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The creation of a masterpiece… …so you can perform your own
Raw Materials
Perhaps the single most important step in the bow making process is wood selection. Pernambuco, long considered the best wood from which to fashion bows, takes several decades for its tree (Caesalpinia echinata) to develop sufficient heartwood to be useful for bow making. Even so, not all pernambuco is created equal, as only a very small percentage of all pernambuco wood can be used in the production of the finest handcrafted bows. That wood is then aged for a minimum of ten years before it becomes a Sousa Bow.
Raw Materials
Sousa Bows exclusively uses properly stored and aged, old pernambuco wood that is acquired from sources authorized to safely and legally harvest pernambuco. Documentation obtained from the Brazilian government is kept on file, certifying the provenance of the pernambuco wood used in the production of all Sousa Bows.
Raw Materials
Sousa Bows uses a Lucchi Meter—an ultrasonic tester designed to measure the acoustical characteristics and evaluate the tonal properties of a piece of wood—to ensure that each plank of wood or bow blank results in an optimum Lucchi Meter reading for bow production. Empirical knowledge notwithstanding, the experience of the bow maker, who understands the properties of pernambuco, such as color, grain and growth patterns, density, rigidity, and flexibility, cannot be underestimated in the selection of the proper wood for each bow.
Raw Materials
At every stage of the bow making process, whenever the wood undergoes any major stress or physical change (when cut from logs into planks, when cut from planks into bow blanks, after the initial rough planing of the stick, and after the bending and fine planing of the bow) it goes back to the shelves in the drying room for further aging, where it gets even more well-seasoned. This process is a very important step in improving the stiffness and quality of the bow.
Roughing the Stick
A rectangular plank of pernambuco is marked for the first round of cuts that will produce the bow blank (also called the “stick”) which will form the basic building block for the bow.
Roughing the Stick
The marked plank goes “under the knife” of a vertical band saw, with the careful guidance of the bow maker’s hands.
Roughing the Stick
Using specialized bow scraper hand planes, the bow maker carves the pernambuco bow blank to precise gradations so that the stick is evenly flexible throughout, and begins to assume its characteristic shape.
Roughing the Stick
The bow maker adjusts the camber (curve) of the bow by using a flame heat source to carefully heat the stick until it becomes flexible enough to then gradually bend it to the proper shape. Camber directly affects the playability and resonance of the bow.
Roughing the Stick
Finer graduations are made to the bow during the cambering process, using smaller, specialized wood planes. The graduations and the camber are always matched so each bow performs at its optimum capacity.
Roughing the Stick
Cambered bows are set aside and given time to cool down, allowing them to hold their new shape.
Roughing the Stick
The straightness of each bow is checked to ensure there are no bends or twists, before it once again goes to the drying room for further resting and seasoning.
The Head
Sousa Bows strives to honor the elegant head models of the classic bows in its designs. Although this is the one stage of the bow making process that affords bow makers the greatest opportunity to impart their own signature style as well. Much like a sculptor, the bow maker uses a woodcarver’s knife to shape the head, as well as create the chamfers which are the thin finish cuts, at a 45° angle to the sides.
The Head
Cutting and refining the head requires very skilled hands, since it is the lightest and most fragile part of the bow. There are only a few millimeters of wood keeping the head attached to the stick, therefore the midpoint area of the head is the weakest point, given the amount of tension it has to support, and the fact that the grain of the wood runs through the stick and on to the head, but is unattached to the lower part of the head.
The Head
The tip, where the ebony liner and cattle bone tip plate have been glued on to the bottom face of the head, is further filed and shaped. Once the head is finished, the mortise for the hair is cut into it.
The Frog
Frogs starts as blocks of ebony that need to be chiseled, carved, and filed. The frog is shaped by hand using a concave gouge, after which various metal fittings are added, including decorations like the eyes that are inlaid into the sides. Sousa Bows also uses some of the finest semi-finished frogs from Germany.
The German-made frogs are processed with deep black ebony, characterized by a fine porosity. And to avoid any deformation, this ebony is seasoned under optimal conditions for up to 25 years.
The Frog
Holes are milled at the end of the bow where the frog will ultimately be attached. The mortise which measures a couple of centimeters and runs along the shaft will accommodate the brass eyelet assembly. A bow drill—so named because it is driven with a bow—is used to bore the hole (referred to as the nipple) on the end of the shaft, for the adjusting screw.
The Frog
Various metal components are fitted and installed on the frog, including the eyelet and screw (pictured), in addition to the liner, back-plate, slide, and ferrule.
The Frog
The finished frog is fitted to the stick. The fit and finish of the frog is thoroughly inspected with special attention given to ensuring that the frog fits to the stick precisely, showing absolutely no gaps along the edges.
Finishing
Nickel, silver, or gold wire is wound in a compact spiral fashion around the stick. Known as lapping or winding, this in conjunction with the leather thumb pad, protects the wood and assists the player in properly gripping the bow.
Finishing
A rubbing pad, consisting of absorbent cotton encased in a soft cotton cloth lubricated with oil, is used in the delicate application of many thin coats of shellac dissolved in alcohol. This special technique known as “French polishing” is used to give additional protection and chatoyancy to the finished bow.
Finishing
Sousa Bows are strung with the finest quality Mongolian or Siberian horsehair.
Finishing
The last few finishing touches focus on the presentation of an aesthetically flawless bow.
