Guitar #11 finished (mucho CNC work)

[fritter63]

Just finished Guitar #11 "Nigel" (fans of the movie "This is Spinal Tap" will get the reference/joke):

This is the first guitar to benefit significantly from the use of the CNC machine, which was my justification for building the CNC in the first place:

- All inlays done by me (on the CNC) for the first time
- Neck was done 95% on the CNC (finger board profiling and fret slotting, Neck inlay of the carbon fiber truss rod, Full carving of the neck and heel shapes)
- adjustable heel hardware (threaded insert and brass pivot points) were done on the CNC
- Body redesigned in CAD and used to:
  - CNC bending forms and body molds
  - CNC the head and tail blocks (including pre-threading for threaded inserts)
  - CNC of the internal blocking (beveled armrest) for a perfect fit to the sides
- Offset, oval shaped Rosette done entirely on the CNC

I can post construction pics and vids if people are interested.

I probably put in 1000 hours on the CNC learning curve and build, which if I remain a hobbyist I will never recover, but the lids off not as far as cool stuff I can do on inlays etc.

Materials:
    - body: Sitka spruce and Curly Myrtle from oregonwildwoods.com
    - fretboard, bridge, headstock, binding: Indian rosewood
    - rosette: spalted maple
    - D-tube "truss rod", axial brace: carbon fiber

 

[nclemmons]

Beautiful work!  Book-matched back and inlay work on the front are excellent!

Curious about your CNC choice and software choice.  I happen to use Fusion 360 for the CAD/CAM and have been happy with it so far.

Thanks for sharing -

 

[fritter63]

Beautiful work!  Book-matched back and inlay work on the front are excellent!

Curious about your CNC choice and software choice.  I happen to use Fusion 360 for the CAD/CAM and have been happy with it so far.

Thanks for sharing -

I ended up going with the cncrouterparts 4x2 machine. Ultimately I decided the JoesCNC just had too much drilling of holes in metal to be done, and I wasn't sure I could get the accuracy I needed for doing inlays. That and the whole "break in" thing with those angle iron rails. I started looking at mods to add V-rail to the Joes design, and finally decided I might as well just go with the CNCRouterParts kits. Ironically, they abandoned the v-rails and now have some nice linear motion rails as standard.

My only regret is having not got the 4x8 machine. Didn't think I'd need it for guitar making, but then I realized all the other stuff I'd like to do .....

I'm also using F360, overall I like it, except for when it crashes on me 10 times in one night. Modeling the heel and the neck to headstock transition is where most of the work was. And of course, I've also used it to design and CNC all my vacuum jigs as well.

 

[mwhafner]

That is beautiful!  Great work.

 

[Vondawg]

VERY NICE!! design! I have several Taylor's (also a lot of CNC' d parts) I'd think you won't be a hobbyist for too long. Really like your volume control and placement...what kind of pickup system are you installing? For me...any more information would be most welcome. Do you have a website I could see more and get info ? Finish, specs, Yes im interested.
Thanks
Von

 

[fritter63]

VERY NICE!! design! I have several Taylor's (also a lot of CNC' d parts) I'd think you won't be a hobbyist for too long. Really like your volume control and placement...what kind of pickup system are you installing? For me...any more information would be most welcome. Do you have a website I could see more and get info ? Finish, specs, Yes im interested.
Thanks
Von

Thanks Von.

This one doesn't actually have a pickup in it, but last years did. I used the GHS acoustic sound hole mic, but I don't think I'd use that again. Was too difficult to keep it from feeding back.

Right now these are just charity guitars.... we raffle them off each year to support the local high school marching band (my son was a member). But I am starting to get people asking me to build for them.

here is my blog site for now, need to put up something fancier:http://ahsbandguitar.blogspot.com

Somewhere on there is a vid of last years being played with the pickup on

 

[Scott B.]

Nice instrument! Post up a vid for the sound!

On the back side of the body perimeter are those mineral strains or some sort of inlay blemish?

 

[fritter63]

Nice instrument! Post up a vid for the sound!

On the back side of the body perimeter are those mineral strains or some sort of inlay blemish?

wormy wood that I couldn't get rid of, and didn't sand out like I'd hoped. So I filled with black epoxy to give it spalted look

 

[Scott B.]

Nice instrument! Post up a vid for the sound!

On the back side of the body perimeter are those mineral strains or some sort of inlay blemish?

wormy wood that I couldn't get rid of, and didn't sand out like I'd hoped. So I filled with black epoxy to give it spalted look

Nice. I am sure that would be clear on an in person inspection, the color tones would be obvious. I figured it was something like that since it was so symmetrically butterflied.

 

[HMR]

Great job!  I was curious if the CNCrouterparts machines would be accurate enough for inlay (I do a lot of CNC inlay).  Looks like you've answered my question.  Well done!

 

[fritter63]

Great job!  I was curious if the CNCrouterparts machines would be accurate enough for inlay (I do a lot of CNC inlay).  Looks like you've answered my question.  Well done!

There other videos on my YouTube channel showing it doing inlays.

 

[Ironmantrev]

WOW!!! This is really nice work. Great job. Just out of curiosity, what are people paying for a guitar when it is raffled off? What would you charge for something like your latest? Like another said, you may not be a hobbyist for long, with work like this, you could turn pro

 

[fritter63]

WOW!!! This is really nice work. Great job. Just out of curiosity, what are people paying for a guitar when it is raffled off? What would you charge for something like your latest? Like another said, you may not be a hobbyist for long, with work like this, you could turn pro

Raffle tickets are $10/ea, so far all the winners have got one for just that - $10.

I've been fortunate, they have all gone to worthy owners, including a former member of Glen Campbells backing band!

To sell it, this one would be in the range of $5000 - $6000.

 

[Arvid]

can we hear it?

 

[fritter63]

can we hear it?

No! Don't even look at it! (sorry, another Spinal Tap reference).

Hmm... I'll have to make a vid on youtube, the other one is only on FB. Let me know if you can access this:
https://www.facebook.com/mark.frazier.714/posts/1147474565348109

 

[Ironmantrev]

Fritter, $10 for one of those guitars is a great deal I guessing it would be better to ask how much was raised for the charity because of your guitar? I suspect it was quite popular and drew more in to buy tickets.

At 5-6k a guitar, it wouldn't take long to pay off all of your toys. This could really lead to fueling and addiction(buying Festool and other high end machines). Building a few at a time, and a few batches a year would sure put some serious play money in your pocket, or go a long way in allowing you to break even on the 1000 hrs you invested in learning how to use the CNC.

Very cool! Keep up the great work. I hope it will become a little more for you than a hobby should you want it too. And thanks for sharing with us. Very inspiring.

 

[fritter63]

Fritter, $10 for one of those guitars is a great deal I guessing it would be better to ask how much was raised for the charity because of your guitar? I suspect it was quite popular and drew more in to buy tickets.

Typically we raise about 3 to 4 thousand a year. My goal is to sell 1000 tickets a year, but we haven't got close to that.

At 5-6k a guitar, it wouldn't take long to pay off all of your toys. This could really lead to fueling and addiction(buying Festool and other high end machines). Building a few at a time, and a few batches a year would sure put some serious play money in your pocket, or go a long way in allowing you to break even on the 1000 hrs you invested in learning how to use the CNC.

Yeah, my Festool stable is rather full already, but i would like a kapex with ug cart! And to pay for the CNC would be good.