Here is this one finished (Greg Howe playing it). Thanks for all the help Barry! Satin poly honeyburst finish. This is a three piece body with Honduras mahogany in the middle and alder wings.
Yes. All the guitars are made using two 3 axis CNC machines. One smaller one for pickguards, fingerboards, truss rod covers, inlay, engraving etc. The other for necks and bodies. The instruments are made in house.
"What CAM software are you using to drive the CNC?"
I am using a very basic program called "Estlcam." https://www.estlcam.de/
I'd like Desk proto when it's possible. Both machines use Grbl.
The shop is a very modest 800 square feet and located in an industrial park. Most of the benches, jigs and fixtures are my own. Tools include two radial arm saws, an over arm router, table router, band saw, thickness planer, jointer/plainer, radial arm drill press, spindle and edge sanders besides the two CNC machines. It is quite primitive - but gets the job done. Since COVID the work here has been mostly repairs and restorations - mostly of acoustic guitars.
"Can you show some pictures of the machines you built? What do your pieces look like straight off the CNC?"
Both machines are built from kits. The aluminum alloy (larger) machine uses high torque Nema 23 steppers and has a 25X25X5" cutting area. The smaller machine uses high torque Nema 17 steppers and has a work area of only 17X17X3". The larger machine uses ball screws and is very accurate. The smaller wooden machine uses lead screws and is fairly accurate but not stable enough for big projects. Right off the machine (as you can see in the video below) there is a frame that has to be cut off after routing. This is done with the band saw. This is true with both bodies and necks.
A short video of the arch top on the guitar just posted being made by this machine (turn down your volume): https://youtu.be/bmtgzpyXlTU
"Is your process going faster now that you're using CAD/CAM?"
Yes building and designing is much faster and the results of a higher quality.
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