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The
length of a violin bow is 73 cm, not including the button.
It may weigh between 55 amd 65 g, the normal weight currently
being 60 g.
Its
basic constituents are:
a)
A stick, generally made of Pernambuco wood (name of
the state in Brazil where the essence comes from). One of
the ends is called the head, the other, the nut.
Pernambuco is a reddish wood, hard and flexible at the same
time, possessing all the qualities necessary to make a good
bow. It is said that the famous bow maker Tourte, called "Tourte
the Elder", was the first to use this wood for making bows
at the end of the 18th century.
b)
Bowhair consisting of approximately 150 "thoroughbred"
horsehairs fixed to the head in a groove and to the nut in
a movable frog that slides along the stick thus allowing
one to tighten or slacken the hairs. The frog is controlled
by a button that monitors a screw lodged in a cavity in the
nut.
Rosin
is a resin (or a mix of resins) used to harden the microscopic
rugged edges of the horsehairs that by rubbing set the string
vibrating. Rosin should be used sparingly...
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