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Beginner's Question: How tight should the bow (hairs) be?
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thrashercharged
Kokomo, IN

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December 22, 2011 - 4:40 pm
Member Since: December 20, 2011
Forum Posts: 12
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I've a beginner's question - how much tension should there be on the bow hairs?  I understand the bow should not be tightened so much that the wood is straight - I think it should still have some curve to it, and I've seen guidelines saying the hairs should be about 3/8 inch from the wood at the middle of the bow. or just enough so your pinky will fit between the hair and the bow, but that leaves a fair amount of latitude in tension.

 

I guess I'm asking how much "bounce" or "give" do you want in the hairs?  Do you want it loose enough so that when you bow hard, the hairs bend toward the wood, or tight enough that they don't? 

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Fiddlerman
Fort Lauderdale
December 22, 2011 - 5:34 pm
Member Since: September 26, 2010
Forum Posts: 16537

The 3/8" works great if you have plenty of arch in your bow. However if you do not you may not get away with that little of a space. It's a feel thing more than anything else. If your bow doesn't have much of an arch you may be better off getting a different bow.

If the bow is too loose you will actually be pressing the stick down on the strings while playing hard instead of the hair.

Too tight will give you a hard to control bounce.

"The richest person is not the one who has the most,
but the one who needs the least."

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December 22, 2011 - 6:51 pm

I am much too impatient to negotiate with my bow.  Therefore, I weigh the force of the bow by pressing down the hair until it actually touches the bow BUT I do this on my wife's Weight Watcher scale.  My bow is most happy at 9 to 10 oz. 

I only do this once in a while to check my own "calibration" and I'm pretty good at it by now. Double stops want about 0.5 oz. less.

dancing

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Fiddlerman
Fort Lauderdale
December 22, 2011 - 10:51 pm
Member Since: September 26, 2010
Forum Posts: 16537

That is interesting Oliver. You have the mind of an engineer. That's for sure. smile

"The richest person is not the one who has the most,
but the one who needs the least."

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December 23, 2011 - 9:22 am

I have a very simple($) version of that and I will tell you what it is after allowing a few months for you to get all your other ventures under control cool

coffee2

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thrashercharged
Kokomo, IN

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December 23, 2011 - 10:07 am
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Forum Posts: 12
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Sorry if this gets posted twice, I just replied and answered the math question and it appears my reply got lost... so trying again.

 

I dug up my precision scale and tried this.  (10 oz = about 280 grams right?)  I assume you're setting the bow on the scale at the point where the hair and bow are the closest (near the midpoint, at the point of greatest recurve?)  And you're pushing down until the hair touches the bow, tightening the hairs and measuring the force (well, actually not force as that'll be in newtons but anyway) until it meets your spec?  I did that and set it to your spec and it's a tad looser than what I've been doing, but I've been suspecting that I've been tightening my bow a little too much.

 

>Double stops want about 0.5 oz. less.

 

What are double stops?  I've seen this mentioned a lot and I've searched but come up empty.  Actually, all my searches come up empty, maybe I'm doing something wrong?

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December 23, 2011 - 1:10 pm

Double stops are 2 strings at one time.  Sometimes called a "chord".  Lazy bow hair makes it a little easier to do two strings at once.

10 oz. is not magic and, on rechecking, I found it a tad loose. 

I do this simply to reduce variables because I want to get consistent bow performance and I HATE to start a practice session where everything has changed overnight.

I did develop a feel for the right pressure after a few weeks of trials and there is a relatively small window for best bow tension.

coffee2

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