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Stretched Canvas Corners

What are these Goodies for?

by Dennis Clark

What are these? And just what are they used for, and where?

I often get asked this question by my students, and from this I assume that
there are many artists who have this same question,
but are afraid to ask for fear of being rediculed.

These are used for re-tensioning the canvas should it become sloppy.
These wedges can be either of wood or of plastic such as these.
Until you need them keep them safely with the painting frame.

When you are ready to use them it is easier to first set them out on the
corners as shown above. You can see that they follow the same shape of the
mitred corner, except that the angled edges are not quite the same angle.

Pick up the wedge and, while holding it in the same position, push it into the slot as shown.

Wedge fully inserted.

Insert the next wedge as shown.

Both wedges in place ready for the final tensioning.
Do the same for the other three corners.

Finally, set the frame on it's end and gently tap the wedge firmly into the slot.
Do the same for all the other wedges, all the while checking that the canvas
is sufficiently taut.

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