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Tennessee Tom - Posted - 03/09/2010: 22:12:54
Seems to me, a brand new cake of rosin can be started just fine by using a previously-rosined bow. It may take a few more strokes at first, but so what? Isn't that better than using sand paper or files (yikes)?
Cheers,
Tom
mudbug - Posted - 03/10/2010: 00:07:57
Makes sense to me.
Mandogryl - Posted - 03/10/2010: 01:51:57
I have a scrap of sandpaper in my case compartment for the rosin.
My teacher told me a year ago to use my fingernail, but that never sufficiently seemed to make dust.
But I am new to this and am willing to be corrected.
Mandogryl - Posted - 03/10/2010: 01:52:20
I have a scrap of sandpaper in my case compartment for the rosin.
My teacher told me a year ago to use my fingernail, but that never sufficiently seemed to make dust.
But I am new to this and am willing to be corrected.
Mandogryl - Posted - 03/10/2010: 01:52:35
I have a scrap of sandpaper in my case compartment for the rosin.
My teacher told me a year ago to use my fingernail, but that never sufficiently seemed to make dust.
But I am new to this and am willing to be corrected.
FiddleDoug - Posted - 03/10/2010: 04:17:04
If I'm selling a new block of rosin to someone who has just bought a new bow, I usually will roughen the surface for them, and show them what I'm doing. Otherwise, I will advise and/or ask them if they want the surface sanded.
woodwiz - Posted - 03/10/2010: 05:20:34
quote:
Originally posted by Tennessee Tom
Seems to me, a brand new cake of rosin can be started just fine by using a previously-rosined bow. It may take a few more strokes at first, but so what? Isn't that better than using sand paper or files (yikes)?
You're right. A previously rosined bow will pick up rosin just fine from a new cake, IME. Sometimes if the cake is uneven, it will take more strokes because the hair is touching a smaller area.
transplant - Posted - 03/10/2010: 05:34:11
One of the finest cheap thrills I know of is taking the gloss off of a new block of rosin, using nothing but previously rosined hair. I like the way so many round cakes have a dimple in the middle, so you start taking rosin from around the edges, leaving a clear spot...
FiddlerJones - Posted - 03/10/2010: 05:58:53
I have this pet peeve: I hate wearing a groove into rosin. I use Hill rosin, which is round, so as I rosin my bow I rotate the cake to ensure that the rosin is worn down uniformly. Is that weird or what?
fiddlerdi - Posted - 03/10/2010: 08:43:51
I use the frog-end of my bow to gently scratch it up a little before I rosin my bows.
RobBob - Posted - 03/10/2010: 09:41:11
Being an old country boy, I draw my ever present knife across the rosin in an criss cross pattern. It flies off onto the the bow with little effort everytime.
fiddlepogo - Posted - 03/10/2010: 11:23:18
quote:
Originally posted by FiddlerJones
I have this pet peeve: I hate wearing a groove into rosin. I use Hill rosin, which is round, so as I rosin my bow I rotate the cake to ensure that the rosin is worn down uniformly. Is that weird or what?
No.
Not weird.
I do it too!
Now some would say that fiddlepogo's weird, so that PROVES it's weird...
BUT
D'Addario is the company that owns the Kaplan brand of rosin.
They brought out a flavor called Kaplan Premium.
(I use Premium Light)
It comes in a handy pop-top plastic container-
it's very easy to use, gives excellent protection against shattering, well thought out....
but that ain't all:
They made it so the rosin cake ROTATES in the lower
half of the compartment, so you can "dial" the cake into the position
you want it.
And I really don't think they would have gone to the trouble to do that if they
hadn't done some market research surveys and found out that a significant number of rosin users,
especially PREMIUM quality rosin users do like you and I do and rotate the cake so you don't get grooves.
fiddlepogo - Posted - 03/10/2010: 11:40:16
I learned to play classical guitar as a teenager, then dropped it in in favor of clawhammer banjo.
Quite a switch, eh???
Anyway, what the two instruments have in common, besides strings, is that the care and feeding of the right hand
fingernails is very important.
And not too long ago, I got into hybrid-picking in blues, and that also benefits from carefully shaped fingernails.
So I got into the habit of keeping emery boards around to shape the fingernails on the right hand.
Emery boards turn out to be useful in fiddling for a couple of things.
They're very handy for trimming down and shaping bridges.
AND they are good for sanding rosin blocks.
