CNC and you

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tippie53
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CNC and you

Post by tippie53 »

been doing a lot more on the cnc
learning what bits and how to transfer info
feel free to ask questions and let us share what we learn
John Hall
Blues Creek Guitars Inc
Authorized CF Martin Repair Center
president of Association of Stringed Instrument Artisans
http://www.bluescreekguitars.com
sylvan
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Re: CNC and you

Post by sylvan »

What do you want to know? I am using Vectric software.
Sylvan Wells
Wells Guitars
Bay State Guitars
http://www.wellsguitars.com
http://www.baystateguitars.com
tippie53
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Re: CNC and you

Post by tippie53 »

Just to share info
I don't the 2 rail sweeps are doable on V carve pro
I have Vcarve 10.52
do you know how to save a CRV file as a DXF?
John Hall
Blues Creek Guitars Inc
Authorized CF Martin Repair Center
president of Association of Stringed Instrument Artisans
http://www.bluescreekguitars.com
jread
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Re: CNC and you

Post by jread »

I'll ask:

What are you making on it for acoustic guitar building?

Are you roughing out parts such as bridges and braces?
Are you cutting inlay pieces and inlay holes to put them in?
Could it rough out a fretboard and radius?
A neck would require a larger one than the entry level ones I've seen.

I've gotten pretty good at shaping a bridge by hand, If I could get a CNC machine to cut pearl inlay pieces, I think I'd be interested. Neck heels, dovetail tenons and blocks would be sweet too.
sylvan
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Re: CNC and you

Post by sylvan »

John -
I just want through the very question you asked. You can convert a crv file to dxf by using the export function under the file menu. However, any 3d portion of the file will not translate and the program will warn you when converting.! VCarve can only import .stl, etc. 3d files and it can only import one per file. You can get around that somewhat if you have a file with 2 3d objects saved VCarve will import them.
Sylvan Wells
Wells Guitars
Bay State Guitars
http://www.wellsguitars.com
http://www.baystateguitars.com
sylvan
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Joined: Mon Oct 08, 2012 3:55 pm
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Re: CNC and you

Post by sylvan »

I use the CNC in acoustic guitar building for the following:
Making very accurate jigs and fixtures (most important);
Fretboards with the any radius and inlays;
Headstock overlays and inlays;
Headstock shape on the actual neck including slot heads;
cutting pearl and the pockets;
bridges;
rosettes; and various other things that I cannot think of at the moment.
One of the nicest features of cnc is that, if you set it up properly, you can place a finished fretboard or neck back on the machine 3 months later to do any inlay or other modification you wish!
Sylvan Wells
Wells Guitars
Bay State Guitars
http://www.wellsguitars.com
http://www.baystateguitars.com
yellowesty
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Joined: Sun Jul 17, 2016 11:58 pm
Location: Petaluma, Calif.

Re: CNC and you

Post by yellowesty »

I find that my CNC tools (a MillRight MegaV - 19"x19" - with Vectric Aspire) are useful in a broad range of luthier tasks:

-- Necks (near-final contouring of a 1"x3" blank, before adding a headstock or a stacked heel)
-- Fretboards (contouring and slotting for frets -- fan frets are now a breeze)
-- Bridges (sculpted bridges are easy, attractive, and light)
-- Headplates and tail decor (sometimes with bas-relief "enhancements")
-- Rosettes (occasionally carved), rosette channels, and soundholes (circular, oval, or ???)
-- and mundane tasks like accurate headstock mortices

I've recently been using my CNC to cut accurate nuts (I always use a zero fret, so my nut slots don't need round bottoms) and, last month, I cut a fret slot in a ¼" wide saddle (use of a fret atop the saddle seems to work well).

I've also used my CNC to cut multiple, identical pieces of Baltic Birch plywood to make molds and presses for laminated sides.

The CNC is a remarkably flexible tool. I frequently find new opportunities for the CNC to provide accuracy that doesn't depend on my VERY limited skills at precision joinery.
tippie53
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Re: CNC and you

Post by tippie53 »

after 20 yrs there are somethings I can do by hand. For me most of jigs and molds are on the CNC machine. I am learning more every day.
The one thing they don't tell you is how to fixture your work. I don't have a vacuum table so I use my spoil board and clamp my work to that.
I see I may be upgrading to aspire in the future. I was lucky in that as a machinist I used a number of different cnc machines so programing isn't that hard learning the nuances of the software is helping .
John Hall
Blues Creek Guitars Inc
Authorized CF Martin Repair Center
president of Association of Stringed Instrument Artisans
http://www.bluescreekguitars.com
yellowesty
Posts: 23
Joined: Sun Jul 17, 2016 11:58 pm
Location: Petaluma, Calif.

Re: CNC and you

Post by yellowesty »

Fixturing is, for me at least, one of the most frustrating aspects of CNC. After numerous collisions (and a few pieces of work that have come loose), I've pretty much settled on a spoilboard that covers all of the active area of my CNC machine (with small grooves machined very close to the X and Y extremes of router travel). The spoilboard is held down by low profile clamps fastened to the T-rails. Then all work pieces are attached to the spoilboard using XFasten double-sided woodworking tape. The only downside is that the router bits need periodic removal of the adhesive that gets picked up on profile cuts.
tippie53
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Joined: Fri Mar 03, 2006 7:09 pm
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Re: CNC and you

Post by tippie53 »

I don't use the tape I actually screw my work to the board.
if I was using smaller parts I may use tape but I am working mostly will 2 foot by 4 foot plywood and MDF

I plan on doing videos soon. I have the Shark HD long bed with a water cooled RF Spindle

the other thing is it came with ER11 collets and I plan to swap out with a new spindle with ER20 . I also use
4 different bits depending on what I am cutting and if I am going through.

3/8 round nose
1/4 in vee 90 degree
1/4 0 flute for plywood
and 1/4 and 1/8 straight bits
John Hall
Blues Creek Guitars Inc
Authorized CF Martin Repair Center
president of Association of Stringed Instrument Artisans
http://www.bluescreekguitars.com
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