Nanci Bishof on tue 12 feb 02
I first pad the table with newspapers to soften the surface and cover that
with upholstery vinyl to keep it dry. The canvas is then stretched over that
just as though the table was stretchers for a painting. Start in the middle
of the side. Go to the opposite side and then to the other sides using the
same process. Work toward the corners of the table doing a few staples at a
time on each side of the centers of opposite sides of the table. Pull the
canvas taunt before each staple. Do the corners with 45 degree angled folds
like you would for wrapping paper and staple them in place. Apply the vinyl
with the same method as the canvas.
I find the slight padding a few layers of newspaper gives the table helps
when working the clay. The vinyl keeps the wood and newspaper dry so they
don't rot, mold or warp. I pick it up for a few dollars a yard, 60" wide as
upholstery material. Its tougher than tablecloth vinyl. I made my tables 5
years ago and haven't needed to redo them yet.
nanci
mstudios on tue 12 feb 02
The best tool for stretching canvas is canvas pliers, used by painters to
stretch canvas over their stretchers for paintings. Any decent art supply
house has them and they are about 10.00. They are like pliers but they have
a wide mouth so you don't tear the canvas, as you would with normal pliers.
I used mine to stretch canvas over a table 3' x 6', stapling with an
electric staple gun. Worked beautifully, no water needed (which would be a
bad idea as it would affect your wood).
The one trick to stretching canvas is to staple once in the middle of each
side. Then work your way around, one staple per side, alternating to the
left and to the right of the center staple, until each edge is entirely
stapled. This is standard for stretching a canvas for painting and results
in no wrinkles or puckers. I think of it as similar to the same pattern you
take as you tighten bolts on a car wheel--always go to the side opposite of
the one you just did. So, for example, staple the top center, then the
bottom center, then the left center, then the right center. Now the top to
the left of center, the bottom to the left of center, etc....Then the top
right of center, the bottom right of center, etc... Then the top two left of
center, the bottom two left of center, etc. You get the idea. You also get a
lot of exercise walking aroung your table over and over!
Good luck....and don't use water!
Michael Shernick
Berthoud, CO
-----Original Message-----
From: Ceramic Arts Discussion List [mailto:CLAYART@LSV.CERAMICS.ORG]On
Behalf Of Chris and Nissa
Sent: Tuesday, February 12, 2002 6:24 PM
To: CLAYART@LSV.CERAMICS.ORG
Subject: Re: Stretching canvass over table
Any simple tricks to getting canvas stretched tight to cover work table
44"x96"? Plan to staple to underside of plywwod top. Wet it down?
____________________________________________________________________________
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potterybydai on tue 12 feb 02
We just re-did ours, after 7 years of use from the last one. It's really a
bitch of a job, and requires a few days to get it right. First, soak the
canvas in your tub or some other large vessel, preferably overnight. This
removes the sizing. Then, lay it, wet, over your table top, and starting at
the middle (this is a two-person job) stretch and tack with stapler to the
underside of the table edge. Do the middle crossways, and then the middle
lengthwise. Working your way out to the corners, crosswise and lengthwise,
keep stretching and stapling. Pull as hard as you can to get it taut. The
next day, when it's dried, you'll probably have to wet it down again, and,
removing a few staples at a time, re-stretch and re-staple it. You may have
to repeat the following day. You don't want it to have any slack, or it
will crease when you roll out clay, or move when you're wedging.
Before we put the canvas on our table originally, we filled all the screw
holes, etc., and then put on 2 or 3 coats of fibreglass resin to seal the
table. We were afraid the wood would swell with the constant moisture
coming through the canvas, and be an uneven surface---maybe not so important
if you're only wedging, but we do a lot of slab-rolling.
Replacing canvas is right up there with replacing damaged kiln bricks---a
hateful job, but you can only put it off so long.....
Dai in Kelowna,BC
potterybydai@shaw.ca
Life is 10% what happens to you, and 90% how you
respond to it.
Chris and Nissa on tue 12 feb 02
Any simple tricks to getting canvas stretched tight to cover work table
44"x96"? Plan to staple to underside of plywwod top. Wet it down?
Charles on wed 13 feb 02
Get your canvas centered where you want it and start on one side in the
middle. Lay down 6-10 staples to give a good foundation, then go to the
opposite side and stretch the canvas from the middle and lay down opposing
staples. Switch to another side and stretch out any wrinkles and staple the
middle, then do the opposite side. Essentially you need to work from the
middle to the corners, pulling out the wrinkles and stapling as you go. Make
sure you have good tight hospital corners!
Good Luck!
