You can add a simple wood border to canvas paintings.
Stretched canvas has been a medium for painters for centuries. The taut cloth holds paint well and provides a smooth surface for their application. Many paintings look best in a full decorative frame, while others call for a simple wooden border. Since the stretcher of the canvas is wood, the simplest way to achieve this border is to nail wood to the sides of the canvas. This can be done with the front edge flush with the canvas to raise the picture out from the wall, or flush with the back to create a shadow box effect.
Instructions
1. Measure the height and width of your canvas. Select hardwood lumber in your choice of grain and width. The boards will be installed with the narrow edge showing, so select your boards to produce the depth you want at the edges of the canvas. Use 1-by-lumber (such as a 1-by-4 or 1-by-6 foot board) for a 3/4 inch wide border, or 2-by-lumber (such as a 2-by-4 or 2-by-6 foot board) for a 1 1/2 inch wide border.
2. Cut your boards to length with a miter saw, two for each side and two for top and bottom. Make the boards 1 1/2 inches longer than the sides they will be fitted to if you are using 1-by-lumber, or 3 inches longer for 2-by-lumber.
3. Stand the pieces on edge on the table of your miter saw, with one wide face against the fence. Set the saw to cut at a 45 degree angle. Cut one right and one left end to form an elongated trapezoid, so that the short face of the mitered pieces is the same length as the sides of the canvas.
4. Apply glue to the beveled ends of the boards. Stand the boards on edge and fit them together to form a rectangle. Nail the pieces together with a pin nail gun and 2-inch nails. Use at least three nails in each corner.
5. Fit the canvas into this border and adjust it so that the edge of the border frame is either flush at the front or back. Nail through the border into the canvas frame using at least two nails on each side of the frame.
