cnc machine for guitars question

[moshe_dol]

hii guys im new here im looking for a machine to make guitar body and nackes what is the most cheap yet good for the job ?

thanks

moshe

[BobF]

Are you looking for a commercial machine, or do you want to build one?

[moshe_dol]

what is more easy and the cheapest its for making guitar as a hobby and im a student so the easy and the cheapest machine wull do the job

[ger21]

Look at the Joe 2006 model. There's a forum for it here. http://www.cnczone.com/forums/joes_cnc_model_2006/

[mc-motorsports]

cheapest thing to do is outsource the actual cutting unless your ready for production. If you really want to buy a machine, a CNC router would be your best bet. Most inexpensive solution for cutting parts of that size out of wood.

[rlrhett]

There is nothing cheap or easy about CNC. They used to be $60,000 machines that required hours of specialized programming to make them work. It is not that anymore, but compared to other woodworking tools it is still not cheap.

If your interest is in building guitars as a hobby, CNC would be the last tool you would need. Even with a CNC, most of the work is done using traditional power and hand tools. There is virtually nothing a CNC machine can do that you can't do quicker with a hand held router and rasps --unless you are building dozens of identical guitars.

On the other hand, if your interest is in CNC as a hobby, that's a different story. Again, there is nothing cheap about CNC. You have to remember that in addition to the machine, you need software. Buying a machine large enough for guitars will probably set you back $6K+. People seem satisfied with the K2CNC machine that cuts 36X27.

Home built solutions, like the Joe2006 can be significantly cheaper. You will still end up spending $2K+ once you add the cost of software. Joe sells the frame as a kit cut from MDF for about $800. You will spend $400 or so in hardware. Another $400-$500 will go to the motors and controllers. Finally, you have to buy the software. Even with student discounts, once you buy Mach3, CAD and CAM packages you will have spent another $400. For non-students the cost can easily be three times that.

Finally, these machines are relatively large. As a student I certainly never had enough space for a tool the size of a table saw, not to mention that I tended to move once or twice every year.

I don't say all of this to discourage you, it just catches my eye whenever someone asks for "cheap" solutions for CNC (or lutherie for that matter). I've been building guitars for friends and family for several years and think it is the most amazing hobby. No other woodworking project comes close. A guitar (or any musical instrument) not only is beautiful but alive. There is not much you can do with a coffee table, but a guitar...

I also studied design in college and am very comfortable with CAD. I am fascinated with the possibility of converting my CAD designs into a tangible product. Hence I've been lurking on this site for over a year. I even found someone willing to barter a hand made guitar for the hardware and electronics of a home built CNC machine. Even so, I am really worried about the financial outlay to make the machine, not to mention trying to find space for it!

So maybe I'm a hypocrite because I want to use a CNC machine to help me build guitars. However, one sad fact I've had to come to grips with is that there is no cheap way of doing it.

[jonbuho]

HI guys... I'm new in this site, and got here for the same reason that started to read this thread... CNC or CNC? I'm primarily a guitar tech with a good knowledge and experience in building from scratch with hand tools only, in fact is very true about not been cheap at all this CNC thing, but it also open the door to new ideas... So CNC or not to CNC is a big question, but in fact mine right now is build a CNC desktop router or buy one already made? seen this one by PROBOTIX in 600$ which is very cheap indeed compared to the already famous k2CNC in 3.000$ or so... any help? or should i not get in to monkey business and keep on with my hand tools )

[Ed_R]

If you're going to do it for a living, lease a Fadal or a HAAS ( and a location to put it ) and do it right. DOn't forget these machines run on three-phase 220 and suck electricity like air.
If you're doing it for a hobby, you shoudl still get teh best you can afford.

[Dookychase]

Hey rlrhett, did you ever get a carvewright machine? Or did you go with something else?

I too wanted to make archtop guitars(hobby) but got discouraged with all this cnc stuff. I just didn't know where to start.

After looking at liquidguitars stuff, I'm thinking of going with a carvewright and making small archtops like the Ibanez GB10.

dooky

[jonbuho]

Does any body know if the PROBOTIX FIREBALL V90 would be a good choice to start in to CNC? would handle GUITAR JOBS (bodies, necks, contouring, radius. etc) I'm owner of a small shop, and my concerning is not speed but accurate results and reliability. Thanks!

[Torchhead]

The Probotix V90 is only 12 X 18 X 3. (304mm X 457mm X 76mm). It's also just a basic mechanics kit. Clipped from the website:

The base kit is supplied as a mechanical machine kit only. No motors, electronics, spindle or software is included. The waiting list is sitting at about two weeks right now, but has been growing. The sooner you reserve yours, the sooner we can ship it.


So once you get it assembled you will need:

3 motors
3 axis motor control card
Power supply
Wiring/cables
Couplings
Control Software (MACH?)
PC
Powered/Isolated Breakout card between PC and Motor Driver
Relay card
Limit/Home switches
Panel switches
Router
Router holder
Router bits
Sturdy table

In addition you need a good CAM program and some Drawing software.

It's better to run the PC on the machine as a dedicated unit and do your drawing and CAM work on another PC.

As stated by others there is a big gap between a toy and a machine that can hold .025mm of accuracy. Your final accuracy in any machine is a sum of all the errors in the mechanics and Linear drive components.

TOM CAUDLE
www.CandCNC.com

[Dookychase]

The Fireball 90 would be too small to do guitars. It only cuts 12" wide and 18" long.
I don't know anything about drawing in any of the software programs, unless you would cut the guitar by sections, having to move the piece that you're cutting.

Again I don't know if that's possible since I know nothing about cnc programming.

It does look like a nice cnc kit. I emailed them to see if they were going to make a larger version and as of yet there are no plans to do that right now.