I build my violins following my personal style using three Stradivari inside forms (G, PG and P) and one del Gesù form. My inspiration is the old Cremonese school, mainly Stradivari, Amati and Guarneri

Violoncello elettrico? Mai fatto uno, mi dispiace.

The distance between the centers of the upper and lower eyes is used during tracing (see this video: kzbin.info/www/bejne/epvHnWpurqpkhJosi=vJrfoTGrB5Q8Q_jC&t=57 ), for a Stradivari f-hole it is about 62.5/63 mm between the centers of the holes, with slight variations. But for example the f-holes of Guarneri del Gesù can reach up to a length of 7 or 8 mm more than those of Stradivari. So there is no absolute mandatory measurement, the length and position of the f-holes is at the discretion of the luthier who must optimize it for each model taking into account the acoustic influences for the sound.

The curvature of the bridge does not depend on whether the violin is old or new, it affects the bowing technique and is personal to each violinist: some prefer it flatter, others more curved. In a newly made violin, it is better to start with a curve that is not too flat, so that it can eventually be flattened at the request of the musician who will play it by gradually lowering the height of the two central strings, without having to replace the bridge. To change a flat curve to a more curved one, would require making a new bridge in most cases.

@@DavideSora thank you very much!! Where we can found this tool in order we will make the bridge more curvature?

@@Thanos-x7e To change the curvature of the bridge you need many tools, it is not a simple operation if you are not a luthier. Better to rely on the hands of a professional. To modify the curve you need to evaluate different factors such as the height of the strings, the height of the bridge, and when it is modified in height you will then also have to restore the thickness, which requires other tools, as well as removing the parchment and regluing a new one. Furthermore, to measure the curve while you modify it you need fixed radius templates to evaluate the actual radius above the strings, which are not found for sale and you have to make them yourself. See this video: kzbin.info/www/bejne/bpi4Zn-up7SSe5osi=8plXo8L1UWt4hKWD&t=34

@@DavideSora thank you very much 🙏🎻

Willow

​@@DavideSoraobrigado, maestro.

Resins such as Seedlac and Mastic are quite easily found in specialized shops, this is a very well-stocked one: www.kremer-pigmente.com/en/shop/mediums-binders-glues/ Linoxine is the real problem, you can't find it on sale and you have to make it yourself starting from linseed oil, a rather long process. It can be replaced by Elemi, it's not the same thing and the color will be less beautiful, but it can work decently well.

You get it right, in fact I use the back pins only during construction to quickly and correctly position the back on the ribs whenever I need it, but I don't use them for gluing. The positioning pins are not really necessary for gluing the back, because there should not be any significant deformations in the rib garland. They are however necessary for gluing the top, because the back will have deformed the surface of the ribs once glued, and the pins are used to return the blocks (and so the ribs outline) to the correct place. Since I purfling before closing the soundbox, but I want the back pins to be partially hidden by the purfling for aesthetic reasons, I glue them before starting to cut the purfling channel leaving only the top plate pin holes empty, which are positioned just inside the purfling, to be used when gluing. I close the holes with poplar sticks, making sure that they are smaller than the diameter of the hole, so that, swelling due to the absorption of the glue, they do not press against the walls of the hole, creating a dangerous tension with the risk of causing cracks. PS: If you like to use the pins to glue the back, you should place them well inside the purfling or make all the purfling work with the sound box already closed as Stradivari did.

@@DavideSora Thank you very much for these very interesting clarification, but I have a last question on this subject. Poplar is usually white coloured and on the video N°8, I can see those pins blackish, do you treat the polplar to get it black. I think it's only for aesthetic reason.

@@smailchalal8793 No treatment, it becomes dark because the visible part is endgrain, and absorbs more ground and varnish

What do you mean with 4y4 violin?

Greetings from Cremona!🙂

Greetings from Romania, maestro!

