Dolfi Srl

Company Description

The origins and historical development of the Dolfi Comploi wood carving company from 1892 to the present

Few of the Wide Range Dolfi Wood Carving Collections:

Nativity scenes with mangers, various different kinds of Christmas ornaments, special collectible dolls, Teddy bears, chess sets of different sizes, Dolfi Srl special Children's World, our collection of religious art, crucifixes and Christ figures, Madonna figures, statues of saints, all kinds of secular wood carvings, lucky charms, small and large animal figures, crystal bells with small carvings, angels and angels' heads, South Tyrolean apples, three-dimensional puzzles made of wood under the Matteo-Comploi trademark (including vehicles, animals, and couples,) the Dolfi Casa Collection, and finally also customized products.
A lot of innovation and hard work was invested in all of these collections. The entire manufacturing process in the field of wood carving is more complicated than many would believe. Until a wooden figure has been completely carved, undergone post-production processing, has been lacquered, painted, and gold-plated, at least 150 (on the average) manual steps are necessary.

Production

How Is the Original of a Wood Carving Made in the Dolfi Factory?

1. First, several pencil-and-paper sketches are made.
2. Various different models in putty (Plasticine) with a height of about 20 cm are made.
3. Then the first Plasticine model with a height of 60 cm is developed.
4. Later, a wooden model made of Stone Pine or Limewood is carved.
5. On the basis of the original wood carving, a bronze model is now cast.
6. This bronze model is then inserted into the wood-carving machine and serves as a template for manufacturing rough-milled wooden figures.

What wood is used for the wood carving? In the case of larger figures, chiefly Limewood and Stone Pine are employed. In the case of smaller items, Maplewood, Ash, Acacia, and sometimes Stone Pine or other suitable types of wood (e.g. hardwoods) are used.

Decades ago, the Dolfi Company needed a great deal of carving wood. It was difficult to properly dry this wood. Outdoors, the drying process took much too long (five years, on the average.) Frequently, the wood would get spotty or an undesirable grain. Often, round woods and thick boards were no longer suitable for carving.

Consequently, our factory acquired an excellent indoor drying installation several years ago. It was the newest and most high-performance vacuum drying installation in South Tyrol, and was planned and developed in co-operation with our company.

The new technical drying process is much faster than drying in the open air. The wood's color and texture are of superb quality. The drying process is completely uniform, and the wood is always properly stabilized.
The Dolfi Company needs not only wood carvers, painters, and gold finishers. It sometimes needs designers and graphic artists capable in particular of elaborating designs for new carvings.

Dolfi Land


2006 - 2007: A Large, New Dolfi Factory in Runcadic near St. Ulrich

In 2006 - 2007, the Dolfi Company built its new, spacious facility for the manufacture and sale of wood carvings in Runcadic (community of Kastelruth/Castelrotto) on the road from St. Ulrich, towards the Panider Saddle to Kastelruth/Castelrotto, just 2 km from the center of St. Ulrich. Our old company premises and the office building in St. Ulrich were no longer large enough for the wood-working machines, the storage of the wood, and the many crates of merchandise. The old company building had become too small for the sequence of manufacturing steps, including drying and cutting the wood, the carving process, post-production carving, lacquering, painting, gold application, storage of the finished goods, packaging, and shipping.

Opening hours:

Open all year round from Monday to Saturday
8.00 -12.00
14.00 - 18.00
Sundays on request