What's the smallest size cnc router needed to cut a guitar

[Mike Stevenson]

Have you looked at:

http://www.romaxxcnc.com

Great router, HALF the cost of K2! Look at the speeds of their larger table....

Spiro,

Thank you. I feel so good about my K2 purchase now.

[darwin99]

Thank you Mike and cyborg for replies.

At this moment we build guitars by hand and I want to expand my little production and get more precision buying a CNC router.

I do not have any experience with CNC and I think is probably I will buy the video tutorials cyborg sells at their website.

Is very hard to start cutting at least bodies using CNC router?

I think that I can start cutting some third party designs and when I get more experience start making my own guitar shapes.

I appreciate if anybody can send to me any guitar body or neck g-code and cad file to start cutting when I get the cnc. Then I will modify this design.

What do you think?

Attached some works.

[CyborgCNC]

My recommendation to you is to NOT try to find the easy way out....

:-)

Sending G-code from some guitar design, will probably confuse you more than anything, since you really need to know and understand the process that it took to product this g-code. you need to understand tool paths, tool changes, speeds/feeds, and even more importantly indexing of the router.

Start small with a machine (I learned by placing a pencil on the router and drawing believe it or not) and go from there.

Also, consider the software investment, before you go out and buy a 5-8K machine. The software can cost just as much if not more...

Regards

[Mike Stevenson]

Very, very true Cyborgcnc.

[darwin99]

thank you for your replies again.

I had bought Rhinoceros and Mastercam at one german company that sells used software here in spain. I´m studing rhino and I have some designs made yet. Cyborg, can I follow your video tutorials using my software?

I ask it, because I can´t find solidworks at good price..

What do you think?

[CyborgCNC]

Well my Mastercam videos are extremely detailed, and you will be able to understand that.

You can find Solidworks VERY cheap...as long as you know a student, or have some one in your family who is a student:

http://www.creationengine.com/html/p.lasso?p=14127

$69.00 US for a TWO year license (you do not need the Cosmos add in...)

:-)

[darwin99]

eyy, thank you!

its very cheap!

[darwin99]

I have read the spcs of The WD-1 24X36X8 CNC Machine (www.romaxxcnc.com/WD-1.html) and I think its a good option and more cheaper that K2cnc.

cyborg, do you use this router?

[CyborgCNC]

No I do not, because I build my own, to basically learn all this stuff.

I am SERIOUSLY considering purchasing it though, in the next 6 months or so (I need to make some more space in my workshop....). I have heard nothing but good things about them.

Cheers!

[rlrhett]

I am not sure if you are looking at a different router machine, but the one at http://www.romaxxcnc.com/products.htm#store would be too small for a body. 12" of travel in the y-axis. Very few guitars are that small, especially if you leave a .5" on either side for tabs or hold downs of your blank. You probably want at least 16" if not 18". 3" of z travel would make it difficult to mount a neck blank in a sled or caul with a slanted headstock and heel.

I would think 18x24x6 is about the minimum travels for a guitar.
Just my $.02

[Mike Stevenson]

rlrhett,

Wrong link. He was refering to this 24x36 one:

http://www.romaxxcnc.com/WD-1.html

[Zenjon]

ONE consideration to make is whether you are making neck-throughs or bolt-ons. If you are making bolt-ons, 24x24 is plenty big enough! Plus, small footprint!

If you are making a guitar with a lower bout larger than 20", I'd like to see it! And even a 24 fret (Two octave) 25.5" scale neck wont be much bigger than 18.5" long.

As far as the Z travel is concerned, what is the length of the bit you intend to use? Any z travel that is greater than the lenth of your bit is superfluous. Probably anything over 2.5" will be plenty enough, but aim for 4"(Allowance for longer bits.)

ANOTHER consideration is time. The more perfect you want the machine to make it, the longer it will take. Sometimes, it's just easier and faster to have the machine rough-cut it, and then you take to it with your spoke-shave and files. I think that's the best of both worlds! Let the machine do what it does best, and leave enough for you to do what only YOU can do best!

No matter what you choose to do, Godspeed!

Zenjon