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Old 06-27-2013, 09:33 PM
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Exclamation curve sideways?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Dave Whitla View Post
I had an interesting experience while attempting to switch frogs on these bows. I figured I would try it out well in advance of the tour to be sure was comfortable with the results. The frogs/sliders matched each other quite well so I was fairly confident the switch would allow me to take my Dolling bow on tour (sans ivory) and, and I also thought the other frog would go nicely, even if only temporarily.

HOWEVER, it turns out that the handmade, custom nature of sticks and frogs means that the frogs are carved to compensate for quirks in the stick (I'm sure no bowmaker is surprised by this), so that when my bows were rehaired with the other frogs and tightened they both curved sideways!
(the obvious question is did they curve in opposite directions, and while I think they must have my reaction to seeing the curves was to loosen the bows immediately and get the original frogs put back ASAP, so I didn't notice for sure)

Experiment terminated!
If the re-hair causes them to curve sideways, then the hair is too short on one side. This can be corrected in 1 or 2 ways. Pull the hair out on the short side or have it re-haired correctly.

At the ISB earlier this month I sold a fairly expensive bow and took in another bow on partial trade plus cash for the difference. The bow that I got in was a Sue Lipkins bow (my 9th!). The player had 2 Lipkins bows already and other great bows as well so they traded up. The other Lipkins bow came from me as well a few years ago. I saw Sue Lipkins there at the show and showed her the Bow that she had made about 6-7 years earlier and pointed out the sideways camber in the stick. This was not from her making. It was from an un-even re-hair job. She took the bow, pulled hard on the hair and evened out the tension of the bow. It was fixed as far as the eye can tell. She mentioned that the hair was still good but when it needs a re-hair in the future, it will be done right. The other re-hair was not by her. Her work is about the best human hands can do.

Also, on your Frog problem, they can vary in height as well and also the length of the hair. Besides that, the eyelet in the frog might not be at the exact same height to line up with the screw hole. Each frog and screw is made and drilled so everything lines up. Switching frogs can create a whole host of problems.
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