Davide Sora

I'm sure that a joint that fits perfectly before gluing can hold good even with the rub joint, if nothing goes wrong during gluing Maybe a momentary swelling of an irregular grain could cause the glue to gel before closing, or even an irregular absorption of the glue could cause problems, who knows. These are probably not frequent cases, but to be more relaxed I prefer to put the clamps on, even if with very little pressure, just to keep the pieces and be able to move the glued board to check if everything closes well and to free the workbench. I do not like to risk having to reopen a joint every now and then, even if it would not be a big deal with water and some heating (steam). I have to admit that I do not have much experience with the rub joints, but I have come to the conclusion that they are for the brave, not stuff for me. Besides, I have already bought a lot of nice clamps and I would be sorry to leave them unused....

I must admit that in the case of Hatagane clamps I was fascinated by the aesthetic side, their design and those butterfly wing nuts are so beautiful. The bar clamps I use for the back are less fancy, true carpenter's masculine tools About verifying the strength of center joints, at the school of violinmaking this year one of my students that had agreed to try to glue the joint without the clamps (rub joint), has also accepted to submit it to the test of the other teacher of the class adjacent to mine, which consists of stand with both feet on the two sides of the joint of the top plate resting on the floor (flat side up, of course...) I thought it was a joke and I refused to do it, but the other teacher (about 190 cm height x 80kg) did not hesitate a moment. Incredibly, the joint has held up perfectly, tests passed brilliantly although I would not recommend it to anyone faint hearted

Right, they are Hatagane Japanese clamps, I had bought them from Dictum but now it seems they are not there anymore. Michael, where did you find them? Just to know, because often someone asks me where they can be found. Be careful to get steel ones, not brass ones that are too flexible.

The ratio of 1: 3 is too thick for me, after doing some tests I have developed a ratio of 1: 4 that for my gluing system (pouring the glue instead of brushing) works better. I think my glue is high strength (315?), but here in Italy it seems that there is no way to know these numbers of strength from the sellers, so mine is just a guess. However, I melt new glue every time for the center joints, soaked overnight and heated up to 70° C. I use a clamping system very similar to that of Thomas Coleman for the back, and with similar but lighter clamps for the top because it seems to me that the weight of the clamps can distort the top when the two pieces are not very thick at the edges.

@Don Noon I love your answers

I'm sorry, but I just needed to re-make up my eyes, after being forced to re-examine all those scrolls of Del Gesù. No need to take it badly, neither I do want to be your teacher, but it seems to me that there is not much to understand when we start from assumptions that are only personal ideas without any verifiable real evidence (pegbox first). In any case, even I finish the pegbox first, but I do not just dig it inside, and it seems to me sufficient to see if there are any defects such as to have to discard the head before waste time in carving the scroll (this worked perfectly until now). Where is the difference?

Obsessed with decoration? We are in good company..... That's a scroll !!

This makes no sense to me, if the heads were prepared with the pegbox and the first turn finished, why leave the turn so wide if not for a definite choice, if the aim was to get a scroll similar to those of the first period. There would still be too much wood to remove. I agree more with Conor, I see Del Gesù as his second case, "chop happy", for this reason I think the head of the Cannone is made by someone else more shy and unable to decide what to do and unable to finish it properly. But Bartolomeo did not worry too much, I do not know if in a hurry or for other reasons that we will never know, but I imagine him to say: "what the heck, let's put this scroll already made on the violin" I think he will have a lot of fun seeing all these skilled copyists who reproduce it slavishly and in serial way.

Evidently we do not have the same concept of "good". I do not find any evidence that the Cannone's scroll is not finished, at least seen within the work of Del Gesù. There are other examples of this style of scroll, as the Carrodus. Recidivous in putting on scrolls finished in half? I don't think so. Even in the Lord Wilton I see the traces of this style, in the turn too broad with respect to the volute. Probably it's just me, but I can not see any beauty (finished or unfinished) in the Cannone's head, to be honest it's just an ugly scroll.

My personal theory (which is not worth much outside of my workshop...) is that the heads like those of Leduc, Lord Wilton, Cariplo, etc. let's say with some Bergonzi's influence, are really those made by him in complete freedom of expression. After so many years under the eye and influence of his father trying to equalize it without succeeding (the best scrolls as technical execution are those of the first period and made by the father most likely) finally he could follow his irrepressible instinct and style and probably his attention to acoustics (clearly lightened scrolls). The only scrolls of this late period that I would attribute to other hands are those like that of the Cannon (the worst and heaviest) but to attribute them to his wife seems to me decidedly not very elegant for a gentleman..... I would probably say that the same is valid for F holes.

The forest expert in charge of the wood of Paneveggio, Val di Fiemme, claimed that the flames of the spruce (bear claw) are only a genetic issue, so it is fairly plausible that it is the same for maple.

I had been told that the weight of the tree vertically compressing the fiber is the cause of the undulations, the bigger the tree (and the weight that compresses it) the deeper the flames. I have not verified the reliability of this, but anyway I think that a deep flame leads to greater transverse stiffness, so this could have an acoustic relevance.

Grazie a te!

I join the choir.

Bravo Manfio!! Bell'articolo che va dritto agli aspetti cruciali della tua preziosa esperienza senza girarci intorno! Mi piace così! Thanks for sharing. Davide