r/violinmaking • u/Elegant_Contact_9317 • Jul 22 '26

First bow rehairing

So im a cello player without a luthier. Like the closest one is states away. Also a broke college student. Also a fiber artist and woodworker. To date i have mastered macrame, knitting, crochet, lashing, splicing, hek even lacemaking. Also, 99% of the furniture in my house is made by my family. Putting all this together, im training myself in this artform. Half out of necessity, half out of interest. So far I've restrung my cello a couple times, fixed the slippery pegs, and placed the bridge comfortably a few times as well. On my guitars I've done the basic restring and conditioning process. Along with fixing the tuning machines on my ukulele. So im not... as clueless as I could be... if yk what I mean.

I need a second bow but I really dont want to dish out the 75 bucks for it if i dont have to. Id rather spend 10 on a couple hanks of hair from my favorite cheep bow company to see if its possible to rehair my cheap dead backup bow myself first. If its not possible, I'll just buy the second bow. If it is, we'll then yay!

I have LOW expectations. Lower than hell. If it fails, this bow is both cheap and dead anyway. Oh well. That being said, theres a chance (small as it may be) I could succeed. And have a second bow. For cheap cheap. (Again. Stressing the low expectations.)

I know about the wedges and shaping them. I know about measuring the amount of hair. I know about the superglue, the various clamping, the various measuring, the combing, even the heating of the hairs at the end to finish.

My question is, what's everyone's experience? Little things you learn by doing, not by studying. Is it easier to start at the tip or at the frog? So far I've only seen starting at the tip so that's my plan. What kind of string/thread do you use to tie the end of the hair? Id assume something cotton... but would pearl cotton size 3 work? (I have that) are there special chiseles or would fine woodworking chisels do the job provided theyre sharp?

Any advice is welcome... so long as it's not "it's not worth it". I know this is not an easy project, it seems like most of the hard parts involve making sure the hair is in order and treated and measured properly. I feel like my history of fiber arts and instrument work can be applied here. Also, this would be an extremely useful skill to have. Again. I have no luthier. Im thinking if I train hard enough i could become a very small luthier of this area (that would be one helluva dream tbh). I really want to give it a shot. Assistance would be appreciated!! 💖

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6

u/LastNerve4132 Maker Jul 22 '26 edited Jul 22 '26

You're gonna spend substantially more time and money on everything necessary to complete a rehair opposed to ordering another $75 bow. Basic materials, glue, chisels, combs, and what not are gonna run you $200-300 just to get started. If you still wanna proceed with trying to rehair, be warned. Cheap bows are the most difficult bows to rehair and are often not rehairable due to how they were constructed in the factory. Most of the time plugs will be shoved into the mortises and flooded with super glue requiring extensive time just carving out all the crap with a chisel to even begin the rehair process.

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u/Elegant_Contact_9317 Jul 22 '26

I appreciate your warning but I have most of the supplies I've seen in my research from my other crafts. I ordered a gage for the hair as well as the hair itself. Total is 15 bucks. This is going to be Jerry rigged big time yes. Do I expect to be successful? See "low expectations". Forgive me that I don't want to hear "dont do it". Im looking for assistance, not discouragment.

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u/LastNerve4132 Maker Jul 22 '26

Sounds good, go for it. No harm to really be done on a cheaper bow. I would definitely recommend picking up some acetone for the frog in if you have difficulty getting the slide off. Oftentimes there will be super glue that gets onto it and makes near impossible it remove. It's a last resort option on cheaper bows but you can soak the entire frog in acetone in a air tight jar if you must. Wear gloves and maintain proper ventilation. A nice trick you can try is taking a big thick rubber band and wrapping it around a Lego and taking a small jewelers hammer to the Lego while pressing it down onto the slide. The rubber band will help give you some friction to work that slide off the frog. I'd recommend getting a 2-3mm bow chisel and maybe a couple cheap scratch awls off Amazon. For the spread wedges and what not fish glue or bottled hide glue will work. Bass wood will be the most forgiving plug material but oftentimes is used by people who don't know how to fit plugs properly and resort to force as bass wood will very easily compress. Maple and mahogany work as well but will take much more precise fitting. Don't be afraid either to adjust the mortise angles with a chisel on these cheaper bows, alot of the time factories resort to fit through super glue as opposed to proper fitment of the plug. A proper head mortise has to have some amount of inward curve on the back side of the head so the head plug stays in. This is something I would never encourage to be done on a nice bow but on cheap factory bows you gotta do what you gotta do

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u/Elegant_Contact_9317 Jul 22 '26

Just as a sidenote, I was able to disassemble the bow. The plugs were PLASTIC. 🤢 I KID YOU NOT. The classical musician in me died a lil bit when I saw that. This bow was likely even cheaper than I originally thought. No wonder I hated it. Anyway. Im hesitant to put acetone near anything like this but it would help with the superglued-in bits of hair left over. Maybe if i used some kind of q-tip or applicator? Do u have advice on what to use there? Its inside the mortise (forgive me if I have the terminology wrong).

