need to replace a bow tip

[Dick Hutchings]

I can't seem to find step by step solution to this problem. I hope somebody here can help me thanks.
Dick Hutchings

[Steve Senseney]

I have no experience with bow tip repair, but a picture would help who ever offers information.

[Dick Hutchings]

I'm just talking about the plastic and ebony cap. My plan is to glue it on with CA, shape it, drill a hole where the mortise is and square it up with a knife or chisel. Is this the correct way to do it?

[Fred Marcuson]

I'm just talking about the plastic and ebony cap. My plan is to glue it on with CA, shape it, drill a hole where the mortise is and square it up with a knife or chisel. Is this the correct way to do it?

that's pretty much it
i always used white glue to glue it on though . some times it was a black fiber instead of ebony . the white glue was easier to use than the ca , it didn't soak into the fiber as much .
shape the cap hole to match the 'plug' used to hold the hair in ..

[Dick Hutchings]

I'm just talking about the plastic and ebony cap. My plan is to glue it on with CA, shape it, drill a hole where the mortise is and square it up with a knife or chisel. Is this the correct way to do it?

that's pretty much it
i always used white glue to glue it on though . some times it was a black fiber instead of ebony . the white glue was easier to use than the ca , it didn't soak into the fiber as much .
shape the cap hole to match the 'plug' used to hold the hair in ..

Thanks Fred. The ones I ordered are plastic and black fiber not ebony. The reason I want to use CA is to avoid making a special clamp to hold it in place. Now that I think about it, I guess I could use rubber bands.

So if the clamping can be done with rubber bands or tape, what about hide glue? Both white and hide would allow easier clean up and no worries about damaging the finish.

[Fred Marcuson]

never thought about using rubber bands ......
the only problem i can think of with using them is usually they are over sized .
using rubber bands might make it hard to keep the cap centered on the tip ...
i'm not on the band wagon of hide glue ......
making a clamp isn't hard ....
some bondo ,a small piece of wood and some saran wrap .
made a few that way at the shop i used to work at when we got flooded with a lot of school bows to repair .

[Dick Hutchings]

I have no experience with bondo. I was thinking about that magic stuff that Stew Mac sells. Just add water or something.

[Michael Lewis]

It's been quite a few years since I did any bow work, but I always formed the tip with heat to fit the bow, and that way it didn't need much in the way of clamping. Hide glue all the way.

[Dick Hutchings]

Thanks Michael. I'm trying to picture myself heating and forming such a small piece of plastic without the advantage of extra length for trimming. Probably no more difficult than reforming a thumbpick though. Good thing I ordered two. If the first one goes on well, the other one when will sit in drawer until after I'm gone I'm sure.

[Greg Steil]

I'm sure the H.S. Wake book has how to do it.

[Dick Hutchings]

I found some time this morning to get started on this little project. I made a clamping caul and my next step is gluing. I got to thinking about the squeeze out in the pocket. Hide glue hardens like glass and I'm thinking it's going to be a bit of work to clean that out of the mortise once I open the hole. I've used hide glue a lot but this will be the first time I have to do clean up after it hardens. I'm thinking I'll have to make it rather thin to avoid excessive squeeze out.

Another thing I've been thinking about is the trimming. I can't sand right up to the bow without damaging the finish unless I sand a slight angle. I want to avoid any finish touchup if possible. I'm thinking masking tape right up to the joint as a reference. Once I start getting into the tape I'll remove it and start sanding at a slight angle to finish it.

Seems like such a simple job but there's still a few things to consider. It would be easier if there was no finish on the bow. Then I could shape it to the contours of the bow.

[Dick Hutchings]

It's been quite a few years since I did any bow work, but I always formed the tip with heat to fit the bow, and that way it didn't need much in the way of clamping. Hide glue all the way.

I suppose this would work better with separate pieces of plastic and fiber. I can clamp it to shape with very little pressure so I'm going with clamping.

[Dick Hutchings]

Trying to come up with a good clamping procedure didn't work out so well. Also trying to bend this stuff with heat, I ended up cracking the first one. I'm so used to working with celluloid . This cracking surprised me. Glad I bought 2. I glued the second one on with CA. Tomorrow I'll try to shape it. I'm wishing I had shaped the point closer before gluing it though. We'll see how it goes tomorrow.

[Dick Hutchings]

Getting it close was easy when I moved to my bench upright sander. I followed that up with some sanding sticks. I just couldn't find a good small file in in my shop. I know they are in there but due to rearranging things, I just couldn't find them. Using the sanding sticks worked pretty good but I did get into the finish a little and I'm not sure how I'm going to touch that up. I have no idea what Eastman uses for a finish on their bows. Any ideas?

[Dick Hutchings]

Crummy picture but it's the best I can do with my phone.

[Michael Lewis]

Try shellac.

[Dick Hutchings]

BowTipsm.jpg (148.9 KiB) Viewed 18250 times

I haven't tried the shellac yet. I'm quite happy with it as it is for now. Just thought I'd post a picture of the finished tip. I plan to buff it out the next time I have it re-haired. I'll do it before sending it. Picture size has to be pretty small compared to some forums.