We recently gave a presentation regarding the details of a professional rehair for the Michigan Violinmakers Association.
This video is from the first half of the MVA January, 2021 meeting featuring bow maker, Anthony DiMambro.
The MVA has been refocusing its attention to better serve the needs of professional luthiers, restorers, bow makers, and musicians. The MVA not only serves local Michigan crafts people but includes members out of state and internationally. Quarterly newsletters containing articles by some of the top professionals in the field are sent to it’s members.
Quarterly meetings are held the last Sunday of January, April, July, October.
In the recording, not all parts evident so we’ve included diagrams of a bow for reference:
Anatomy of a Bow
Available Now!
Tool Making for Bow Makers
By Anthony DiMambro
We just completed a book about the unique and specialized tools that bow makers use. This is done in an attempt to break down one of the barriers of entry into bow making. Many specialized tools are not commercially available or are extremely cost prohibitive due to small batch productions. The ability to make one’s own tools is a necessary skill for any bow maker or restorer.
This book is full of detailed plans and procedures on how to make over two dozen different bow making tools and jigs. Each tool is presented in detail with high quality diagrams, dimensions, and procedures. This manual should prove to be a useful resource and great place to start for those bow makers new to tool making.
Click the cover to be directed to the sales page and to view the table of contents and an excerpt from the book.
AD Bows, LLC 
Anthony, you are brave to do such a presentation but so different from the way I was taught (via Hills). Shouldn’t every rehair be called ‘professional’ if you are making a living out of it – amateurs can do quality work too but just don’t ask for payment! Perhaps it would better be titled ‘My bow rehair method’. For instance, how am I going to get that head plug out when it’s my turn to rehair the featured bow? If it was one of my plugs, not only would it be easily removed, it would be reusable, thus saving a lot of time and possible aggression to the bow. But I can only do that because I was taught so generously.
Sure, anytime someone gets paid for a rehair I guess it’s technically “professional”. This presentation was geared toward the violinmakers and the non-professionals of the group, the title was determined by one of the leaders of the organization, not by me. Perhaps you didn’t watch the whole thing, but at the beginning I mention that it is ‘my method’; also later in the presentation you will notice my blocks have nicks in them for easy removal as I reuse my blocks for several rehairs.