Heading out to the Milan knife show and Val Trompe
- Thread starter Barry Lee Hands
- Start date
bram ramon
Elite Cafe Member
Thank you Barry for sharing these pictures and information!
Barry Lee Hands
~ Elite 1000 Member ~
At night there are still many things to do, places to shop, eat and drink near the Duomo
:
for Shoes:
The Ferrari store:
The Galleria, and Italian version of the strip mall, upscale:
sidewalk cafes:
And at the STRAFF hotel, a jazzband:
And people watching:
:
for Shoes:
The Ferrari store:
The Galleria, and Italian version of the strip mall, upscale:
sidewalk cafes:
And at the STRAFF hotel, a jazzband:
And people watching:
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Barry Lee Hands
~ Elite 1000 Member ~
The next day our friends Valter and Fabio Somaschini took us on a wonderful visit to the wonderful, almost mythical land of gunmakers and engravers in the low alps, known as Val Trompe.
Here for thousands of years iron and steel weapons have been manufactured and decorated.
The highway from Milano
Into the mountains we go:
to get up there, you have to literally drive through the Beretta factory which is on both sides of the highway:
Here for thousands of years iron and steel weapons have been manufactured and decorated.
The highway from Milano
Into the mountains we go:
to get up there, you have to literally drive through the Beretta factory which is on both sides of the highway:
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Barry,Will you be taking some pictures of the engravers at the Beretta plant? Have a fun and safe trip. J.J.
Barry Lee Hands
~ Elite 1000 Member ~
Hi JJ, not this trip, but we have some other good places to go:
Our first stop in Val Trompe was at the legendary workshop of Creative Art.
We visited with our engraver friends and, as President of FEGA, I expressed to them our Guild's friendship as fellow engravers, and our wish to have any and all engravers around the world as members.
Looking at the shop and some engravings with, on the left, with engravers Giacomo Fausti and Peli Valerio:
The Great engraver Giovanni Steduto at his work:
A young engraver, Mirko Agnellini demonstrates the bulino technique:
Another engraver Andrea Bossini:
He becomes shy when photographed
I show him the FEGA brochures, and suggest he visit our FEGA website:
The spacious bench and north facing window, a great work environment:
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Barry,Thanks for sharing the photos of your trip to Val Trompe. J.J.
leo
Elite Cafe Member
wow that all I could say Barry wow thank you for showing us I just started about 6 month in this practicing engraving and I have family in Rome and Venice never thought I was going to go there and see all this beautiful thing definitely planning a vacation to Italy
a.khaksari
Elite Cafe Member
Italy is wonderful!
Hope you have a great trip Barry!
Hope you have a great trip Barry!
Barry Lee Hands
~ Elite 1000 Member ~
Thanks guys!!!
Next we head to " Casa Nil Bosco" if I got it right, for lunch with our group, the Fracassi's, and the renowned Gunmaker Tullio Fabbri:
On the left is Firmo Fracassi, our host Valter, his son Fabbio, on the right is Francesca Fracassi, Gunmaker Tullio Fabbri , and world champion shooter, and instructor Dario Anguissola. At the end of the table is famed knifemaker Emmanuelle Esposito and his knifemaking wife Elizabeth Loerchner.
Firmo and Valter deep in conversation ( I wish I knew what they were saying!)
Dario, Tullio and Francesca
After lunch Valter and Firmo escort me out, and no, I am not under arrest:
Knifebroker Steve Delack warms himself by the open fire outside:
Emanuelle and Liz take a great pic, don't they?
and everyone heads out to Fabbri. . . .
and here we are entering the Fabbri factory, I have driven past iit a half dozen times, and did not even know it was there:
Next we head to " Casa Nil Bosco" if I got it right, for lunch with our group, the Fracassi's, and the renowned Gunmaker Tullio Fabbri:
On the left is Firmo Fracassi, our host Valter, his son Fabbio, on the right is Francesca Fracassi, Gunmaker Tullio Fabbri , and world champion shooter, and instructor Dario Anguissola. At the end of the table is famed knifemaker Emmanuelle Esposito and his knifemaking wife Elizabeth Loerchner.
Firmo and Valter deep in conversation ( I wish I knew what they were saying!)
Dario, Tullio and Francesca
After lunch Valter and Firmo escort me out, and no, I am not under arrest:
Knifebroker Steve Delack warms himself by the open fire outside:
Emanuelle and Liz take a great pic, don't they?
and everyone heads out to Fabbri. . . .
and here we are entering the Fabbri factory, I have driven past iit a half dozen times, and did not even know it was there:
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Barry Lee Hands
~ Elite 1000 Member ~
If you had not heard, Fabbri is considered by many to be the very best gun in the world.
