Callier-Scollard Violins
Craig Scollard

50 E. Green St. Suite 142
Pasadena, CA 91105
(626) 795-2870

Mon, Tue, Wed 10:00-1:00.
Thu, Fri, Sat 2:00 to 5:00

Intercom Access Code, Press:
142 and then the CALL button:

Bow Repair Steps and Examples - Glue, Wrap, and Save Your Broken Bow

Here is another bow where it is broken near the tip. In this case the break didn't go all the way through. The frist step is making sure nothing is stuck in the break. Then glue and wrap the bow tightly. Before the glue dries you need to make sure it is straight and that the camber is correct. Then after it's cleaned up, it's wrapped with clear so that the wood shows through the wrapping.

IMG 20211104 160845 371 IMG 20211104 160845 371
IMG 20211105 125859 591 IMG 20211105 125859 591
IMG 20211105 152700 227 IMG 20211105 152700 227

 

This is a bass bow where the break near the head is at a very obtuse angle. My first thought was to discard this bow because it's not worth grafting the crack together and it was too short of a break to simply glue and wrap it. Then after a month or so, I changed my mind and decided to save it. Here are the steps.

  1. Drill a hole on the head side of the crack, then screw and glue it.
  2. Cut the head off and taper the end a little.
  3. Drill a hole that's correctly aligned and slightly larger than the stainless screw.
  4. Glue the crack and the screw together and wrap and adjust a little to make sure it's straight and the camber is correct.
  5. Smooth out stick.
  6. Form some vulcanized fiber to the exact shape of the bow. Feather the edges similar to the way you fit a leather grip.
  7. Glue the vulcanized fiber around the crack.
  8. Make the fiber a little darker so it's closer to the bow's color.
  9. Wrap the stick a little bit longer than the crack, but not as long as the fiber wrap
IMG 20210913 090140 843 IMG 20210913 090140 843
IMG 20210913 090106 787 IMG 20210913 090106 787
IMG 20210913 092541 850 IMG 20210913 092541 850
IMG 20210914 162807 551 IMG 20210914 162807 551
IMG 20210914 170447 191 IMG 20210914 170447 191
IMG 20210915 093236 671 IMG 20210915 093236 671
IMG 20210916 104942 982 IMG 20210916 104942 982
IMG 20210916 112838 353 IMG 20210916 112838 353
IMG 20210916 112854 520 IMG 20210916 112854 520
 
IMG 20210916 114028 844 IMG 20210916 114028 844
 

 

A violin bow with a long break that was missing some wood near the silver wrapping. I wrapped it a little longer than normal because I wanted the wrapping to stop at the silver. When I was gluing it together it was bent so I needed to clamp it straight while the glue was drying.

IMG 20210601 123352 173 IMG 20210601 123352 173
IMG 20210602 101954 172 IMG 20210602 101954 172
IMG 20210602 102001 389 IMG 20210602 102001 389
IMG 20210604 165240 217 IMG 20210604 165240 217
IMG 20210812 141640 834 IMG 20210812 141640 834
IMG 20210812 142834 757 IMG 20210812 142834 757

 

Here is a bow where the head was broken off and I repaired it about 15 years ago.

Just recently the stick cracked in a new place before the head and somehow some cloth fibers most likely from the case were jammed into the crack. I tried to get all of the fibers out of the crack and then glued it and wrapped the crack.

 

IMG 20200513 115831 3 IMG 20200513 115831 3
 
IMG 20200522 142813 4 IMG 20200522 142813 4
IMG 20200522 142937 1 IMG 20200522 142937 1

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