Great Clamp to Square Up Stretcher Bars

Bar Clamp Squaring Stretcher Bar Frame

For anyone who makes his or her own stretcher bars on which to mount art, the band clamp by Craftsman is an invaluable tool.  Recently, I've been making 6"x6" works with facings that gallery wrap around stretcher bar frames but have been unable to find stretcher bars with these dimensions.  I use 1"x2" lengths of wood, miter the corners and then wood glue and staple the sides together.  Without this band clamp I'm afraid nothing would be perfectly square.  The bonus is that once the sides are glued and tightened in the clamp, the corners can be stapled while still in the clamp and even before the glue is dry.

In the picture above, you will see one of the stretcher bar frames with the band clamp squaring it.  Tomorrow's post will have pictures of two new work that were mounted on the stretcher bars I made.