Charles
Visit my webpage...
http://www.thecreativeoasis.com/Hughes/hughes.html
----- Original Message -----
From: "Chris and Nissa"
To:
Sent: Tuesday, February 12, 2002 8:23 PM
Subject: Re: Stretching canvass over table
> Any simple tricks to getting canvas stretched tight to cover work table
> 44"x96"? Plan to staple to underside of plywwod top. Wet it down?
>
>
____________________________________________________________________________
__
> Send postings to clayart@lsv.ceramics.org
>
> You may look at the archives for the list or change your subscription
> settings from http://www.ceramics.org/clayart/
>
> Moderator of the list is Mel Jacobson who may be reached at
melpots@pclink.com.
>
>
Working Potter on wed 13 feb 02
I used my special artist's stretchers on hot water soaked canvas of a heavy
duty weight and went opposite sides tacking it down with tacks[ if they have
rustproof ones they would be an improvement over mine and then repeated the
same on the shorted opposite sides.Use the tacks widely spaced then tighted
the pull to tack inbetween to get a somewhat even spacing.[the tool is on
art supply sites online,too]
Misty
Ron Roy on wed 13 feb 02
Don't do it!
Every time your throw clay down on it you will raise the airborne silica
level in your studio.
What you want is a surface you can keep free of dust
>Any simple tricks to getting canvas stretched tight to cover work table
>44"x96"? Plan to staple to underside of plywwod top. Wet it down?
Ron Roy
RR# 4
15084 Little Lake Rd..
Brighton,
Ontario, Canada
KOK 1H0
Residence 613-475-9544
Studio 613-475-3715
Fax 613-475-3513
Roger Korn on wed 13 feb 02
Hi Ron,
You raise a good point re: airborne silica. I use a woodworking dust collector to
pull air across the working suface horizontally, but this is no answer, because it
causes the work-object to dry unevenly, as does any draft. I wedge on a slab of
concrete. What is your suggestion for work surfaces? I "throw" slabs by slamming
the clay down with horizontal motion to stretch the slab - this is probably my
dustiest activity, outside of clay and glaze prep, where I am ok with wearing
respirators - but for a surface where you wedge, slam, build, etc., what's your
favorite?
Loved the book. What a great approach! Limits defined by utility and safety,
in-studio testing, and beautiful ^6 electric results. This book is perfect for my
teaching situation, where only electric kilns are available on an ongoing basis in
a new community art center situation, and the community is poor in resources. I'm
having a great time, because I can emphasize scrounging, build-it-yourself, and
lateral thinking approaches.
Roger
Ron Roy wrote:
> Don't do it!
>
> Every time your throw clay down on it you will raise the airborne silica
> level in your studio.
>
> What you want is a surface you can keep free of dust
>
> >Any simple tricks to getting canvas stretched tight to cover work table
> >44"x96"? Plan to staple to underside of plywwod top. Wet it down?
>
> Ron Roy
> RR# 4
> 15084 Little Lake Rd..
> Brighton,
> Ontario, Canada
> KOK 1H0
> Residence 613-475-9544
> Studio 613-475-3715
> Fax 613-475-3513
>
> ______________________________________________________________________________
> Send postings to clayart@lsv.ceramics.org
>
> You may look at the archives for the list or change your subscription
> settings from http://www.ceramics.org/clayart/
>
> Moderator of the list is Mel Jacobson who may be reached at melpots@pclink.com.
--
Roger Korn
McKay Creek Ceramics
In AZ: PO Box 463
4215 Culpepper Ranch Rd
Rimrock, AZ 86335
928-567-5699 <-
In OR: PO Box 436
31330 NW Pacific Ave.
North Plains, OR 97133
503-647-5464
Craig Clark on wed 13 feb 02
I was about to tell you to use the same technique that painters use to
stretch their canvas over stretcher bars but then I read Ron's post. He has
a point.
Having acknowledged the point I'll say that I've used and have seen
canvas used in a multitude of studios. This doesn't mean it's safe though.
After having read some of the other suggestions expressing the difficulty of
stretching canvas let me point out that the painters have it right on this
one. Buy yourself a pair of those wide jawed pliers that painters use to
stretch their canvas over stretcher bars and then follow the procedure
outlined by others on the list. It's really not that hard to do if you have
the right tool.
As an alternative, if silicosis is a concern, try using some MDF over
the existing table top(s) that can either be permanently affixed or may be
stored and placed on the top as neccessary. I accidently "discovered" how
well it works as a wedging surface a few weeks ago. If your concerned about
the material dissociating just use a sealer on it, though I haven't had any
trouble with mine yet.
Craig Dunn Clark
619 East 11 1/2 st
Houston, Texas 77008
(713)861-2083
mudman@hal-pc.org
----- Original Message -----
From: "Ron Roy"
To:
Sent: Wednesday, February 13, 2002 12:23 AM
Subject: Re: Stretching canvass over table
> Don't do it!
