Davide Sora

John's 6mm blade is great for bridge knives. Here is mine, the blade is PM-X but the sharpening is mine.

Keep it in the fridge. It will be good to use until you smell any changes in its scent, even small changes. After a while it is best to test that it hardens properly by drying a few drops on a plastic sheet, to see if it still behaves as freshly prepared.

You're welcome!

I made this new video that illustrates how I measure the speed of sound using @Don Noon's system, which he kindly shared in this old Maestronet topic: https://maestronet.com/forum/index.php?/topic/321492-ridiculously-easy-way-to-measure-speed-of-sound/ I made two versions of the same video, this is the one with English texts and captions: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jU4h2Ievtq4 Here is the version with Italian texts and captions: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oqFVRiWaXdQ Measuring the speed of sound has never been easier, thanks @Don Noon !

It cannot be ruled out, all the ancient Cremonese luthiers are linked to the same construction method, so it becomes difficult to say who learned from whom, but Amati remains at the top of the list.

Perfectly.

The thickness of the edge at this stage is linked to the method of carrying out the subsequent workings. If you cut the channel very close to the outer edge like I do, when you round the edges you will enter the channel and the height will go down due to the slope, so you'll need to start with a thicker edge. If instead you cut the channel inwards by a couple of mm, exactly where you want the highest point of the edge to be, you won't need this extra thickness, provided you are skilled enough to strictly respect that point when cutting the channel and when you round the edges. I think the only accurate way to get these measurements under control is to take note of the initial thickness and see if and how much it goes down in the finished violin, so as to be able to adjust the measurements according to our way of working. Or more simply test the entire work sequence (channel and rounding) using maple and spruce strips of the thickness of our initial edge, and evaluate the possible variations in the measurements induced by the various work systems and different starting thicknesses

I think so, but it is only a hypothesis based on the strong stylistic affinities of Stradivari's early violins with the Amatis, there is no documentary evidence in the Cremona archives. There is also a 1666 violin with an apparently original label that says "Alumnus Nicolaij Amati" https://tarisio.com/cozio-archive/property/?ID=41284 but when it comes to labels you start walking on thin ice.

Yep, and the stylistic similarity of his early instruments suggests that it is quite unlikely that he did not pass through the Amati workshop. Anyway, I think every luthier is self tought, if you don't have the skills to learn by yourself there is no hope. The preparation provided by any school is not enough, workshop training is better but a workshop is not really a school so the willingness and ability to teach depends on who runs it, and how long you will work in that workshop

Same here. There's no reason to give them time to deform. With cellos there could be another problem related to the shrinkage of the wood if this is not very seasoned, especially if a lot of time passes from outline tracing to closing the box. It could be the plates shrinking deforming the outline, not the ribs, or a combination of both.

Bend both the ribs and linings carefully, so that once glued there is no excessive residual spring. Fit them nicely to the curves of the blocks too, for the same reason. Or wait a few years before removing the form, it will release tensions...

I also had the opportunity to see this compressed wood material in my hands at the Mondomusica fair, and I was definitely impressed by its quality. My concern is the same as yours, ie how it will behave over time with moisure absorption. Unfortunately they didn't have any free samples to give away and I didn't get any, so I'll be anxiously awaiting your test results.

I will also add this valuable ecological motivation to the pluses of my half saddle, when someone asks me again why I do it this way.

One of the reasons that drives me to make the saddle this way is the increased gluing surface, if you cut down all to the block it will become much smaller, and also endgrain.