Introduced at the TNNA show earlier this year, FA Edmunds has created adjustable stretcher bars. My set to test arrived yesterday. I’ll be testing and reviewing it in a few weeks (after I try some different canvases on it), but I wanted to give you a brief look at them today.
These stretcher bars look very different for any others on the market. First off they have long slits down the middle. The bars themselves are about the thickness of standard stretcher bars. At one end you’ll find a long bolt sticking out of the end. It has a wing nut on it. Unscrew the wing nut, place the bolt in the slot and replace the wing nut to construct the frame.
The bolt only protrudes a little so you might find it hard to place the nut on it.
The bars are available in four sizes 8″, 12″, 16″, and 20″. They come four bars to a package.
I haven’t started stitching my project yet, but the bars were easy to assemble. Instructions aren’t included in the package, but if you can put together regular bars, you can put these together. One difference is that with the bolts only on one end. the last bar will only be able to be placed in one way. This is true of traditional stretcher bars as well, we just don’t think about it.
Unlike many of the normal stretcher bars I buy these days, the wood was soft and my tacks went in easily. I’m looking forward to trying them on several projects in the next few weeks.
About Janet M Perry
Janet Perry is the Internet's leading authority on needlepoint. She designs, teaches and writes, getting raves from her fans for her innovative techniques, extensive knowledge and generous teaching style. A leading writer of stitch guides, she blogs here and lives on an island in the northeast corner of the SF Bay with her family
I look forward to your progress and opinions with these stretcher bars. SBs have always been a problem
for me (anyone else?) so if this will make my stitching life simpler I’m in. ng
Nancy Green – I’m with you! SB are not my first choice unless the canvas for the project is just so big (and trust me, I’ve done a few) that SBs are the only viable option. They are cumbersome to say the least and most of the one’s that I have have slits in the bars for the canvas that aren’t too bad once you get the taped edge past it.
Looking forward to hearing more about these!
Thanks for your comment. I thought I was to only one. This should be very interesting. ng
I am always looking for something “new and improved” so I anxiously await your comments. Have tried all the various types of frames over the years and I always come back to the old standard SBs. When you have several projects going at the same time you amass quite a stash of SBs over the years. It would be nice to find something new that would allow me to thin out that collections of SBs!