Claudio Rampini's bench

[Claudius]

I have discovered this nice gallery today and I want give my tribute, starting from the my most recent instrument.

I'm following the Sacconi's method to make the purfling and the fluting when the body is closed. I'm using not more than 4 moulds types inspired to Guarneri and Stradivari, I'm using the golden section rule to draw my moulds, no copies from the Strad posters (that I use just to compare my drawings). I'm researching around the varnishes since the '90s and I found very interesting things in the old italian painting tradition, in the year 1995 I published an article on The Strad magazine. Then I have experimented the varnishes of Jose Maria Lozano (OldWood 1700) and Koen Padding (Magister Varnish), after that I started to cook my oil based varnishes and sandarac with very good results.

In the attached photos you can see my last violin based on the G mould and inspired to the "Cremonese" 1715 Strad.

[Dave Slight]

Looks very good, and you take nice pictures too.

Excellent job 

[ernym]

3 hours ago, Claudio Rampini said:

I have experimented the varnishes of Jose Maria Lozano (OldWood 1700) and Koen Padding (Magister Varnish), after that I started to cook my oil based varnishes and sandarac with very good results

Are you using a commercial primer to achieve this nice wood color? Please share more info. Excellent workmanship!

[MikeC]

Hi Claudio

Welcome!  It's good to see you start your bench thread here.  I tried to read some in your forum but it's hard to since I don't speak Italian.   

It's a beautiful violin.   

[Claudius]

1 hour ago, Dave Slight said:

Looks very good, and you take nice pictures too.

Excellent job 

Thank very much, I like to show my work at the most possible reality.

44 minutes ago, ernym said:

Are you using a commercial primer to achieve this nice wood color? Please share more info. Excellent workmanship!

I'm using the nitrite 4% solution and 10/15 days in the UVbox. It's important the quality of your UV lamps, I tried several types and finally I found the right ones (several years ago, hoping to find the same in the future). I'm using 4 lamps 120cm long. In the attached photos you can see a ground variant based on aloe treated with ammonia + the usual 2 weeks in the UVbox, it gives a bit less contrast than the nitrite, but the yellow greenish tone is beautiful.

37 minutes ago, MikeC said:

Hi Claudio

Welcome!  It's good to see you start your bench thread here.  I tried to read some in your forum but it's hard to since I don't speak Italian.   

It's a beautiful violin.   

Thank you very much, I understand that the language sometimes is a barrier, but for this reason I'm here (my english is not that good, but we can talk about violins freely).

[ernym]

7 minutes ago, Claudio Rampini said:

I'm using the nitrite 4% solution and 10/15 days in the UVbox. It's important the quality of your UV lamps, I tried several types and finally I found the right ones (several years ago, hoping to find the same in the future). I'm using 4 lamps 120cm long. In the attached photos you can see a ground variant based on aloe treated with ammonia + the usual 2 weeks in the UVbox, it gives a bit less contrast than the nitrite, but the yellow greenish tone is beautiful.

Thank you for sharing this info. Are you sealing the spruce before applying the nitrite as shown in the Old Wood instructions? I've found almost everything applied to spruce will create a blotchy appearence if not sealed with something first. Great work.

[Claudius]

20 minutes ago, ernym said:

Thank you for sharing this info.

You're welcome. Just 1 more info: the most important is the scraper before applying any ground, after using the scraper I don't use any other abrasives, if needed I wet the wood, then letting it dry as well, and go again with the scraper to discover the silver inside the wood.

[ernym]

Agree, I do use scrapers before applying the ground. Back to spruce question please, do you seal with something before applying nitrite to spruce to avoid  uneven absorbtion? Old Wood suggests sizing spruce with technical gelatine first before applying there wood primer. For me an uneven/blotchy top is non buono.

[Claudius]

I'm using a clear glue from leather before the nitrite, 1:20 diluition, 2 applications. But I'm using the albumine too, prepared like said Sacconi in his book, it works very well and it's perfect with oil varnishes. If you are using the hide glue, you can add a small percentage of genuine allum to make it less sensible to the humidity.

[ernym]

44 minutes ago, Claudio Rampini said:

I'm using a clear glue from leather before the nitrite, 1:20 diluition, 2 applications. But I'm using the albumine too, prepared like said Sacconi in his book, it works very well and it's perfect with oil varnishes. If you are using the hide glue, you can add a small percentage of genuine allum to make it less sensible to the humidity.

I use a gelatine and alum mix and find it works well. What is clear glue from leather? 

Thanks again for sharing. No more questions, for now!  

[Claudius]

15 minutes ago, ernym said:

I use a German culinary gelatine and alum and find it works well. What is clear glue from leather? 

Thanks again for sharing. No more questions, for now!  

https://www.kremer-pigmente.com/de/shop/neue-produkte/63021-koernerhautleim-gries.html

 

[MikeC]

Claudio do you put uncolored varnish on the wood before the color varnish?  

