Padauk for violin bow making

[Mik Kyklo]

Hello everybody and my best wishes to every member here.

 

I recently started making a bow from Padauk wood. It is a very nice while working on it, nice response to bending, not heavy like IPE massaraduba etc but not soft also. The result is above my expectations. Has anyone tried such a wood for a violin bow?

[jezzupe]

I think the less of a hold tradition has on the world, some based on open minds, some based on species decimation due to poor or non existent forest management, you will see more and more people making violin and violin related things, like bows out of "different material. Hopefully you can post pics in awhile after your probation expires....love to see it

[Bill Yacey]

I roughed out a bow blank years ago from Padauk, but abandoned it due to the lightness and very open grain properties of this wood. I think it would make a very springy, bouncy bow judging from how it felt in the hands, not unlike other bargain bow materials.

[Kev Chanot]

How good are the "better quality" carbon fibre (fiber) bows?

Does it matter if bow tips are synthetic ?

[Mik Kyklo]

I roughed out a bow blank years ago from Padauk, but abandoned it due to the lightness and very open grain properties of this wood. I think it would make a very springy, bouncy bow judging from how it felt in the hands, not unlike other bargain bow materials.

It is light (not too light) sure, but not soft. For its lightness what helped was linseed oil, and varnish. The open grain properties is truly something that is not positive. But what i did was to fill them with pumice and shellac.

[DGV]

Last summer, I went into a shop and tried the Coda diamond series, GX, SX, NX and was not impressed. In the end I bought a Chinese carbon fibre bow for $200 that handled very well. I had to try a few though since some of them didn't look straight enough. 

[Kev Chanot]

That's interesting.The Coda bows look pretty impressive in their advertising blurb.

I presume they are not hand made,therefore seem a little expensive.

[DGV]

Yes. The Coda bow ads make them sound very good. And I was prepared to be blown away. In the end I was totally depressed because I had wanted them to be very good.

[Peter Lynch]

Depending what price range you are looking in, but for under $1000, the Coda Diamond GX is a very good bow.  Their other ones are quite a step down from that one.

[Kev Chanot]

Anyone tried the "Arcus" range ?

[Dwight Brown]

Andres Cardenas thinks the Shar Impulse bows enough to endorse them.  He had a G.B. Guadanini in high school with good bows, and I don't know what now.  He was fun in the back of algebra class as well :-)

 

I wonder if there are not other woods that could be measured with the Lucci meter, for density, and elasticity, etc.  I have always thought that maybe Tonkin cane in the manner of a split can flyrod would not work.  I know that there was a maker that did do just that years ago.

[Ron MacDonald]

That was Lawrence Cocker of Derby.  Many years ago, as an impecunious student, I purchased one of his split cane bows (they were about a third of the price of a pernambuco one).  I used it for several years and eventually traded it with Joseph Kun for one of his (he gave me a very generous allowance--much more than I had paid for it).  Recently, for sentimental reasons I acquired two more, a violin version from Brompton's and a viola version from Tarisio.  I rather like them, especially the viola one.  The craftsmanship is excellent but I expect that they are probably quite demanding to make.  They were all hexagonal.

[Dwight Brown]

The Split cane just seemed like a natural.  They stopped making fishing rods out of solid wood a long time ago.  I am sure there is still a long way to go with composite bows.  It has been a long time since wooden golf clubs, skis, tennis rackets, fishing rods, archery bows (with exceptions), and the like.

[Dwight Brown]

I do have one of the early B. Rolland Paris Arpedge violin bows that I bought in 1997.  It is really pretty good.  I have no idea if it really came from Paris or Maestro Rolland ever laid a finger on it.

[DGV]

Andres Cardenas thinks the Shar Impulse bows enough to endorse them.  He had a G.B. Guadanini in high school with good bows, and I don't know what now.  He was fun in the back of algebra class as well :-)

 

I wonder if there are not other woods that could be measured with the Lucci meter, for density, and elasticity, etc.  I have always thought that maybe Tonkin cane in the manner of a split can flyrod would not work.  I know that there was a maker that did do just that years ago.

 

Looks like I should give the Presto Impulse a serious look.

[Ron MacDonald]

The Cocker split cane bows all had grafted heads and handles--sometimes pernambuco, sometimes cocobolo.  Some worried that the grafts might fail.  Those that I have now would be over 50 years old and the grafts are as secure as ever.  Also, the split cane cannot warp.

[Mik Kyklo]

The 1st Viola at the Orchestra i know, uses a chinese carbon bow. Even it is weird for me, many musicians prefare it. I never tried one. 

[gary buxton]

Bill,

Have you tried Osage Orange? I made a bow last winter from this wood. I split the piece and then worked it down. I did not get enough bend. The wood is really close grain and nice to work with, but it is very hard.

Gary

[Bill Yacey]

I haven't actually made any bows other than roughing out the stick from Padauk, and that was probably 30 years ago.

 

If you didn't get enough bend, it's possible you didn't heat the wood fibers completely through the cross section.

 

A kindly bow maker did set me up with some blanks of Ipe, Osage Orange and some Pernambuco. I'd rather learn on some less valuable wood before I tie into the Pernambuco.

[Dwight Brown]

I wonder if Yew would work for a bow.  It worked OK for Henry V.  I would think anything that would work well for an archery bow would be a place to start.

 

DLB

[NickIsWorking]

I've tried massaranduba, purple heart and blood wood. All were inferior to pernambuco for one reason or another. Even pernambuco with lower density yields better results than the alternativesn I've tried. Blood wood is one I plan to revisit as my skill may have improved enough to use it.

An alternative that had received good responses from a bowmaker I know is Wamara. I haven't been able to source any yet.

[Ken_N]

Try looking up Katalox instead.  Readily available.  I think it would make great fingerboards.  But I haven't seen any in person to see how the surface looks and feels.  Hard is one thing.  Can it take a polish is another.

 

Ken