It used to be that my main reasons for sanding a rosin block were for new bows, or if I wanted to use
a cake that's sat around the store too long, or even around the house to long-
you need to get past the hard crust.
I also used the rosin that stuck to the emery board to rosin with, using the emery board as an applicator.
Recently, I found another reason though.
I discovered that rosining the BACK of the bowhair greatly speeds up the process of rosining brand new bowhair.
It also gives better tone and control even on well-seasoned bow hair.
But even when the hair is slacked, it's not easy to fit most rosin cakes in between the hair and the stick.
Enter the emery board-
I sand the rosin block, then rub the rosined part of the emery board onto the back of the bowhair.
(if you have a wood bow you might want to think of something to protect the finish of the bow, though-
or do it VERY carefully!). It works great, and since it's so thin, it fits in between the stick and hair no problem.
jmarshall58 - Posted - 03/10/2010: 14:41:38
I've always just used a key. After all you always have some in your pocket.
bj - Posted - 03/10/2010: 15:50:30
I use the side of a quarter or dime. Or an emory board. You just have to start it the first time. And though others say you can just start using it smooth, that's not been my experience. Or at least not so I'd swipe enough to get it working. I wanna play now, not ten minutes from now.
transplant - Posted - 03/10/2010: 16:05:50
Looks like we've got enough fodder for a religious flame war here. All RIGHT!!!
I have never had to scratch a rosin to get it going, and I guard the frog with my fingers so it doesn't spall chunks out of the side of the rosin block. I might rosin your bow if you ask nicely, but there is no way you get to borrow my rosin.
Tennessee Tom - Posted - 03/10/2010: 16:27:55
quote:
Originally posted by transplant
I might rosin your bow if you ask nicely, but there is no way you get to borrow my rosin.
Yeah, man! Now yer talkin'!
Cheers,
Tom
Tennessee Tom - Posted - 03/10/2010: 16:38:35
Thanks for these interesting replies. 
What I don't like about scratching, sanding, filing, etc.... is that it would tend to create various-sized particles of rosin. Sure, you might get more rosin on the hairs more quickly, but how much of it will end up on the top of your fiddle after a few minutes of playing?
Seems much better to suffer the time delay of not rushing things. Wear that shiny surface to dullness with a bunch of gentle bow-strokes. Then, after a little effort, the bow hairs will be truly coated the way they ought to be.
Cheers,
Tom
bj - Posted - 03/10/2010: 18:07:52
quote:
Looks like we've got enough fodder for a religious flame war here. All RIGHT!!!
Gee, aren't you the rabble rouser!
quote:
but how much of it will end up on the top of your fiddle after a few minutes of playing?
Um, we're FIDDLERS, not VIOLINISTS. Isn't that the point?
OTJunky - Posted - 03/10/2010: 18:15:38
quote:
Originally posted by Tennessee Tom
Seems much better to suffer the time delay of not rushing things. Wear that shiny surface to dullness with a bunch of gentle bow-strokes. Then, after a little effort, the bow hairs will be truly coated the way they ought to be.
I'm with you Tom...
--OTJ
Lou - Posted - 03/10/2010: 21:42:21
I never scratch the surface of the rosin. On a brand new cake, I take my time and always try to draw a straight line into the rosin with my bow. Once I have had the rosin for a while, and I wear a slight grove into it, I will start another groove that is perpendicular to the original groove. Over time, I will wear something that resembles a + sign on the surface of the rosin. It must be the engineer in me.... Ciao.
fiddlepogo - Posted - 03/11/2010: 09:49:02
quote:
Originally posted by transplant
Looks like we've got enough fodder for a religious flame war here. All RIGHT!!!
I have never had to scratch a rosin to get it going, and I guard the frog with my fingers so it doesn't spall chunks out of the side of the rosin block.
"spall"... now that's the word I was looking for!
Hill Dark's tendency to spall appalls!!!
transplant - Posted - 03/11/2010: 09:55:14
I'm with fiddler Jones about that thing Lou mentioned; if it is a round block, I turn it so the top stays more or less flat. Considering that an engineer is someone who can do for a dollar what any dern fool can do for two, I don't like wasting the little pillars of rosin that you get with the criss-cross method.
This picture shows the film can I keep rosin crumbs in, along with a piece of old shirt tail, for spreading rosin dust on new hair. When it stops getting dusty enough, I crunch it around in the can with a stick. The rosin on a piece of red T-shirt is Hill dark, with some chunks chipped off...
Edited by - transplant on 03/11/2010 09:56:07
