Jackson's : Museum Wooden Stretcher Bars (20x50mm) : For 20mm Deep Bars

Jackson’s Museum Wooden Stretcher Bars offer a professional, sustainable solution for artists who wish to build their own canvases. Made from layers of laminated wood, they assemble into solid stretchers that resist twisting or warping.

The stretcher bars are crafted from 100% PEFC-certified pine. The wood is first kiln-dried to remove all moisture; it is then finger-jointed and triple-laminated, which eliminates the natural tendency of wood to twist or warp due to changes in heat and humidity. Laminated wood provides greater strength and stability than finger-jointed or solid wood.

These Jackson’s Museum Wooden Stretcher Bars are 20mm deep and 50mm wide. They are sold in pairs. Matching centre bars are available with a 16mm profile. Centre bars are sold individually. When ordering, ensure that all components (stretcher bars, centre bars, and crossbars) have the corresponding profile depth. Jackson’s Museum Wooden Stretcher Bars are also available as 20mm deep and 65mm wide stretcher bars, 25mm deep and 65mm wide stretcher bars, as well as 35mm deep and 58mm wide stretcher bars for larger canvases.

The 20mm deep stretcher bars measuring 50cm and over have centre bar slots. Centre bars 100cm and larger will have a notch cut in the centre, allowing crossbars to sit flush in a lap joint, providing extra support for larger canvases.

For more in-depth information on stretcher bars, read Everything You Need to Know About Stretcher Bars on the Jackson's Blog.

You can fit the bars together without tools, but a mallet (or a hammer with a scrap of wood) and a measuring tape or stick can be helpful. The bars come with small wooden wedges, also called keys, which are used later, after stretching, to add a bit more tension at the corners before you start painting. You can learn more about the canvas wedges that come with stretcher bars in this Jackson’s Blog post.

Each bar has a slot at the end so the corners fit together at a right angle, creating strong, stable joints. When assembling, make sure the bevelled edge of the bars faces inward, forming the inside edge of your canvas frame. Once all the corners are slotted together and any centre bar is inserted, use a mallet to tap everything fully into place.

For step-by-step guidance on how to stretch canvas, watch A Guide to Stretching Canvas on the Jackson's Blog.