Large diameter mailing tube for oil painting?

    Hi everyone, my first post here (just joined, though I've lived in India since 2016). A friend visited us in Tamil Nadu and bought an oil painting to bring back to Canada. It's one of these paintings with thick globs of paint, done with a knife or spatula. I fear rolling it inside one of the available mailing tubes (2" or 3" diameter) will damage it. I don't know where or what to look for. A larger tube, perhaps 6" diameter, would be ideal I think. Actually, any advice from artists would be appreciated... But if anyone has any ideas of what could be usefully repurposed to roll such a painting, I would be very grateful. Thanks! (p.s. I hope my first post respects the guidelines)        -@Dpoirier

Hello Dpoirier (fellow Canadian!), and welcome to expat.com.

Visit your local plumbing supply shop and purchase a large diameter PVC pipe. Get a cap for one end of the pipe and secure it with PVC solvent. At the other end, get a plain-female to threaded-male adapter (female goes to the pipe end, threaded male faces out) and solvent the inside of the female to the outer wall of the pipe. Finally, get a threaded-cap to close the threaded-male end of the adapter. I'm suggesting a threaded removable cap on one end just in case customs wants to open the pipe for inspection. The inside diameter of the threaded-male side of the adapter should be the same as the inside diameter of the pipe to allow for easy removal of the painting.

When you roll the painting, ensure that it is rolled with the paint facing outward. If you don't, rolling with the paint facing inward will compress the paint and cause damage to the piece. Rolling it outwards will stress the paint slightly, however any stress lines will set back together once the painting is unfurled.

Please let the forum know how you make out with this.

Once again, welcome aboard expat.com.

PVC FEMALE PLAIN to MALE THREADED ADAPTOR (Link to Indiamart)

Thanks Aidan, much appreciate your suggestion. Definitely sounds like a safe way to carry that painting, though it might end up being quite a bit heavier than the cardboard approach of course. I'm not sure if airlines would let you bring this on-board (as carry-on) but if not, it will be sturdy enough to withstand the checked luggage ordeal. Thanks again.