Bow Hair Jig

by Thomas Snyder

Originally published in American Lutherie #3, 1985 and Big Red Book of American Lutherie Volume One, 2000



As and apprentice luthier, I have come up with a better mousetrap for rehairing bows. The results with this method have been uniform hair tension, long-term retention, and reduction in rehairing time.

The jig was fabricated from pine and oak. I used oak on all blocks. Item 4 makes a great carving back for ferrule wedges. I average ten bows a month and this method and jig has cut my time in half and increased the quality.

On my sketch, items 2A, 2E, 2D, and 2F are the new additions to an old jig. I have made a few small changes. For the lack of a name, I will call this a “hair holder.” Item 2A swings aside to place hair over sponge rubber. The half of a 1/8" dowel holds the hair in place when the wing nuts are tightened.