How your bow frog can fail you

In a previous post, I went over some ways that your bow can fail at the tip. The frog can present its own set of issues that can rear their ugly heads at the worst possible times. Unfortunately, there isn't much a player can do to prevent most frog problems. At least frog problems aren't that common outside of drops and other abuse.

Spreader Wedge

The most common problem with the frog is the spreader wedge coming loose. Some frogs are just bad at retaining the spreader, but the rehairer should be able to deal with that and make it stay. If it does come loose, a good technician will usually be able to fix it in a few minutes. If you're in a pinch, you can push it back in as best you can until you get to the shop.

The spreader wedge is the
piece of wood across the hair.

Plug

Just like at the tip, the hair is held in the frog by a small block of wood. If this block is not cut properly, or made out of soft wood, it can fail and let the hair out. If you are concerned that the hair in your frog is coming loose, take a pencil and draw a line across the hair right in front of the ferrule. You will be able to monitor the hair by seeing if this line moves.

Knot

This is knot (hehe) so much a problem as at the tip, but the knot in the hair can come loose and allow the hair to pull out one at a time. The frog knot is generally pretty secure, though.

Ferrule

The ferrule is the D-shaped metal ring that holds the hair and spreader together. It is ok most of the time, but certain points can be fragile. Ferrules are made out of two pieces of metal soldered together. The rounded part attaches to the flat part, and the joint is the most common failure point. Here is a picture of a ferrule that is starting to crack along the solder joint.

Screw and Eyelet

The screw can break sometimes, but a more common failure point is the brass eyelet. Even though it does wear out in time, many players bring it to an early demise. If the hair is too long, the frog has to move back farther in the mortise than it should. If it is against the back of the mortise, and the hair still isn't tight, most people will keep cranking the screw to no avail, and strip the threads in the eyelet.

The frog moves back and forth as the screw turns. If the
eyelet can't move back further, and you keep turning,
something has to give, and that will be the eyelet.

If the nut seems to just stop turning before the hair is tight, don't force it! Most technicians can quickly shorten the hair for you at minimal expense. If they rehaired it recently, they should correct it for free. If it's almost time for a rehair anyway, just get it rehaired.

The entire frog explodes

Fortunately, this is a rare occurrence. If this happens, your first choice is to replace the frog. A good bow person will be able to find one. In the case of very cheap bows, just buy a new one. If the bow happens to be a very expensive or historic one, then it's time to bring the whole thing (along with ALL pieces and splinters) to an expert bow restorer. A regular bow technician may be really good at rehairing and many other things, but very few will be up to the task of restoring a frog that has really broken.

There are so many ways something can break. With all the tension on bows and instruments, it's a wonder more stuff doesn't happen!