in the grooves made for them in the corners of the stretch bars and then presses them further down to tighten or align (align) the canvas. Most canvases that come with canvas touches come with eight of them, two for each corner.

If you bought a ready-made canvas without primer, or stretched yours, only use the keys after the canvas has been primed, as the primer makes the canvas stretch more.

Some canvases are manufactured with rigid corners, without the possibility of hammering a wedge or key. If you are using one, just make sure the canvas is tight before you buy it; It should stay that way.

How to use the canvas keys

• If you find that your canvas has become loose or warped, slide the keys on the canvas by hand into the grooves on the stretchers in the corners.
• The corners are oddly shaped, pointed at the end and longer on one side than the other. The pointed end goes into the slot, but some people place them with the long side flush with the bar side of the stretcher, others prefer to place them with the short side against the bar side of the stretcher so that the wedges are inclined towards the center of the canvas. . Either works, so try both methods and choose the one that best suits your needs.
• Place a small piece of cardboard between the canvas keys and the canvas to protect the canvas when you press the keys into place with a hammer.
• With a smaller canvas, you can gently tap the end of both wedges or keys into the corner with the hammer, moving towards each corner. You can see that the miter space in the corner of the table increases as you press the corner.
• With a larger canvas, to keep tension on the same canvas, you'll want to push the opposite stretch bars first. To do this, tap the corners that push a stretch bar in one direction and then rotate your canvas so that you can touch the corners that push the opposite stretcher bar in the opposite direction. Then do the same with the remaining sides.
• Tap the corners a few times. You may have to start over, but you don't want to hit them too hard at first. You risk splitting the wood of the stretcher, overcorrecting, or ripping the canvas. By gently tapping the corners, you will finally achieve the desired canvas tension.

Enjoy The Video Tutorial about How to Insert Canvas Keys on a Painting Canvas!

Source: CLIVE 5ART