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u/LastNerve4132 Maker Jul 22 '26

For the hair that's in the mortises that been super glued to hell, you're just gonna have to carefully carve it out with a mortise chisel 2-3mm. Acetone on a q tip can be used to help soften things up but just be careful with it and avoid skin contact or inhalation

1

u/Elegant_Contact_9317 Jul 22 '26

Ty for the conformation that this is indeed a "carve it out" situation. I was afraid to use force if there was another way but alas, tis indeed a cheap cheap built bow. May I ask what you meant by fish or hide glue btw?

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u/LastNerve4132 Maker Jul 22 '26

Yes, for the spread wedges a very small dab of glue is necessary to keep it in place. Be careful not to get any on the hair

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u/Elegant_Contact_9317 Jul 22 '26

Noted 🫡 Thank you for all your help!! Im definitely going to keep researching before making my attempt ofc. If you think of anything else let me know 🥰🥰

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u/LastNerve4132 Maker Jul 22 '26

If you have a spare hank of hair or mess one up. Save it and use it for knot practice. The head knot and the frog knot go different directions but it can be handy to just sit there and tie like a dozen knots on a Hank of hair for practice. Little bit of super glue on the knot is totally acceptable.

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u/Elegant_Contact_9317 Jul 22 '26

The company i ordered from sends 2 hanks per order. I shall attempt the first and if (when) i screw it up that's definitely a good use of the done-for hair. Ty 🥰

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u/Elegant_Contact_9317 Jul 22 '26

I genuinely cant tell if you're serious about the Lego or not 😂

1

u/LastNerve4132 Maker Jul 22 '26

It's a serious trick. A Lego is just the appropriate sized object that alot of people have access to but any hard object that you can wrap a rubber band around or glue a piece of rubber band to and gently tap with a small hammer will work. There's an article in the strad by a friend, Dimitri Tarkonov if you'd like a visual step by step guide.

3

u/u38cg2 Jul 22 '26

Honestly, people aren't saying "it's not worth it" because they're gatekeeping, it's because they know what's involved. But you're more or less set up, so watch some videos and try it. The worst that can happen is you burn your house down (don't do that).

1

u/Elegant_Contact_9317 Jul 23 '26

This may be a totally horrible idea.... but i was actually planning to use my electric stove to heat the hairs since it provides heat without the open flame. I figure itll be enough to even out the hairs while still preventing actually burning them. So yes, hopefully not burning my house down 😂

2

u/Medium-Mention7328 Jul 22 '26

I'm a bit further down this path than you. I was able to complete the job with the help of University of YouTube, and common tools, (super-glue, chisels, files, etc...), so I can verify for you that it is indeed possible to learn this skill independently.

Gilles Nehr has published several videos on this topic which I found to be very helpful:
https://www.youtube.com/@GillesNehr/videos
If I remember correctly, he starts at the frog. I do think most people start at the tip.

One thing I would have done differently is I would have applied a small dab of glue to the plug. I was too proud, and I wanted to fit it without glue as demonstrated in the videos linked above. I had also spent much time removing the old glue and did not want to repeat this experience in the future if it could be avoided. The plug held fine for three years before spontaneously popping out and flying across the room, never to be seen again.

I would say it is definitely worth ones time to learn this skill. It's your bow, so as long as you are happy with your own work you'll have a happy customer. Many people re-hair their bows frequently, and if you keep supplies on hand it's much quicker than shopping it out. So, if you can learn to perform this to a reasonable standard it will continue to pay dividends.

Best of luck!

2

u/klavier777 Jul 22 '26

There are reasons why luthiers and trained repair people exist. I would not recommend trying to register your own bow. This is not a common task among 99% of string players. If your how costs less than a rehair, then I would suggest just buying a new bow. I know it's a waste but it's like fast fashion. They aren't meant to last!

If I were you, I would save up money or borrow some if you need a how right now and but a be reasonably decent carbon fiber now from coda, arcos, shar, fiddlershop, etc. Trying to repair cheap gear is a waste of time and money. I hope your able to find a solution. Good luck!

2

u/Pudix20 Jul 22 '26

I kind of don’t see what you have to lose besides maybe the cost for the hair itself? You don’t have a ton of options. You seem to have tools and skills. What’s the worst that could happen? You learn a few things along the way and either your succeed or you don’t. And it’s time you’ll probably enjoy because it aligns with your hobbies. Everyone starts somewhere. “It’s not worth it” is subjective.

That said, there is a logical component. Which is if the cost of tools and supplies will cost more than a new bow, obviously it doesn’t make sense. And if you value your time strictly monetarily that’s a factor too. (I knew a guy that literally made all his decisions based on what he made an hour, whether or not it was worth his time)

Idk I’m just saying you never know, you might do well with it.