Winding a bow with silk and thumb leather

Metal windings are not the only bow winding option out there. Some people like a light bow; historically, tastes used to tend more in that direction. Silk is great for that, or to rebalance a metal-wound bow that is too heavy at the frog

None of my bows came with windings. For a while I was just fine with that, but apparently windings do protect the wood some, so I am giving it a whirl to see if I like it.

We are starting here with my personal favorite keeper bow -- the faux snakewood one with the grafted head. I can't tell if it originally had windings, for sure, but the painted snakewood pattern goes to solid muddled dark where the winding should be, so I think so, unless that is a wear pattern.



I didn't have silk cord in the proper gauge, so I wound silk thread into three-ply cord as I wrapped. Twist-twist wrap. It ended up a terrible bird's nest at the ends by the time I finished, but I got enough on the stick so it was OK, but not perfect. Because of my other weird hobby, historical costuming, I am a fiber snob. So I didn't want to use the poly embroidery floss I had -- would you want your winding to pill up like a cheap sweater? No you would not!

Now for the thumb leather. You don't want anything too stretchy; goat and lizard are some traditional choices, while calf won't work (or so I read). I had a stained kid glove to sacrifice. That other weird hobby is really handy once in a blue moon, but twice today!

I used this tutorial. Look, a female luthier! There are a few of us. I mean, I'm not a luthier but I am a woman. Anyway. She wrote a super tutorial.

https://trianglestrings.com/thumbleather/



As usual, I fudged it with what I had on hand. PVA glue (white wood glue in my case) worked fine for me. The kid glove may have not been the right leather because it sure was stretchy, but I made it work. A gentle press with an iron would have helped, but be very careful not to burn/shrivel up the leather -- use a press cloth and low heat.



The first attempt was OK but not great. I had fancied the white kid would look flashy and smart like whitewall tires, but in reality it did not hide the seam and looked dingy before it was even done. So I painted it with food coloring dye in a shade resembling a pool table. I sealed and burnished with mink oil. It looks alright, but I will dye the leather before applying, next time.