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Have you guys changed how you do anything in order to make better use of CNC?

Here's what I have been doing:

*fully carved backs, no bracing
*preprofiled sides - once bent to my shape they already have the correct front to back taper.
*pre-mortised neck blocks....they also have a 28' radius on the top. The bottom of the neck block is flat to mate up with a flat surface on the carved back.

In addition, I also use the CNC to cut scarf joints (I use a jig that has a 12 degree ramp...and then just mill the joint surface flat). Of course, I also use it for more common tasks such as inlay, fret slotting, and neck carving.

How do you guys use your CNC's? Has it changed how you build, or does it just help make things go quicker?

Here's a shot of one of the carved backs:

http://www.mediafire.com/imageview.php?quickkey=5jgtfxm9mux& thumb=4

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http://www.PeakeGuitars.com

I would like to experiment with carving the braces into the top for an archtop. I realize that the grain orientation is wrong but looks like they could be capped with a thin strip of CF to get the structural integrity.
Just seems like a cool thing to try. Any thoughts?

Funny you should mention it...I was just thinking the same thing. It would be really cool to get that mellow flat top sound out of a carved top.

I think this is another area (bracing redesign) that is ripe for innovation. I would have to think that somebody like Taylor has experimented with this idea(?).

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http://www.PeakeGuitars.com

Taylor does some extra processing to their tops (they machine a slot around the perimeter to make them more flexible) but as of last year their bracing was pretty standard looking.

I think there are a lot of things in electric guitars, where there's a bit more freedom, which haven't been explored with CNC. I think most makers took what they could do with their hands, then made the CNC do it, without wondering what it could do that they could not. I'm planning on trying some new stuff when I get back to building sometime in the next few months, if it works out then you'll see it here first

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Bob Garrish
Former Canonized Purveyor of Fine CNC Luthier Services

I've seen the Taylor thing...I'm sure they wouldn't do it unless they thought it was contributing something. I was thinking they may have played around with the carved top idea..but that maybe it didn't work real well and that is why they don't make something like that.

What are you thinking about doing Bob? Come on man...let us know...

I think electric guitar design is potentially very open-ended. You will most likely change the amount of sustain and some of the overtones by drastically changing body shape and material...but if you have a solid neck joint and are using about the same amount of wood (and same types of wood) then the overall tone should be similar. I think the challenge in designing a better electric boils down to better aesthetics from a woodworking standpoint..and better and or different electronics/pickups from a tone standpoint.

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http://www.PeakeGuitars.com

A lot of the changes are aesthetic, and it's for the simple reason that it takes the same amount of time to machine an elevated map of Russia on a chunk of wood as it does to machine a flat surface with a ball end. So, yeah, I think there's room to do some neat stuff aesthetically. You can also cut a very smooth, seamless sort of design into individually machinable parts which will fit together perfectly.

From a performance point of view, I'm planning on using a new sort of neck joint that indexes better than the ones we're currently using on electrics but would be a real hassle to do by hand. So, guaranteed good neck sets and solid connection. As well, within a margin, CAD software allows you to mess around with the weight distribution of an instrument, which can have both comfort and playing characteristic effects.

Oh, and I'll be using more sweet inlay

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Bob Garrish
Former Canonized Purveyor of Fine CNC Luthier Services

I figured you'd go wild with the inlay, you do some awesome work with that Fadal.

I'll look forward to seeing that neck joint...sounds cool! I'm doing something similar for acoustics.

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http://www.PeakeGuitars.com

I use ours for circuitboards.  That doesn't save any time, but I think it makes the control cavity more reliable and easier to fix if need be.

I was able to trick out our jack position and related design because I could get at angles not possible with a hand-held router. 

Tummy cuts are deeper, arm contours can be 3D.

It's been nice to be able to produce some of our own aluminum tooling.

I haven't tried a carve top yet.  I don't have enough time to learn Rhino well enough to make it happen.  Plus I don't have a burning need for one, but someday.

Welcome aboard, Sheldon!

[QUOTE=npalen]Welcome aboard, Sheldon![/QUOTE]

Thanks Nelson.

I'm really excited to have found this forum. The CNC area especially.  Outside of a few other builders I speak to on the phone, I've been pretty much going it alone CNC wise for the last 6 years.  This has not been optimal for my learning curve