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My bow has what appears to be a nickel silver winding, with plastic tape over the winding. The tape is starting to come off (at least a bit is beginning to curl up). When it gets worse, should I simply replace it with standing packing tape (like you ship a package with), or leave the tape off. If I take it off, and leave it that way, I'm concerned the sweat from my hand might cause corrosion, and/or the winding may start to come unwound.
I cannot imagine this being a very expensive bow but I'm sure it works fine for you. Try using clear nail polish over the winding.
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Nail polish is a great idea. I used to make lures wrapping thread around the hooks/feathers and painting the thread with nail polish.
You can also order 3/8in OD Latex Tubing and slide it over. Lot's of people like that.
Lastly, you can wind real silver thread and solder the end. I imagine you can find the instructions online somewhere but we can help you if necessary. Usually this is done on better bow.
Imitation whale bone is nice too.
"The richest person is not the one who has the most,
but the one who needs the least."
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Yeah - not quite the same sort of thing - but years ago I was donated a "split-cane" fishing rod from an uncle of mine ( the sort of well known in fishing circles "Willie Gunn", known for his salmon fly / flies designs ) - https://www.independent.co.uk/.....41948.html
OK - long story short - I must have been about 12 years old or so, and he gave me this old rod, and it needed some attention, the bindings around the split-canes were rotten with the danger of imminent breaking of the cane if used strenuously on a BIG fish ! ( ROFL, I only ever caught tiddlers ! )
I removed, and re-did the bindings every few inches up the rods and protected them with a carefully applied several coats of polyurethane varnish. I no longer go fishing, but still have the rod.....
I know this has NOTHING to do with the topic, it just brought it to mind.... LOL
Nail varnish sounds just fine !
I seriously recommend not copying my mistakes. D'oh - 
Please make your own, different mistakes, and help us all learn :-)
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My Holstein Ipe Wood viola bow came in today (yaaaay!) and it was missing the tape over the winding.
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LOL, the tape is on cheaper bows. 
"The richest person is not the one who has the most,
but the one who needs the least."
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Fiddlerman said
LOL, the tape is on cheaper bows.
Oh...
I think I might preffer the tape over the winding because, I don't want to tarnish the silver.
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Makes sense. The trouble is that I don't know what happens if you take that tape off. LOL
"The richest person is not the one who has the most,
but the one who needs the least."
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Well, the inexpensive Brazilwood bow I bought to be able to get my Grandfather's old violin out of mothballs and playing again has silver winding and came taped. (Made in China, what can you expect?) I ripped it off immediately and the winding is loose! Cheap and shoddy workmanship is the problem there! There is leather between the frog and the winding so there is little danger of corrosion on mine! My grandfather's old bow which I believe is Pernambuco had silver winding that started about 1/2 inch... maybe less from the frog. It was badly corroded and broken and unwinding. Unlike my new cheap bow, it does not have tiny holes drilled to contain the ends of the windings. I am sure it was hand wound very tightly with the ends tucked under the windings. If I ever decide to rewind it I think I would like a small amount of leather between it and the frog. Similar to my cheap bow but both wrapped with more care! It was very obvious when I unwrapped the corroded wire that there was no looseness. It was TIGHT! I work with sterling silver in making my jewellery, and there are ways to coat it to protect from corrosion and there are silver clothes that you can use to wipe the silver down to protect it. They will clean and leave a protective film on it. If you care for the ornamentation, it would be a small thing to wipe down the bow with a soft cloth then use a silver cloth on the winding before putting it away. Google Sunsine Polishing Cloth. They are sold on Amazon and you can buy 1,3,or even 5 at a time! There are other brands but Sunshine is the go to brand for most Silversmiths. I HATE tape! Cheap and ugly way of disguising a bad winding job!
"Reality is an illusion, albeit a persistent one".- Albert Einstein
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Fiddlerman said
You can also order 3/8in OD Latex Tubing and slide it over. Lot's of people like that.
Hmmm...I wonder if that would make the bow easier to hold. Is that why people like it?
I've been having trouble lately holding the bow for more than a few tunes due to pain in the base of my thumb.
The same problem also makes it difficult to hold a pick when playing guitar and mandolin, but I found this pick with a handle that has been a huge help in relieving the pain:
Maybe the tubing would provide a similar benefit? Might have to give it a try.
When the work's all done and the sun's settin' low,
I pull out my fiddle and I rosin up the bow.
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OK with all this discussion about tape on windings, I looked at my nice Fiddlerman bow and noticed there was, yes, tape on the silver winding. So I had to play with it, and take it off. But it appeared the wire was going to be loose, so tried to put it back on and now it looks like crap. (good enough to keep the wire on however).
I am going to take it off and use nail polish to hold it, as I think I can't leave it the way it is now. Now that I look at it (and a cello bow I have) I see it is a nicer grip with no tape.
I should not have read this post, can't leave things alone 
This may be silly, but I would never change anything on my FM CF bows. Taking the tape off will upset the balance and feel of the bow. FM could have left the tape off, but HE decided it was a good thing. The great thing about these bows is that they are the bow to which all others are compared, changing anything takes away its value.
I remember taking it off on one of my $3 bows,,and then taking off the winding because it was sloppy loose. I put on a thread winding which felt good, then the bow broke. I use it now as a swab for saxophones.
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LOL. Thank MrYikes. Sorry about that intrepidgirl.
"The richest person is not the one who has the most,
but the one who needs the least."
Regular advisor
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Well, like a dummy I immediately took the plastic tape off my recently purchased FM CF bow. I just thought it was like the film that you find on electronic displays that is there to temporarily protect them when new. I was careful and none of the windings came undone. I thought about applying a couple of coats of nitro lacquer. I'm a guitar luthier so I always have some around. I even have some CA glue that is thinned for brushing. Either of those should work. If I had an expensive wood bow I might think twice about it.
It's a minor consideration but my first finger likes the feel of the windings better than the tape.
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So, maybe not like a dummy.
I think instinctively, I would have done the same thing.
Welcome to the forum zpilot. Hope you enjoy the bow.
"The richest person is not the one who has the most,
but the one who needs the least."
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It's more accurate to describe the "tape" as a plastic heat shrink film -- like the plastic film they use to seal up medicine bottle. Every China bow I've bought on eBay -- regardless of price -- uses it over the winding.
So here's a "hack" to remove it without destroying the winding: first, cut the plastic film with fresh utility knife, being careful not to score the metal. With a relatively stiff craft paint-brush, apply two thin coats of Mod Podge. For the first application, lay on the Mod Podge over one side while you work the dry side of the winding up and down every so slightly to make gaps appear between the individual windings, and as they do, work the glue into the gaps with the brush. Repeat with the other side. When the whole winding is coated, compress the wire to close up the gaps that now have glue in them. Let it dry. Then bush on a thin second coat, working in the direction of the windings.
Mod Podge is water based and it apparently one of it's uses is to "varnish" hand-made jewelry; I picked it up at a craft store. I used the "matte" one and I am very happy with the result -- it also has slight bit of "grip" that seems to help my daughter relax her index finger and is much better than the slippery feel of the plastic.
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Thannks @gdeangel I have not fixed my winding yet, but I use Mod Podge for other crafty things so will definitely do this on the wire wrap on my good Fiddlerman bow.
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I didn't know that there were people removing the plastic wrap. I figured that it helps keep everything together.
"The richest person is not the one who has the most,
but the one who needs the least."
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