Need Help!- Anybody here use Vectric VCarve?

[mmcguire]

I need to know if it is possible to cut the arm and tummy contour with VCarve or Cut 3D. How do you guys accomplish this? Thanks McGuire

[tjskcnc]

Hi~
I use VCarvePro, but what is an "arm and tummy contour"?

[jimmiethekid]

you can do it with a flute cut if I remember correctly. I don't like that type of cut myself and prefer to see the smoother transitions of a surface loft in SolidWorks.

[konalure]

is it possible with Cut3D, it would even be better to use VCarve with Cut3D, and import the the Cut3D toolpaths into Vcarve and use Vcarve for pocketing pickup routes, neck pockets and profiling the body, I happen to be working on getting this process down lately, my friend asked me to make him a Ibanez type guitar but with a few modifications so I have been learning the process this last week.. if you or anyone is interested I may be able to make a tutorial on how to do this.. First I'd better cut this guitar and make sure the process works as good as its looking right though..

[jimmiethekid]

Originally Posted by konalure is it possible with Cut3D, it would even be better to use VCarve with Cut3D, and import the the Cut3D toolpaths into Vcarve and use Vcarve for pocketing pickup routes, neck pockets and profiling the body, I happen to be working on getting this process down lately, my friend asked me to make him a Ibanez type guitar but with a few modifications so I have been learning the process this last week.. if you or anyone is interested I may be able to make a tutorial on how to do this.. First I'd better cut this guitar and make sure the process works as good as its looking right though..

how are you indexing it to cut both sides?

[konalure]

there are dowel pin holes to reference the piece. the holes will first be cut in a spoilboard ( that does not move at all during the whole process and is the base for the work to sit on..), then in the wood, then the wood is flipped onto these holes and attatched with dowels..., then a second set of holes in drilled for the flip..I did not include them in the previews I posted but they will align the guitar when it its fliped to carve the 2 sides.. getting the wood all planed evenly will be critical for this to work properly.. flipping the vectors and generating the toolpaths in the software can be a bit tricky ( to keep everything aligned) , you have to be sure the dowel pin holes are in the right place.. I learned this the hard way on another project.

[konalure]

I cut that guitar body the other day.. came out a lot nicer than I thought it would.. Next one I cut I'll document it better and make a tutorial on it.. need to get some screenshot software to capture the vcarve/cut3d stuff to explain how I do it.. anyone know some good free software to capture screens?

[ger21]

If you want to make video tutorials, watch this.
YouTube- Tutorial for making tutorials. Camstudio 1280 x 720, H.264 codec, perfect quality, 2meg per minute.

[tjskcnc]

Most graphic programs can capture screen images. Your keyboard should have a key titled "Print Screen". This will make a bitmap image of your entire screen and save it to the clip board. In your graphics program just Paste or Paste As New Image, then edit the file to what you need.

Nice guitar. I am starting to design guitars in VCarvePro, also, and find it much easier and less time consuming than modeling in Solidworks and transferring to Mastercam for the gcode. Of course, I am interested in seeing your tutorial on creating the contours.

[dustin1706]

Originally Posted by konalure I cut that guitar body the other day.. came out a lot nicer than I thought it would.. Next one I cut I'll document it better and make a tutorial on it.. need to get some screenshot software to capture the vcarve/cut3d stuff to explain how I do it.. anyone know some good free software to capture screens?

Looks good man! Would love to see a tutorial of you do this again! Especially if you did it all with vcarve/cut3d.

No radiused edge though? or are you going to use a plain router for that?

Planning on making a neck or did you size it to use a stewmac or similar neck?

[tjskcnc]

Originally Posted by dustin1706 Looks good man! Would love to see a tutorial of you do this again! Especially if you did it all with vcarve/cut3d. No radiused edge though? or are you going to use a plain router for that? Planning on making a neck or did you size it to use a stewmac or similar neck?

I find it quicker to just use a round-over bit on my table router for the edges, and then a set of flat and round files to cut the neck contours for easier fretboard access.

I've only made trial cuts for guitar bodies (I've done 6 so far with scrap material) and I am working on my first neck. When I have a process down for completing a usable body, I'll post a quick tutorial on my process.

In the mean time, I'm watching these posts for ideas on improving my skills!

[rowbare]

Originally Posted by konalure anyone know some good free software to capture screens?

http://www.mirekw.com/winfreeware/mwsnap.html works pretty well. It isn't fancy but has enough features to do the job.

bob