@@MrNedelcuBogdan Greetings!🙂

Descrivo l'affilatura delle rasiere con la mola e le pietre ad acqua nelle didascalie all'inizio del video, iniziando da qui: kzbin.info/www/bejne/aaC0gqponrOpjbssi=XPZaI9bHTYKTJibS&t=10 L'affilatura completa con la mola e le pietre serve per costituire i tagliente e si fa piuttosto raramente, l'acciaino serve per girare il filo che è una operazione che si ripete moltissime volte e si può protrarre per anni prima di sentire il bisogno di riaffilarle con la mola e le pietre. Si potrebbero usare anche senza girare il filo (con il tagliente come un coltello) ma in questo caso andrebbero affilate a un angolo più acuto di 90° e sarebbero un po' più aggressive e si perderebbe il vantaggio del doppio tagliente edella conseguente simmetria delle forme utilizzabili (2 rasiere in una con profili speculari identici). Come sempre ognuno deve trovare l'affilatura che preferisce per i propri attrezzi e con cui riesce a lavorare meglio, è una cosa molto personale.

@@DavideSora Maestro, è stato gentilissimo e puntualissimo nella risposta. Grazie mille.

Preferenze personali e priorità diverse. Io preferisco avere un maggiore controllo della situazione sia per l'allineamento del bordo che sulla temperatura della colla durante l'incollaggio. Questo sistema consente di agire senza fretta e assicurarsi un incollaggio e un posizionamento perfetto. Con il sistema tutto in una volta bisogna essere molto rapidi per evitare di far gelificare la colla prematuramente, e per la fretta il rischio di non poter tenere sotto controllo eventuali scivolamenti delle fasce è alto. Non fa per me.

@@DavideSora Maestro, la ringrazio per la risposta più che esaustiva. Immaginavo che la ragione fosse questa ma essendo ignorante nella sua materia ho preferito chiedere. Grazie mille.

A Neumann tube condenser would be great, but I'd prefer a pair of Schoeps. Unfortunately, they're both out of my budget. I'm waiting for someone to offer them to me for free, possibly with the appropriate preamps, but I think they'd make the noise of the cars passing by my workshop even worse than you hear in the video.😄

@@DavideSora I see - as in hear - what you mean. Back around the mid 1990s when I can finally afford a better sounding hi-fi set up, I've noticed that a number of classical records I've "inherited" from my uncle that were recorded during the 1970s had distant traffic noise which was inaudible on my previous "cheaper" set-up.

I have never used them but I know them well, some of my colleagues use heat-treated wood with good results. Heat treatment is interesting but quite difficult to control properly, it affects the lignin and hemicellulose bringing them to the levels of very aged wood. However, if done improperly (too high temperatures and inappropriate humidity, or too much heating time) the risk is to excessively destroy these components which are still important for the integrity of the wood. It could be very interesting for stabilizing and artificially aging fresh wood, and for the golden cinnamon color that it gives to the wood throughout its thickness, but in my opinion on already seasoned wood it is too risky, and in any case the long-term behavior of these heat-treated woods remains unknown.

If you wish, you can find a downloadable pdf of a slightly longer and more detailed version of that article on my website (scroll to the bottom of the page): davidesora.altervista.org/articles/?doing_wp_cron=1726217911.0702199935913085937500

You can find the english translation with all the informations in the description page of the video, below the italian text

@@DavideSora i swear i will have one of your violin someday, with all respect i would like to ask for your permission to ask our lutheir to copy your bridge measurement.

@@rolandodelacruzjr.9826 I appreciate your thoughtfulness in asking, but getting permission is unnecessary. Please note that these are just guidelines that may need to be modified on a case-by-case basis.

Yes, I used it many years ago when some books on propolis varnish were in fashion, which claimed it was the resin used by Stradivari, which is now widely refuted. It gives the varnish a nice color, but it is too soft and thermoplastic for my taste. There will almost certainly be the problem of the varnish taking the imprints from the case fabrics in summer or hot climates. I have sometimes used it as a wood stain, especially for necks. It works well but I prefer chicory as a stain, it's not so expensive and has a better color for my taste.

@@DavideSora Do you treat all body with chicory or only neck?

