Cardinali instruments stand out for the quality and attention constantly put in the different working processes.
Everyday Luca Cardinali puts his know-how at the company’s disposal, personally following and taking care of the plate annealing process – a fundamental moment in giving the instruments those timbre peculiarities that make unique.
The brass plates
The brass plates are first beaten and then machined to shape the basic components of the saxophone: bell, elbow, body and chiver.
The first phases
These early stages are already characterized by manual work, reinforcing the fact that a truly unique instrument cannot be made only relying on the most modern techniques and the widespread numerical control machines.
The annealing
When the fundamental parts of the saxophone are ready, they are checked again before beginning of the annealing process, carefully inspecting not only the instrument’s body and bell, but also the elbow and the chiver. Because of this meticulous process, each saxophone is given a “soul” that will make it absolutely unique, and Luca personally takes care of this delicate operation. Below are some pictures of this important processing step.
The Stamping
During this final phase, the instrument’s various parts are given the desired shape.
Tumbling
The tumbling is the important process that makes the small parts of a saxophone smooth.
The cleaning
The keys are immersed in an ultrasonic tank in which perfect cleaning is obtained
The columns
Before assembling and welding the basic parts of the instrument together, the saxophones are checked one by one to make sure that there are no problems with the soldering of the columns, essential to ensure a stable and safe position of the entire mechanics. The columns’ position is checked and “tested” thanks to a series of levers that reproduce the ergonomics of the keys, allowing the correct positioning of the parts before the final assembly, and speeding up the entire process.
Workpiece alignment
The saxophone body is mounted inside a stable vice which makes the following operations possible.
The engraving
A precious design is manually engraved on Lupifaro’s Gold and Platinum by Cardinali series, emphasizing the professional level of the instrument and its origin. This delicate decoration process is done before the components’ welding and the general assembly of mechanics and keys.
Made in italy
The final engraving phase is that of made Italy, a phase in which it is finely engraved with the brand that certifies that each production phase takes place in Italy
The assembly
Assembling the mechanics and the keys is the final step before testing the finished instrument and one of the last key moments in saxophone production. After this phase, the swabs are installed and the instrument is finely tuned.
The test
The final step is the test done by Luca Cardinali himselft. This is one of the most important phases of the entire working process and Luca’s renown skills and expertise allow him to tweak the instrument based on the moving components’ calibrations and the adjustment parts.