Official Luthiers Forum!

Looking for a machine with the smallest footprint/work-area to get the job done, but needs to be accurate for intricate inlay and not have to run at a snail's pace. Also, easy to tram. Does such a machine exist for an already overcrowded shop?

What size footprint?

About this size right here so I can do bass fretboards down the road, but this is too high a price.

https://www.nextwavecnc.com/shop/SHARK- ... p200848413

This might be another option to save on size and money, but might be too much of a hassle.

https://www.projectguitar.com/articles/ ... art-1-r30/

I’d ask the question on CNCZone. The machine certainly exists somewhere and the one I was going to suggest doesn’t fit within your budgetary requirements.

To come in under that price point for a machine of that size most likely means building it yourself. Again, CNCZone would be a good place to start. I haven't seen any ready made machines that meet all of your requirements that would come in under $2K or so. But, a home made one could certainly be done for less.

Dave

Thanks, guys. There are quite a few desktop builds on there that don't seem too intimidating. Gonna do my homework first, of course

I built my first DIY CNC about fifteen years ago. I’ve built and rebuilt three different machines in the years in between.

It’s a great project and a rabbit hole of a hobby. But these are complex machines. Building and troubleshooting your build can be a long and tedious process. Learning to use a CNC is a long and tedious process. Add them together and you don’t have a recipe for a reliable productive tool.

The most popular desktop machines seem to be the ShapeOKO and the Onefinity. Both are very capable machines for a hobbyist. A popular commercial option is Avid. All three are reliable productive tools once you learn how to use them.

If you are a tinkerer and a maker, by all means make your own. Otherwise, a store bought version will still leave you with a steep learning curve.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

I've got the older version of the one in the link - it was called the Piranha at the time. 12x24 table surface (parts can easily hang off the ends).

I've done inlay pockets but not inlay pieces as of yet. Does a super job in my opinion.

I've cut several solid electric guitar bodies.

I've done a couple of neck profiles.

I've done a fair bit of non-guitar things as well - artsy carving, mortise & tenon joints, wood burner tips out of brass, some other stuff.

I've worked with CNC at my day job for 30 years so this was mostly just a matter of learning where the buttons were, both on the machine and the software.

Super tool in my opinion. Picked mine up used for $1000, had to buy a license of Vcarve for $400 or so.

It was definitely a case where I was more interested in using the tool than building the tool. Up and running pretty much right away.

Look for used - you may find a deal like I did, where someone thought they'd use it but never did.

My first CNC machine was a Shark--the HD model with some extra aluminum stiffening pieces on the gantry. Essentially the same machine as the link shows, but a size bigger. I got it for the purpose of cutting fingerboards, routing inlay pockets, cutting shell and also for building jigs.

It worked well for all of these things, although I had to use pretty slow feed rates for any heavier cuts to avoid gantry flexing/inaccurate cuts. There was quite a bit of flex in the machine due to its mostly plastic construction and fairly light duty rails/bearings. But staying within the capabilities of the machine, it worked very well. I eventually wanted to get into heavier cutting that the Shark just wasn't cut out to do (archtop plates, necks, etc.), so I sold it and got a heavier duty machine. I've gone through a couple of others since then. But as Chuck mentioned above, they do come up used and you might be able to get a good deal on one. I had a background in motion control systems and programming, so I didn't have a hard time putting the Shark to work day one (especially with the Vectric software--really easy to use), but for someone without that kind of background, CAD and CNC can be pretty intimidating and I bet there are a bunch of only slightly used ones that hit the market out of owner frustration...

Dave