Stretcher Bars from LION

Wood stretcher bars are cut & slotted for easy assembly and tensioning with wedges later. They are supplied with wood wedges.

Standard Stretcher Bars, 35mm x 19mm, in lengths of 203mm to 1220mm, FSC Mix Credit. Wood wedges included. Use only with Standard Brace Bars.

Premium Stretcher Bars, 44mm x 20mm lip, in lengths of 203mm to 1524mm, FSC Mix Credit. Wood wedges included. Use only with Premium Brace Bars.

Gallery Stretcher Bars, 44mm x 44mm, in lengths of 203mm to 2000mm. Use only with Gallery Brace Bars. Supplied 3mm shorter than the listed lengths.

How to order Standard, Premium and Gallery Stretcher Bars: Use the prefix with the metric length, eg, P610. This will give you a pair, 2 pieces, of Premium 610mm/24” stretcher bars, with 4 wood wedges.

XP Contract Stretcher Bars, 35mm x 38mm, in lengths of 203mm to 914mm. Wood wedges included. Brace bars not available.

How to order XP Contract Stretcher Bars: Use the prefix and the metric length, eg, XP508. This will give you a box, 24 pieces,12 pairs, of XP Contract 508mm/20” bars with 24 wood wedges. Supplied 3mm shorter than the listed lengths. These use only one wedge each end.

Brace bars are often fitted to stretcher frames to minimise possible bowing of larger stretcher bar frames when the canvas is tensioned.

Brace Bars from 737mm long are notched in the centre of a face so that they sit flush when crossed. Stretcher bars from 737mm long are notched in the centre of the inner edge to allow the tongues on brace bars to fit in.

Standard Brace Bars to only fit Standard Stretcher bars. They are 34mm x 14mm, FSC Mix Credit. These do not take wedges.

Premium Brace Bars to only fit Premium Stretcher bars. They are 44mm x 14mm, FSC Mix Credit. These do not take wedges.

Gallery Brace Bars to fit only fit Gallery Stretcher Bars. They are 44mm x 16mm and take wedges, supplied, to help tensioning the canvas.

How to quickly identify and order the three different ranges of Brace Bars:

Standard Brace Bars

They are 34mm wide. The other brace bars are much wider at 44mm. They have no slot for wedges.

To order a brace bar to match Standard stretcher bars, use prefix BB and the Standard stretcher bar length in metric, eg, BB813. This will give you one brace bar to match stretcher bar S813.

Premium Brace Bars

44mm wide, with plain tongues without a slot for wedges.

To order a brace bar to match Premium stretcher bars, use prefix BP and the Premium bar length in metric, eg, BP813. This will give you one brace bar to match stretcher bars P813.

Gallery Brace Bars

44mm wide, with tongues with slot for wood wedge. They are also stamped.

To order a brace bar to match Gallery stretcher bars, use prefix B and the Gallery bar length in metric, eg, B813. This will give you one brace bar and two wood wedges to match stretcher bars G813.

How are Brace Bars measured?

They are made shorter than stretcher bars so that when the tongues go into the notches they fit the internal dimensions of the stretcher bar frame. To check, measure the length of the brace bar, ignoring the tongues at each end. Then add twice the stretcher bar width.

For example: Premium Brace Bar B813 matches Premium Stretcher Bar G813. It actually measures 725mm - 813mm less 88mm.

Where brace bars are not available in the required sizes, a solution may be Brace Bar Brackets 7235 with Brace Bar Profile L1939.

LION stock six profiles of stretcher bars in lengths, most made in Baltic pine. They are to be mitre cut and joined on normal framing equipment. Stretcher frames made this way do not allow easy tensioning of the canvas. We also stock the Brace Bar profile which fits the Brace Bar Brackets. All are priced per metre and supplied in approximately 3m lengths.

L1619 Standard stretcher profile, 34mm x 20mm

L1399 Premium stretcher profile, 44mm x 24mm FSC 100%. Not an exact match to the profile of slotted Premium stretcher bars

L1519 Gallery stretcher profile, 44mm x 44mm FSC 100%

L1947 Contract stretcher profile, 35mm x 38mm FSC 100%

L1470 Two-Way stretcher profile, 40mm x 28mm FSC 100%

L2459 Classic stretcher profile, 44mm x 18mm

L1939  Brace Bar profile, 44mm x 16mm

Click here for Brace Bar Brackets, which take Brace Bar profile and are adjustable.

Click here for the range of moulded Stretcher Bar Wedge Retainers.

Our stretcher bars are made to the highest specification and subject to careful quality control. Special attention to the shaping of the bar and corner joints guarantees that our bars fit neatly together and will lay flat against the wall.

LION stretcher bars are purpose made and ready to assemble into almost any size within their ranges. All have a radiused lip so the stretched canvas face will not show an imprint of the stretcher bars. This also minimises the risk of the ink film cracking.

No special tools are needed to assemble cut & slotted Stretcher Bars. Use a soft faced hammer to tap the corners together. Wood wedges are supplied with all stretcher bars. Tapping them into them slots on the corners helps tension and re-tension the canvas.

Wooden wedges are supplied with Stretcher Bars. They are tapped into the corner slots to help re-tensioning the canvas. To stop wedges dropping between canvas and bar, secure with wire or Stretcher Bar Wedge Retainers.

Product information published May 2021