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Essential artwork surface materials, stretching tools and accessories are all now available to purchase online! Click here to visit our online store

John Jones offers museum quality fine art stretchers, hand-crafted to bespoke measurements. These canvas stretchers are produced using lengths of kiln dried tulip wood, sourced from a sustainable forestry.  John Jones use tulip wood to create our artist stretcher bars as it is a low-emission hardwood with very few knots. The kiln drying process removes all moisture from the timber, creating a durable, strong canvas stretcher support with a low risk of splitting when nailed or stapled. This choice of timber is also far more resistant to warping than other woods (which is why it is also a popular material for manufacturing billiard cues).

Our wooden stretchers can be made to order in any shape and size. The largest single piece stretcher bar we can create is 12ft long. If you would like to buy a larger stretcher bar frame then this can be produced in parts and joined with custom-made steel brackets.

Square artist stretcher bars

We have two different depths of canvas stretcher bars produced in tulip wood. Both profiles include a quarter inch lip, which gives the necessary clearance between the canvas fabric and the underlying artwork stretcher frame.

Large  1¼ inch (32mm) depth x  2 3/8 inches (60mm) width
Small  7/8 inch (22mm) depth x 1¾ inches (45mm) width

We recommend that a crossbar is added to your custom-made canvas stretcher  for lengths over 40" (101cm) to provide extra stability. For example, for a 40" x 30" you would need 1 crossbar across the shorter length, whilst for an 80" x 60", you would need 2 short crossbars and 1 long crossbar. The total depth of your artwork stretcher bars can be increased by adding beading to the profiles. Beading is available in ¼, ½, ¾, 1, 2 and 3 inch depths and is also made from our specially selected tulip wood.

Circular and Oval artist stretcher bars

Our expert team of technicians can also produce bespoke circular and elliptical canvas stretchers for your artwork. These specially shaped stretcher bar frames are constructed using tulip wood or low emission Ecologique board at various depths. Each design also includes a ¼ inch lip to ensure the canvas is safely raised from the wooden stretcher bars.

Due to the construction of circular and elliptical art stretchers, it is important to note that wedges cannot be used after stretching. This means that the canvas or linen must be stretched extremely tightly and can only be stretched with unprimed or pre-sized canvas or linen.

Welded Aluminium artist stretcher profiles

Aluminium art stretchers are a fantastic lightweight alternative to traditional wooden artwork supports, particularly for those artists working on a large scale.
Aluminium is an inert material that will not change or erode over time, and is ideal for those requiring heavy duty artwork stretcher bars. It will also not react to a shift in temperature or humidity which can often occur in a studio, gallery or storage.
Our Aluminium stretcher frames are incredibly strong, will not warp and won’t break with even the fiercest stretching or sizing. As these canvas stretchers have welded corners, the corners cannot be knocked-out to tighten the canvas. However, this means that you will never change the dimensions of the frame after painting is complete.

Aluminium stretcher bars are welded in an extruded box section and can be custom-made to any size. The face of the section is angled to give a safe distance between the canvas and underlying frame. Plywood fillets are screwed to the back of the artist stretcher frame so that canvas or other fabrics can be stapled or tacked onto the back.

Fine art stretchers can be produced in multiple sizes and materials by our studio technicians, and all of our artwork stretcher bars are produced with fine art conservation in mind. To discuss the canvas stretcher options available to you, please contact a member of our team.