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Potential of bow damaged by sweaty hand?

Instruments: How the sweat will contribute the bow wood wearing, and what I can do with it?

From Casey Jefferson
Posted October 22, 2009 at 03:29 PM

Hi all,

I've been pretty frustrating about my right hand being sweaty and left quite a bit of sweat on the bow stick. However, it's *only* my right hand ring finger that's sweating! Every 5 mins of playing I check my bow and the ring finger area are wet.

I dont' want to risk my new fine french bow, what I can do with it? I've heard some surgery that'll cure the sweaty hand effectively, but not sure if it's even necessary since it's only on 1 finger? Anything much easier that I can do? I've seen people glued (not sure how) a piece of leather on the part where middle and ring finger touches all the time above the frog.

How much the sweats will damage the bow, or wear out the wood quicker? Should I be even start to worry about it?

The damage will depend on your body chemistry, that is, how acid and corrosive is your sweat, that changes from person to person. I think that glueing or attaching something to the endangered area may be a good idea, perhaps you could talk about that with your archettier.

www.manfio.com

Thanks a lot Manfio. The problem is, it's ever so difficult to find a qualified luthier in my country, not even the capital of my country that I'm living in, let alone finding a bow guy...

I have another german bow that I've had for few years, and the same area show some discolouring and maybe a wee bit of wood smoothed out (which also caused by regular playing I'm supposed).

Would like to hear more opinions on my situation...

I cover the handle of my bows with sticky clear plastic. This is the kind you cover school books with. It protects very well and you don't notice it when playing. Just make sure the bow is clean and dry before you apply it.

Kristian - Thanks a lot for your help. I'm a little skeptical about the adhesive material on those self-adhere plastic film. Unless they're mild and don't leave any residue to begin with, then might worth the try I guess...

That`s a good idea indeed. Sticky clear plastic is used in violins, mainly in the upper ribs to protect the wood from sweat. They are easily removed and will do no harm to your bow, I think. An Italian viola player that plays in Kuala Lampur is going to play in our State Orchestra here in Sao Paulo, hs is a very fine player .

www.manfio.com

Alright, I'll just shop for those sticky plastic film to protect my bow, and for my violin too. Should have done that before some beautiful varnish worn off on my violin, but nevertheless it's never too late I guess.

Thanks again to everybody!

Hi-

   I'm interested in protecting my bow in this way also, but after a search on the internet, it seems that there are many types of "clear plastic film."  Some sound permanent, some say "vinyl."  Is it possible for someone who knows the specific name or brand of the "clear plastic film" to let me know?  Thanks so much.

It`s a plastic tape, adesive. If you have a luthier nearby ask him to do the job,

When I got my bow, my luthier suggested to put on a thin layer of leather where the fingers usually touch the wood. It doesn't hamper my playing in any way, and it actually looks kind of good. Unfortunately, the label is covered too, but I don't have to worry about damaging the wood underneath. I think the cost was a couple of dollars.

Christopher,

 Could you let me know who the luthier is- I live in the Bay area too. You can reply to me directly if you wish. Thank you.

Margaret

No problem - I have things done with Haide Lin over at Ifshin's in El Cerrito. I must say that I forgot the price on the leather addition, but I know I received a discount for buying a bow. It shouldn't be that much though.

Hmm the sticky plastic film actually reminds me of those screen protector films on mobile phones or PDA, are those useable? Maybe not something that's too thick though.

How about applying a thin layer of Renaissance Wax to protect the affected area? The wax is said to have been used extensively in museums and is pretty safe. I heard some luthiers use it too. You can find it on ebay and many of the sellers ship internationally.

Some updates:

I bought a screen protector, though doesn't help much as it doesn't stick well on wood and doesn't bend well too due to the thicker plastic film, I don't think cutting a few strips according to the octagonal part of the stick going to help much either.

So I continue to search, and came across this Scotch "magic tape", but it seems to have quite a bit of adhesive stuffs on it, I wonder if this works? It says "photo safe" on the package...

I couldn't find those sticky plastic that use to protect book covers, can anyone elaborate what are those? Or any online links to similar product?

If the problem is caused by sweaty hands, have you tried spraying a good antiperspirant on your hands and letting it dry before playing?  

Hi Rosalind - Nope never thought of that before, didn't even know there's this solution available. I'll look around and try out some. Thanks for the idea!

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