Canvas print repair
EarthDog
Registered Users Posts: 123 Major grins
I'm not sure this is the right forum for this question, but none of the others leapt out at me as being more appropriate. So, if someone has to move it, I apologize for the inconvenience.
I'm looking for some practical advice, hopefully based on real-world experience, regarding a problem I have. I bought a 12x18" Canvas print (very nice, by the way...good job, guys) of one of my shots, with the intention of donating it to the United Way fundraising auction at work. I bought it unstretched, and stretched it myself on Monday. I thought I'd done a pretty good job, with neat corners, taught fabric, and no noticeable distortion.
Then, yesterday, I noticed that, while trimming the excess, unprinted canvas, I'd slit right through the image, as well, in two places. Not a good morning. Needless to say, I had to withdraw the item from the auction, so it's a double bummer. So, I'm hoping to be able to salvage something out of this fiasco, by repairing the canvas. Maybe it won't be noticeable if I put it on the shelf I have 12 feet up in my "Great Room". (It's not really a great room. I'd say it's barely mediocre, but it IS tall.)
So, I know it's possible to glue another strip of canvas to the back, and that might be enough for my purposes, with a little smoothing and maybe some touchup with a marker. They are clean slits, at least; not a lot of fuzzing of the fibers. But, I don't know what kind of adhesive to use.
I've done some research on the web, but there doesn't seem to be much agreement on this, and really not very much specific information, in general. Mostly a lot of "well, if it's a valuable piece, take it to a conservator". Yes, thank you. I already knew that much. If it ever had any value, it doesn't any more. But, I still don't want adhesive bleeding through and causing the image to disolve or change color or something. Canvas is porous, after all, and I think this is cotton canvas, so it's also absorbent.
So, the question is, has anyone successfully repaired a canvas print from SmugMug? And, if so, what adhesive did you use?
thanks,
e-Dog
I'm looking for some practical advice, hopefully based on real-world experience, regarding a problem I have. I bought a 12x18" Canvas print (very nice, by the way...good job, guys) of one of my shots, with the intention of donating it to the United Way fundraising auction at work. I bought it unstretched, and stretched it myself on Monday. I thought I'd done a pretty good job, with neat corners, taught fabric, and no noticeable distortion.
Then, yesterday, I noticed that, while trimming the excess, unprinted canvas, I'd slit right through the image, as well, in two places. Not a good morning. Needless to say, I had to withdraw the item from the auction, so it's a double bummer. So, I'm hoping to be able to salvage something out of this fiasco, by repairing the canvas. Maybe it won't be noticeable if I put it on the shelf I have 12 feet up in my "Great Room". (It's not really a great room. I'd say it's barely mediocre, but it IS tall.)
So, I know it's possible to glue another strip of canvas to the back, and that might be enough for my purposes, with a little smoothing and maybe some touchup with a marker. They are clean slits, at least; not a lot of fuzzing of the fibers. But, I don't know what kind of adhesive to use.
I've done some research on the web, but there doesn't seem to be much agreement on this, and really not very much specific information, in general. Mostly a lot of "well, if it's a valuable piece, take it to a conservator". Yes, thank you. I already knew that much. If it ever had any value, it doesn't any more. But, I still don't want adhesive bleeding through and causing the image to disolve or change color or something. Canvas is porous, after all, and I think this is cotton canvas, so it's also absorbent.
So, the question is, has anyone successfully repaired a canvas print from SmugMug? And, if so, what adhesive did you use?
thanks,
e-Dog
Once upon a time, they all lived happily ever after.
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Comments
I have absolutely zero experience at repairing something like this!!
My first thought is to get a new print made, but if the damaged print must be repaired, I think I would use a cyano-acrylic glue - like Crazy Glue or Duro Super Glue - in a very small amount. Too much glue and it WILL bleed through the fabric.
To prevent this bleed thgrough, I would use just a tiny drop of Hot Shot Insta Set that the modeler's all use to instantly catalyze cyano-acrylic glues to set. You can find Insta-Set in most Hobby shops in spray bottles. DO NOT spray it - it is slightly oily. Just a tiny drop of Insta-Set applied to the glue itself will instantly turn it to stone!
So I would apply the glue to the canvas patch, put it in place on the back of the print as desired, and then carefully apply a tiny drop of Insta-Set to the edge of the patch/glue with a small drop on a toothpick or something like that. Then I would use a hair dryer to GENTLY warm the area of the patch to fully finish its catalyzation.
I think this will work reasonably well, if the print is to be viewed from a few feet away.
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