@@MikalaiNikitsin I use it only to give a bit of color to the neck, I don't really like putting colored substances directly on the wood as a ground color. However, it can also be used for the whole violin in a very diluted form and with all the precautions necessary for applying colorants on wood. If you don't keep the situation under control (read: do a lot of tests on scraps) the risk of irreversibly staining the wood or dulling its natural shine and chatoyancy of the flames is very high. It can be used either in water (making chicory coffee), or in ammonia, the color will be slightly different. After extracting the color and filtering, dilute with distilled water for application. Many low-color concentration coats will allow for greater control over the final result.

@@DavideSora thank you for your answer.

@@DavideSora you boil chicory in boiling water?

Wolf has been out of business for many years, but the brand is not important, only the steel quality which unfortunately goes hand in hand with the price of the gouges. All brands with decent steel are fine, if the steel quality is not very high the sharpening will last less and you will spend more time resharpening them, but they will do their job if you avoid the really cheap ones

@@DavideSora Thanks for your answer, but I was mainly talking abour specific sizes you use for the canal, I can't find these sizes. L14.5R11; L10.5R6; L10.5R10. They are really unfoundable and I think they are important to have the right curvature of the canal. Thanks

@@smailchalal8793 What matters is the actual radius of the gouge, the width is not important as long as it is wider than the channel it has to cut, and the #sweep number can change depending on the brand. Even the radius of the (violin) channel is not so rigorous. As long as it is similar, you can eventually vary the width of the channel to obtain the correct thickness with that gouge radius (tests on scraps). Sometimes it's better to adapt your work to the tools you have, rather than going crazy trying to find one that exactly matches the size of the tool you were given. Keep in mind that there will still be all the scraper work that, within certain limits, can fix things.

No, il legno di pino non è abbastanza duro per fare i piroli. Non lo consiglierei nemmeno come sostituto dell'abete per la tavola perchè è troppo pesante. Poi, come legno di esercizio va benissimo, e il violino suonerà in un modo o nell'altro (tutti i violini suonano) ma non me la sento di consigliarlo per l'elemento più importante e determinante per il suono.

La corda Re la tengo uguale al Sol come altezza, al massimo un paio di decimi in meno. Il La circa un mm in meno del Re e il Mi circa 1 mm in meno del La. Ma sono solo indicazioni, la cosa più importante è la curva del ponticello che influenza l'azione dell'arco, l'altezza delle corde dalla tastiera è una conseguenza di questa curva unitamente alla curva della tastiera. Se quest'ultima è appropriata l'altezza delle corde sarà più o meno decrescente dal Sol (Re) al Mi.

@@DavideSora Tanku my frend❤️❤️❤️❤️

Do you mean you can't see the video?

I don't have a video about the geometric system for drawing the form, books are much better for this kind of thing. I recommend you read this, it helped me a lot to understand something about ancient drawing methods: traitedelutherie.com/en/

If you mean the C-shaped one you see at 2:55, it is not available in shops, you have to make it yourself with a piece of wire and two small pieces of wood. The typical wire used by luthiers is the one from the metal coat hangers from laundries, it's easy to cut and bend but with enough spring to hold the bridge in place.

@@DavideSora Thank you Davide, I figured that was the case and I have all ready been looking for the right gauge wire to do this, thank you for saving me time in searching and thank you for taking time to respond!

You can find all my gouges and chisels listed in this video: kzbin.info/www/bejne/ZqWah2OarpuieKs I do everything with these, including the cello scroll. A couple of flatter, wider gouges are needed to cut the curves of the larger turns and undercuts, so in addition to the ones for the violin head, I use the #5 x 23mm and the #3 x 35mm (listed for arching and thickness in the video), and for the final cut of the eye I use the #7 x 11mm (listed for the fluting channel in the video). Of course, the violin scroll ones should be moved to the positions where they fit the curves, always keeping in mind that with rare exceptions (such as the final cut of the eye) the curve of the gouge must always be flatter than the curve we want to create

Thank you! I suspected trying to match the scroll outline to sweep curve charts would be the answer. Your point about gouge being slightly flatter makes perfect sense. I have made scrapers from bandsaw blade material using your patterns as well as very functional small gouges. Certainly less expensive, but lots of work!