Leaned about a new instrument today.  Thanks for posting.

Good job Patty. I'm sure your neighbor will enjoy the bow.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

cool! I have a psaltery but have yet to learn to play it. you've inspired me!

Here is a video of my playing the violin uke with one hand while holding the camera in the other:

It went fairly well. As I was progressing on each string and yes, each string had to be tuned, I had to go back and re-tune the previous strings as they loosened up! I tuned them a bit sharp in case they decide to loosen up a bit. Since it hadn't been tuned in over 50 years it seems to sound pretty good for a violin uke 

Here is a picture:

Best wishes. I hope it goes well.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Today is the big day. I try out the bow on the violin uke. I'll be cleaning the strings on the instrument first then wipe them down. I hope the strings are in good shape. Maybe I can get a video. 

Oh yes! Rosin. Got to have that. In fact I received instructions inside my pack of synthetic horse hair on how to prime the hair with rosin before doing it the regular way of sliding the bow strings across the rosin bar. Yep, it's necessary for sure. I can see where waxed dental floss could be a problem...maybe not for teeth but for sure as a bowing implement. 

One would have to used UNWAXED floss, and any filament or hair would need to be rosined up I think.

k0k0peli, looks like one only needs dental floss or fishing line or ribbon to bow a piano,

 k0k0peli, I looked into using a stick to flex and tie horse hair on it but I wanted to do something special for my neighbors. That's why I decided to make a psaltery bow. When I did research on bows for the violin uke and psaltery I did come across instructions for making a simple bow. ( http://dennishavlena.com/psaltery.htm )  I'm not sure how well a Popsicle stick would work as it is very short and I don't think it would be that easy to put string on it without having to cut slots etc. Just my uneducated opinion. Other than the scroll saw (I already had one) I didn't spend that much money making the bow. I already had tung oil, sand paper, fine steel wool and paste wax from a previous project. I didn't spend much on the synthetic hair, rosin, glue and poplar wood. In fact, I purchased an extra piece of poplar wood just in case I messed up. It wasn't expensive at all.

Thanks Ken! And thanks for your advice!

Really good job there, Patty. Looks professional. I'm sure your neighbor will enjoy using it.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Thanks Kevin!!!

Very nice job Patty, Looks like it will be a fine bow.

Just wanted to let you all know I finally finished making a bow (psaltery bow) for my neighbor's violin uke. Here is a picture:

I saw some of those. Only thing is there are lots of negative responses on that seller and another one. Recent too. I don't feel too comfortable about that. 

Patty look on ebay there is a 1/4 size bow for 6.99  free shipping from NJ.

Sean, I haven't given up on looking for a used bow but 3/4 would be a bit too big. I saw a 3/4 at the music store. It was fairly long. I was thinking 1/4 size.

Patty, 

Another alternative would be to get an inexpensive 3/4 size violin bow like those that are used for kids learning Suzuki method. Those work well for a ukelin and shouldn't cost over $20 or $30.

More information on ukelins here: http://www.studiobobo.com/ukelin/playing.html#anchor1401612 

Strumelia, Thank you!!! That's a great idea. I'll be looking for green branches. They are plentiful around here especially with all the rain we've had. I will check out ebay for horse hair. Thanks again!!!

A psaltery bow yes, would be ideal!   It's more more nimble and light than even a short violin bow.  The bow hair should be laid out in a small round 'rope' shape rather than a violin bow flat wide 'tape' shape...which I found gets caught on the zither pins too often when jumping quickly between the pins, as in bowed psatery playing.

In a pinch, for a rustic 'disposable' bow-   you can even take an arched bent green branch between 1/4"-3/8" thick, cut deep notches at both ends, and set a hank of bow hair in it.  Tie a knot at one end of the hair hank and lay it into one notch.  Comb the hair straight without handling it in the middle (no finger grease!)...pull it to a good tension and lay it in the other notch by tying another knot at that end.  Once you have it nicely set and tensioned to your liking, you can put a dot of glue on each knot to keep it in place well.  Rosin it up very well to start with, then lightly thereafter.

You can buy black stallion horsehair hanks already measured and knotted at one end on Ebay, not that expensive.  You can use a whole hank for a rustic bow, or half a hank if you want a thinner hair 'rope'.   Some folks make a slight twist in the hair 'rope' when setting the hair in.  I found that works well when making twisted horsehair strings, and personally I like non-twisted hair for bows.

I've found that such rustic 'bent stick/hank of hair' bows work surprisingly well and are kind of fun for psalteries, rebecs, jouhikkos, etc.  If you use an underhand grip to bow (as with a jouhikko/tagelharpa) you can leave the hair more slack because you tension the hair while playing, with your bow grip hand.

Robert, I didn't know you make psalteries. I may be contacting you soon. 

Thanks Ken! I'm going to head to the music store to see if they have short violin bows. They may have tuning wrenches too but I may opt to order a psaltery bow and tuning wrench online from a psaltery builder. 

A psaltery bow would be just right. Here is a pic of one of my black walnut bows... Robert

Yes, a standard autoharp tuning wrench should work with those pins, although some earlier pins had smaller heads.  And yes, a psaltry bow should work, although a longer bow might give more sustain to notes.

I have a neighbor who has a Violin Uke. Yes, that is what it's called. The original bow is damaged. I would like to get him a bow so he can play the instrument. Would a Psaltery bow be acceptable? Any suggestions you have would be appreciated. Also, it has zither pins. I'm guessing it may be out of tune. Would a modern zither tuning key work on it?

Here is a video of someone playing a Violin Uke: