PHOENIX Canvas Stretcher Bars, 24x36 Inch DIY Canvas Frames Kits

Worked as expected: simple to put together

PHOENIX Canvas Stretcher Bars, 12x16 Inch DIY Canvas Frames Kits, Pine Wooden Frame for Oil Paintings, Prints, Paint by Numbers & Posters. I’ve never stretched my own canvas, before, so I was hoping this wouldn’t be too difficult…and it wasn’t! This was so easy to do! The sides just slide into the slots, and yeah, at first, it kept going all trapezoid on me, but it only took me a couple of tries to get it squared up. It comes with hanging swivel hooks, tacks, and two white push pin plastic things that I still have no idea about (it didn’t come with any instructions, and I’ve never seen them before). You’ll need a hammer for the tacks unless you have stronger hands than I have. I actually couldn’t finish tacking my canvas down because I guessed wrong on the sizing, and my canvas was too small. But, I’m sure I’ll get another canvas I want to mount, at some point, and I’ll add those photos then. All in all, I think it’s a good, inexpensive kit, and I would order another one.

I love to do paint-by-number kits and they rarely come with frames. So I got this DIY frame kit to wrap my latest canvas around when I’ve finished painting it. The frame arrives nicely shrink-wrapped with 2 little bags of hardware. Even though my painting isn’t finished yet, I wanted to see what the frame would look like once assembled. The frame consists of 4 separate pieces that are easy to fit together with their mortise and tenon corners that come together in perfect 45-degree angles. I found that it helped to have a second person hold one end while I fit together the other. It is made of a light-colored natural pine that has been sanded smooth. The kit comes with all the tacks I will need to tack my canvas down around the back of the frame with a hammer. And it includes the hanging hardware. Best of all, this frame kit is such a reasonable price that I can get a good number of them for all my painting canvases.

You have to put together

I am returning this because it was sent without any instructions about how to put it together. I would like to have the instructions the next time I order. Virginia Swayne

I needed a new frame for a painting I wanted to do but didn’t have stretcher bars for. I didnt have any trouble stretching my canvas on this frame but I ended up using staples. I’m not patient enough to hammer in a lot of little nails or tacks to stretch canvas. Once my canvas was mounted on the frame it was pretty sturdy. The frame didn’t warp at all. I only found a couple of splinters on my frame so not bad. I think this would also work for permanently mounting finished embroidery work.

I bought this frame kit to mount a finished cross stitch project, and it ended up working really well for what I needed. The wood pieces felt solid and fit together without much effort, so putting the frame together didn’t take long. Once assembled, the frame felt sturdy enough to hold the fabric tight without bending or shifting. I stretched my cross stitch over the frame and tacked it on the back, and the size was exactly right for the piece I had finished. The wood did need a little bit of sanding before I started to make sure it wouldn't snag the fabric or give me splinters while I was working, but it wasn't too bad. After everything was mounted, the project looked neat and professional, almost like something you’d see already stretched in a store. It held the tension well and hasn’t loosened since I put it together. For a simple DIY project, this worked great and I’d use the same kind again for future cross stitch finishes.

These stretcher bars are nicely sanded, and the corner joints fit together well, though it took a little effort to get the frame perfectly square—it kept wanting to go a bit off. Once the canvas was attached, it held up just fine. I appreciate that it comes with tacks, but it would have been even better if instructions were included.