[MikeC]

Can you explain how you position the F holes?  It looks like you use a compass to mark arcs.  

Also what is the pencil line that goes all the way around the border.  I see two lines, one marks the glue surface for the ribs but there is a second line beyond that one.  

Sorry for so many questions   I hope you don't mind.  

[Claudius]

9 hours ago, MikeC said:

Claudio do you put uncolored varnish on the wood before the color varnish?  

This is a Guarneri model.

[Claudius]

12 hours ago, MikeC said:

Can you explain how you position the F holes?  It looks like you use a compass to mark arcs.  

Also what is the pencil line that goes all the way around the border.  I see two lines, one marks the glue surface for the ribs but there is a second line beyond that one.  

Sorry for so many questions   I hope you don't mind.  

it's based on the stradivarian method, you can find the original drawings in the Sacconi's book, the original drawings are in the Museo del Violino in Cremona. This is the heart of the classic cremonese method because the F holes are placed following the rib outiline, reproducing all the irregularities that you got when bending the ribs. I'll make a tutorial to show how to place the F holes with the stradivarian method.

Regarding the internal lines following the ribs contour, they are limiting the area were you have to stop carving in the area of the fluting. This reflects the purfling and the fluting made at closed body described in the Sacconi's book.

Here my video on the "closed body method" on how to carve the fluting after that the purfling are made.

 

[MikeC]

Thanks for that video.  I looked at your youtube channel and watched some more of your videos.   Some of the Italian words I understand but not much.   

I have the Sacconi book.  It shows the drawing from Stradivari but there is no explanation of how to do it.   For example there is a mark on the edge of the C bout which appears to be the compass point for positioning the upper eye of the F hole.  I wonder how is that point determined.  

I would like to see a tutorial on how you position the F holes.  

[Claudius]

The original drawing says: B mould mensur to place the upper and the lower eyes of the cello.

I'll make a tutorial in the future on this very peculiar method to place the F holes.

 

[Claudius]

Here a my baroque "transitional" violin made in the year 2016 ispired to the "il Toscano" 1690 Strad.

[Claudius]

Except for the rubber bands, I'm following all the Sacconi's and Bissolotti's guidelines on the classic Cremonese method to make violins. This is not only for a "Cremonese ideological reason", but because it is very important to follow those rules of the Cremonese method to get the "right" sound from my instruments. This could lead to a lack of personality in the style of my instruments, but I hope it is not so, because it is necessary to understand the Cremonese method in all its aspects. Only a deep understanding of the classical Cremonese method can allow one to develop one's own style and sound in the future. This is the fundamental reason why I call myself a "humanist", not only because I am not a graduate engineer (I studied aeronautical construction in high school and archaeology and history of Roman art in university), but because humanism was the only culture available to artists of the past. And I am talking about humanistic culture, not "empiricism" or "pragmatism".

[MikeC]

Looks good!  I do the same but I use strings instead of rubber bands. 

I have a request for you.  When you start working on the top plate, please explain how you position the F holes and how you work the F hole area when carving.  Thanks!  

[Claudius]

Hi Mike, I hope that these videos can help you, this not a tutorial, I'm just showing the guidelines of the Stradivarian/cremonese method to place the F holes. You can see a preparatory drawing for my Guarneri Alard violin, the parallel line distance where the lower eyes are placed is about 4/4.5mm (for the Stradivari model is generally 6.5/7mm).

I'm using this method because the FF holes placement follows the ribs outline and I'm following it with minimal agjustments. This means that if you have a strongly irregular ribs contour, it's probable that you'll find your F holes more ore less inclined and/or staggered (this is good because if you observe the original violins, they behave in the same way, especially GdG violins. It's just a matter of style). I just take care of the upper eyes, they have to be equidistant from the top center line/axis.

Reporting the F holes placement drawing on the back of the top is easier (the temporary thickness of the top is about 4mm all over, except the fluting area), after that I cut the lower and the upper eyes.

 

 

 

[MikeC]

Thank you for the videos 

[Claudius]

This my last violin "Perseide" based on the "G" stradivarian mould, my drawing based on the golden ratio from Sacconi, showing some of the "closed body" method for the edges, the purfling and the fluting. I find this method very important to understand how the body will change its sensibility working on the flutings. I'm using the Sacconi method to "tune" the top and the back approximately, but the final touch is working on the flutings to adjust the response of the body. You can find "tricky" this method, but gaining experience on it there is no equal to fully understand your work and your sound.

I'll show the work in progress the next days.

 

 

[Claudius]

Working progress of the violin I was showing some photos in my previous message, here you can see the neck setting and the scroll, but most important are the photos where is showing the finished body that I got from the the "G" mould originated from a golden ratio mould drawing. Then the violin received some UV/sun tanning before the varnish.

[Brian in Texas]

Lovely work, absolutely top notch!