Bows, Planes 'n' Sails

Odds and Ends

Both images are to the same scale, the tip of the stick is really that thin.

Above is a pochette bow I made about twenty years ago. It was for a pochette I had built in a bit of a hurry more as an exercise in design than as a fine musical instrument. The bow was far better than the instrument it was made for, and is still a pleasure to play with. It feels very different than a normal violin bow, and is quite a bit shorter. With the hair a little slack it can easily play triple stops. (Not that I have the skill to do that with any consistency.) Sadly the pochette is gone along with several other interesting fiddle projects, victims of frequent moves and the attendant packing and unpacking. This bow was made of degamé, and if I could find some I'd like to try a full sized version when I get all my other fiddle making projects out of the way.

A model of a GY20 Minicab from Walt Mooney plans. I used to fly this on calm evenings at Wurtsboro Airport where I learned to fly full sized aircraft also, and spent a couple of years worth of weekends flying sailplanes.

I used to fly radio control models there as well, and it's hard to say whether I had more fun inside a full sized airplane or wringing out a radio control airplane in ways that were beyond the structural limits of the ones I flew in.

I'm working on a radio controlled version of the above aircraft, but fiddle building and playing keeps slowing the project down.

My first serious woodworking project, a Windmill sloop. I built it when I was twenty-two and sailed it for a couple of years before moving on to bigger faster boats that somehow where not as much fun to sail. I had a lot of trouble renting building space in a boatyard. Most people start a boat then give up leaving unpaid bills and sticking the yard with the problem of dismantling the framework. The net result is that boatyard owners tend to be skeptical about requests for building space. At the time this picture was taken the boat was not fully fitted out, and careful examination will show that I was holding the mainsheet in my teeth.

That's Hart Island in the background, and I'm probably about thirty feet from the United dock at City Island, New York. I sorely miss sailing boats like my old Windmill. I've done lots of sailing since then and few boats were as exciting. The exception was a friend's International 14 which was more fun than any boat before or since. That boat was owned by the friend who I built the workbench with.

One of these days I plan to carve a head instead of a fiddle scroll.

I haven't worked on this for a while, but I really love some of the old viols and fiddles with carved faces or lion's heads.

A second pochette which I never finished had a woman's face above the peg box, with her hair winding around the peg holes. It was so-so, not great, but acceptable. I never finished it and it was one of the things left behind when packing for yet another move.


Odds and Ends
Both images are to the same scale, the tip of the stick is really that thin.

	Above is a pochette bow I made about twenty years ago. It was for a pochette I had built in a bit of a hurry more as an exercise in design than as a fine musical instrument. The bow was far better than the instrument it was made for, and is still a pleasure to play with. It feels very different than a normal violin bow, and is quite a bit shorter. With the hair a little slack it can easily play triple stops. (Not that I have the skill to do that with any consistency.) Sadly the pochette is gone along with several other interesting fiddle projects, victims of frequent moves and the attendant packing and unpacking. This bow was made of degamé, and if I could find some I'd like to try a full sized version when I get all my other fiddle making projects out of the way.

		A model of a GY20 Minicab from Walt Mooney plans. I used to fly this on calm evenings at Wurtsboro Airport where I learned to fly full sized aircraft also, and spent a couple of years worth of weekends flying sailplanes. I used to fly radio control models there as well, and it's hard to say whether I had more fun inside a full sized airplane or wringing out a radio control airplane in ways that were beyond the structural limits of the ones I flew in. I'm working on a radio controlled version of the above aircraft, but fiddle building and playing keeps slowing the project down.
My first serious woodworking project, a Windmill sloop. I built it when I was twenty-two and sailed it for a couple of years before moving on to bigger faster boats that somehow where not as much fun to sail. I had a lot of trouble renting building space in a boatyard. Most people start a boat then give up leaving unpaid bills and sticking the yard with the problem of dismantling the framework. The net result is that boatyard owners tend to be skeptical about requests for building space. At the time this picture was taken the boat was not fully fitted out, and careful examination will show that I was holding the mainsheet in my teeth. That's Hart Island in the background, and I'm probably about thirty feet from the United dock at City Island, New York. I sorely miss sailing boats like my old Windmill. I've done lots of sailing since then and few boats were as exciting. The exception was a friend's International 14 which was more fun than any boat before or since. That boat was owned by the friend who I built the workbench with.
			One of these days I plan to carve a head instead of a fiddle scroll. I haven't worked on this for a while, but I really love some of the old viols and fiddles with carved faces or lion's heads. A second pochette which I never finished had a woman's face above the peg box, with her hair winding around the peg holes. It was so-so, not great, but acceptable. I never finished it and it was one of the things left behind when packing for yet another move.