After everyone got inside Tullio took us to the heart of the matter, the barrels.
The barrels are made from solid stainless steel. Tullio explained that they use the best steel in the world, drill and finish the bores with the best equipment and technology, and then micro weld the barrels to the ribs, so that the barrels shoot perfectly parallel, without crossing.
He has me convinced. . . .
After everyone got inside Tullio took us to the heart of the matter, the barrels.
The barrels are made from solid stainless steel. Tullio explained that they use the best steel in the world, drill and finish the bores with the best equipment and technology, and then micro weld the barrels to the ribs, so that the barrels shoot perfectly parallel, without crossing.
He has me convinced. . . .
Barry Lee Hands
~ Elite 1000 Member ~
We then move to the action and the huge weight difference between the raw steel and raw titanium blanks makes Fabbio smile:
Tullio explains that the EDM cut that forms the standing breech and water tables of the action is formed perfectly and never touched again, except to polish, and is the reference point for all the machine steps which come later:
Tullio is so obsessed with quality, his eyes gleam:
Fabbio, and Engravers Giacomo Fausti and Peli Valerio listen closely:
Tullio explains that the EDM cut that forms the standing breech and water tables of the action is formed perfectly and never touched again, except to polish, and is the reference point for all the machine steps which come later:
Tullio is so obsessed with quality, his eyes gleam:
Fabbio, and Engravers Giacomo Fausti and Peli Valerio listen closely:
Barry Lee Hands
~ Elite 1000 Member ~
One detail that impressed me was a simple thing, the manufacture of the screws and the attention to detail they give this often neglected , but important part of the firearm.
Fabbri has a specially modified grinding machine, that grinds, ( not cut or suaged) that grinds, the screw precisely:
As an engraver, I have engraved hundreds of screws, and never have I seen a firearm fastener as well made as this:
Fabbri has a specially modified grinding machine, that grinds, ( not cut or suaged) that grinds, the screw precisely:
As an engraver, I have engraved hundreds of screws, and never have I seen a firearm fastener as well made as this:
Barry Lee Hands
~ Elite 1000 Member ~
We head to the stock blank storage room, where hundreds of the best blanks in the world are available for selection:
Barry Lee Hands
~ Elite 1000 Member ~
Finally to the finished gun room, where things are readied for shipping and Dario demonstrates his world championship form for us:
I am trying!
The engraving on Dario's personal competition Fabbri gun:
As we leave, I cant resist to give Tullio a FEGA brochure, and he gives FEGA the thumbs up:
Tullio asks me " How is my friend Sam Alfano?"
And I told him Sam is doing well.
Tulio said" Tell Sam I wait for him on the radio" and waived goodbye to us.
I am trying!
The engraving on Dario's personal competition Fabbri gun:
As we leave, I cant resist to give Tullio a FEGA brochure, and he gives FEGA the thumbs up:
Tullio asks me " How is my friend Sam Alfano?"
And I told him Sam is doing well.
Tulio said" Tell Sam I wait for him on the radio" and waived goodbye to us.
Barry, thanks so much for taking us on this trip with you.
Todd
Todd
mdengraver
~ Elite 1000 Member ~
Superb engravings
Barry Lee Hands
~ Elite 1000 Member ~
Finally, the knife show opens, this is a really great show, but the light is a bit yellow, so if some of the pics are dim, please forgive me.
Knifemaker Tore Fogarizzu, , and our collaboration:
Valter and Peli at the creative art table:
Montejano work, sorry about the poor photo:
I don't remember who did this, but interesting work:
Shawn and Sharla Hansen:
Emmanuelle Esposito and his awesome knife:
My friend Koji Hara, " Hara san"
Reinhardt:
The Fracassis, emanuelle, and Liz:
Pedersoli, always smiling:
And his work, I am sorry for the poor lighting:
the Fracassis and I :
Me and my Fogarizzu knife again, this time with the great engraver of animals, Amatori:
ANd a VERY rare photo of Amatori without his hat!
Knifemaker Tore Fogarizzu, , and our collaboration:
Valter and Peli at the creative art table:
Montejano work, sorry about the poor photo:
I don't remember who did this, but interesting work:
Shawn and Sharla Hansen:
Emmanuelle Esposito and his awesome knife:
My friend Koji Hara, " Hara san"
Reinhardt:
The Fracassis, emanuelle, and Liz:
Pedersoli, always smiling:
And his work, I am sorry for the poor lighting:
the Fracassis and I :
Me and my Fogarizzu knife again, this time with the great engraver of animals, Amatori:
ANd a VERY rare photo of Amatori without his hat!
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Barry Lee Hands
~ Elite 1000 Member ~
Barry Lee Hands
~ Elite 1000 Member ~
The show is over, friends head out , one last time before the trip home:
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