Hi everyone. Help please.
Mostly I make diddley bows but recently I acquired a box that lends itself to a fiddle so I built a one-string cigar box fiddle. So far so good. However, I want to make a small bow to play the instrument (I would prefer not to use a store-bought bow if at all possible). Does anyone have experience of doing this or suggestions for what I can do? I think i can manage the wooden part but what can I use as an alternative to horsehair? Any suggestions welcome.
Thanks
Phil
Replies
Thanks for the info, guys. Rather timely since I hope to build a fiddle sometime in the semi-near future and am gathering info.
I made a bow with I believe is this below for the stick. I used about 30 inches of it, notched on both sides.
https://www.lowes.com/pd/3-4-in-x-8-ft-Interior-Exterior-Pine-Wood-...
I string it with fishing line using a looping jig (a board with screws about three feet apart, a bit farther than the stick of the bow)
For the frog (the part you hold when playing) I used a couple of inches of 3/4" square dowel. The bow curves outward like an archery bow.
Click the MS Paint diagram above to enlargen it.
Tying the end of the fishing line to the hairing job and tying the loose end of the string to the hair.
Well, I used the old Medieval woodcuts for inspiration and designed a bow like that once...it was just a strong and springy limb bent and notched, with a large diameter piece of nylon Trimmer cord tied end to end. I have no idea if it would work for your project because my one-string Vaudeville fiddle used a flat-wound guitar string rather than a violin string-also, I had to use sandpaper on the nylon so that it would hold the rosin for more than a few minutes. Worth a try I suppose...
Now if you have access to power tools you could always cut and layer a laminated handmade bow and fit a standard horsehair insert into it-if you don't want to get fancy a broken hacksaw would likely yield up a good tensioner for one of those...