Pro tip from another CNC Luthier here... use the largest ballcutter you can possible use for your shaping operation but keep using a high step over. I noticed you were using a tiny ballcutter for your fretboard radius. Use a 1/2”. The cusps will be shorter and it will leave a much better surface. Same thing on the back of the neck. If you don’t have a radii that are smaller than 1/4”, there’s no advantage to using a tool smaller than 1/2”, as a matter of fact it works against you in terms of machine time and tool deflection. Love your videos, you’ve come so far from when I first started watching you. Even though I build guitars with a CNC, I still learn things from you. I especially love the finishing tips. Thank you so much!
More inspiration, on exactly my next project. Have a tele length, 4/2 headstock design I'm doing. Have not tried tilt head stock yet!! Thanks Again Chris!!
Very cool Chris! I love watching small Endmills circle intrepotale that fast... I can't do that in metal, I'd either get to much deflection and the hole would be small, or my tool would break! Super nice fingerboard to!!
@@HighlineGuitars 😂 I thought to myself, wow he's flying in those holes, Must be 100 ipm!! I'm cutting wood way to slow! Lol. I had no idea it was sped up... Thanks for clarifying that! I was ready to head to the shop on Monday and crank all my feeds and speeds! Talk about tearout!! Lol. Thanks again Chris. I find with wood I have to run my machine's at a steel speeds. I tried running my tools like I was cutting aluminum or brass and all I got was a giant mess of tearout and burn marks! So I slowed down my spindle speed (depending on tool size, the smaller the tool the faster I'll spin it to make up for chip load) and I run my liner G1 cuts to around 20 IPM. Seems to be the sweet spot for my machines. Thanks for all the great content with us Chris! Mike.
I’ve been wanting to try one on the CNC. I see how you index it so when you flip it you keep center and position correct, but you lost me on the headstock. Did you have a different center point / setup set for the headstock?
I do a lot of CNC two sided profile cuts where it is imperative to flip my work piece on a center line. Naturally when watching an operation such as yours I'm looking for part alignment. I didn't see any attention to alignment yet you got very good results. Did you actually have an alignment scheme worked out? or was it hit and miss. I can't imagine it being that random.
This video will give you an idea of how I line up my two sided carving operations: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-Izd_NF98Pjw.htmlsi=RQsZYAj39PWkDZ87
Hey Chris, I've been watching this video for more than a year now and I can't figure out how you tackled aligning the blank for the operation with the face of the headstock down. Did you zero the machine on some reference you made earlier or aligned the blank to some pencil line on the table? I know this is asking a lot, but would you consider doing a breakdown of this setup one day? Thanks!
I lined up the blank's centerline with a centerline that was engraved in the wasteboard. After clamping the blank down, I positioned the spindle directly over the blank's centerline exactly opposite where the front of the headstock's angle begins. That is where I zeroed the machine to start the headstock's carve.
@@HighlineGuitars I suppose doing the best you can to square up the blank plays a big role in having success doing this, right? I've seen the way you sand the scarf joint surface flat with that nice little jig you've made, aside from pushing the blank against the wall of the jig with the screws on the other side, do you take any other measures to ensure you're getting a perpendicular headstock angle line in relation to the length of the blank?
greetings from holland, i have build my own cnc and my question is wich software do you use and can i buy de cnc plans from you, iam using vcarve and rhino
Chris, where do you get your truss rods and why some builders prefer not to rout the truss rod access point but to drill it after gluing the fret board ?
Really Wish I had a CNC machine. What is the sanding tool that you use at the 9:10 - 9:17 mark in the video? Maybe you can do a short video on specialty tools that you use?
What is a good cnc to buy for making my own guitars? And if I have a certain neck I want to make can you consult and make me an stl file? I want to make my own. Thanks for such a fantastic educational video. Keeping the art alive is so important when they are making instruments so cheap. I like old school love and quality.
I started with the Inventables X-Carve which worked fine for me. However, I wanted a more robust machine so I built my own. Plans are available on my eguitarplans.com web site. Inventables has a new Pro machine which is more in line with what guitar builders need, but it is expensive.
@@HighlineGuitars Thank you so much for your reply. I was going to spend 5000 on machine but wanted to get one pre made that I could upload STL files to so I do not get stuck in aut0 cad land. Any recommendation I would be grateful.
Nice neck! I have seen quite a few builders leaving the tape on the truss rod when gluing down the fretboard, but you remove it. Are you doing anything to keep the glue out when clamping, or are you just not too worried about it? On another fretboard-related note, I have seen a few builders rounding and finishing the fret ends before inserting them into the fretboard, either freehand, or with some sort of jig. Do you see any downsides to doing this if you are careful about not shortening the fret too much. I kind of feel like not worrying about the fretboard and having easier access to the various angles on the fret would make the job a lot easier and potentially quicker...
As long as the truss rod is wrapped, fits into the slot tightly and the masking tape is both longer and wider than the slot, there is nothing to worry about. On the side note, the reason some builders round over the fret ends before installing them is that they are worried about marring the fretboard if they do the work after. With the right tools (files with safe edges) and experience, that shouldn't be a problem.
What's your method for aligning the top, bottom and headstock machining procedures? I see a lot of guys using guide pins for alignment. Wondering how you were able to do this by just using the clamps.
This video explains it best: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-IiOTkN0eM_s.html A pin alignment system is useful only if you're making a lot of bodies or necks consecutively.
Hi, thanks for sharing all details of your working. I want to buy a cnc router for neck and body. At which rpm do you cut and what is the power of your spindle? I know that it depends on so many things but i want to know the average values.
Hi Chris, I use a similar setup for making my necks and bodies. I'm curious how you are indexing the neck blank when flipping from front to back and when transitioning to the headstock area? I find it very difficult to keep everything aligned and matching up for the final product.
chris, how do you index the different G Code operations to route the correct places? I mean, how do you index your reference point between the differente cutting operations?
I always start from the same X,Y, Z home position for each operation on a neck, fretboard or body. The home position is assigned in the program (MeshCAM) I use to write the G-Code.
How are you registering the neck on the table? It looks like you are just clamping it down without any reference. Thanks for the videos. I am learning F360 to move into the 21st century.
@@HighlineGuitars Thanks. For the X axis I understand about marking the cntre, but what about the Y when you change from neck portion to head portion when you angle it at the 10° or whatever your headstock is at?
I draw a line perpendicular to the blanks center line where the front of the angled headstock meets the neck. Where the two lines intersect is my reference point. From that point, I know exactly where to jog my router to place it in the home position. To rout the other side, I simply transfer my reference point to the other side.