>
> Every time your throw clay down on it you will raise the airborne silica
> level in your studio.
>
> What you want is a surface you can keep free of dust
>
> >Any simple tricks to getting canvas stretched tight to cover work table
> >44"x96"? Plan to staple to underside of plywwod top. Wet it down?
>
> Ron Roy
> RR# 4
> 15084 Little Lake Rd..
> Brighton,
> Ontario, Canada
> KOK 1H0
> Residence 613-475-9544
> Studio 613-475-3715
> Fax 613-475-3513
>
>
____________________________________________________________________________
__
> Send postings to clayart@lsv.ceramics.org
>
> You may look at the archives for the list or change your subscription
> settings from http://www.ceramics.org/clayart/
>
> Moderator of the list is Mel Jacobson who may be reached at
melpots@pclink.com.
>
Jim Bob Salazar on wed 13 feb 02
hey guys,
just stretch the canvas and staple it under the table, then wet it down. if you
wet it first it will shrink up on itself and then when it dries it will relax. i
just recovered our three tables, look good.
good luck,
jim bob
Chris and Nissa wrote:
> Any simple tricks to getting canvas stretched tight to cover work table
> 44"x96"? Plan to staple to underside of plywwod top. Wet it down?
>
Sharon Pemberton on wed 13 feb 02
I stretch hot/wet canvas, it stretches best for me. When working on canvas
tables, mist with water to prevent raising airborne silica levels.
Sharon
Hannah on wed 13 feb 02
This process sounds awful, so I have to share my solution, which is =
terrific. I mentioned it when I first tried it and now I can report =
how successful it is. I put cheap particle board (about $4 for a =
4x8 sheet) on a large work table and the counters and it is superior to =
anything I've used before for wedging, slab work and drying pots. It =
doesn't collect dust like canvass does, clay never sticks to it and it =
doesn't chip like plaster. When the day comes that I need to =
replace it - so simple and cheap. On the counters where I glaze I put =
down formica counter tops - inexpensive at Home Depot. I hope this =
idea might spare someone the hassel of stretching canvas.
Warm wishes to all,
Hannah Brehmer
Lake Tahoe, CA
Ron Roy on thu 14 feb 02
Thank you Roger,
I have always used plywood - good one side - still using the original board
and table tops after all those years but they are showing their age.
Batts are plywood as well - dries the clay just a little and makes it
easier to get the pots off.
I make slabs that way as well - works great and it's fun - wish all our
work has a fun part.
RR
>Hi Ron,
>You raise a good point re: airborne silica. I use a woodworking dust
>collector to
>pull air across the working suface horizontally, but this is no answer,
>because it
>causes the work-object to dry unevenly, as does any draft. I wedge on a slab of
>concrete. What is your suggestion for work surfaces? I "throw" slabs by
>slamming
>the clay down with horizontal motion to stretch the slab - this is probably my
>dustiest activity, outside of clay and glaze prep, where I am ok with wearing
>respirators - but for a surface where you wedge, slam, build, etc., what's your
>favorite?
>
>Loved the book. What a great approach! Limits defined by utility and safety,
>in-studio testing, and beautiful ^6 electric results. This book is perfect
>for my
>teaching situation, where only electric kilns are available on an ongoing
>basis in
>a new community art center situation, and the community is poor in
>resources. I'm
>having a great time, because I can emphasize scrounging, build-it-yourself, and
>lateral thinking approaches.
>
>Roger
Ron Roy
RR# 4
15084 Little Lake Rd..
Brighton,
Ontario, Canada
KOK 1H0
Residence 613-475-9544
Studio 613-475-3715
Fax 613-475-3513
Lee Burningham on thu 14 feb 02
Howdy,
I have to chime in and say my two cents worth on table tops. In a school
setting such as mine, the cheap particle board is FANTASTIC! It gives a
non-stick finish for hand-building, a great surface for wedging, scrapes off
nicely with a flat-edged piece of masonite. and gets better the older it is.
I gave up on plaster and canvas years ago due to maintenance of the canvas
and overly enthusiatic scrapers on the plaster. Nothing could convince me
now to go back to either of those surfaces. We do use canvas as a surface
enhancer, to add texture, etc., and have different weaves for different
effects. Get it out when the students want to use it, put it right back
after they are done. Potato sacking makes a great texture as well.
Lee Burningham
I put cheap particle board (about $4 for a 4x8 sheet) on a large work
table and the counters and it is superior to anything I've used before for
wedging, slab work and drying pots. It doesn't collect dust like canvass
does, clay never sticks to it and it doesn't chip like plaster. When
the day comes that I need to replace it - so simple and cheap.
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