As I've been on the forum since the start of the year, I thought it was about time I introduced myself. After having been working in IT for 23 years, I'd had quite enough and decided to indulge in my love of woodwork and making things by enrolling on what I considered the pinnacle of woodworking courses, making and repairing violins at the Newark School of Violin Making. I was part-time at first, but soon gave up the IT work and went full-time, completing the course in 2016.

Since then, I have been in touch with a retiring maker of violin bows based in Bristol. As I had done some work making and re-hairing bows since the course, I decided to purchase tools and materials from him prior to his retirement.

Bow-making is a very different discipline to making instruments, being a combination of engineering, jewellery and of course some woodwork. I could also throw in 'hairdressing', as the bow is really just a way of tensioning a thin flat ribbon of hair from the tail of a white horse.

Having been woodturning since I was a lad, and being very interested in the engineering aspects of making bows I purchased a Myford Super 7 lathe at the beginning of 2019. Since then I've spent most of my time learning metal turning, milling and toolmaking. So far, I've made Howard Hall's mini surface gauge and I'm currently in the middle of making the Hemingway sensitive knurling tool (based on the Marlco). For a newbie with only a lathe and a pillar drill, I'm not finding it easy, but I'm really enjoying the challenge.

Once I've finished the knurling tool (and probably several other projects including tailstock die-holders, etc.), I'll be moving back onto making bows. I intend to use the lathe to drill sticks, mill bow frogs (the part that slides on the stick to tension the hair), turn down pearl eyes and make adjusters (the ornamental ends of the screws used to apply the tension), as well as making many of the specialised tools.

For interest, I've included a picture of the 'engineered' parts of a bow below:

My avatar is the head of a violin bow. It was made by one of the finest French makers, Pierre Simon, during the early 19th century.

Mike

Martin: I had to look up IRRC, but couldn't find what that means. In my opinion and the opinions of the professional musicians I've dealt with, Pernambuco wood is not only the best but really the only material that a bow should be made from. Actually, £150 for a silver-mounted bow is very cheap. A hand-made bow would normally start at ten times that, and much more by a maker with a reputation.

Do you still have the violin?

Michael Gilligan: It is thought that stallion hair is the 'best' hair for violin bows, though I've only used Sowden's mare's hair, and I've had no complaints. It's understood that mare's tail hair is stained towards the lower end because they pee on their tail! I believe that is why stallion hair is preferred. However, once rosin is applied, the powdery residue of the rosin makes the hair white again.

Horses for courses!

AdrianR and Michael Gilligan: You may well be right about stallion hair being longer, and perhaps slightly stronger. I'm hoping to visit Michael Sowden (the horse hair supplier) in Beverley sometime soon, so I should find out more.

Mick B1: There are very good carbon fibre bows, and probably some reasonable fibreglass bows too, that would play basic bow strokes perfectly well. However, for a professional who is looking for the right weight, balance, tension and resonance for advanced strokes such as staccato, spiccato, sautillé, etc., I understand that nothing is as good as Pernambuco wood. I have the equipment to inlay pre-formed strips of carbon fibre into a finished bow made from lower grade Pernambuco, resulting in a bow that should be getting close to a good Pernambuco bow, possibly better. I have prototypes, but I've yet to receive feedback from a professional player.