Official Luthiers Forum!

Hi guys, I'm not new at all to CNC but I really no nothing about the CNC routers people are using for lutherie.
Money is tight and I'm looking to see who built their own, bought something turn key, or assembled a kit?
Where did you get parts and info if you built your own?
I'm a CNC programmer by trade in the aero/defense sector so my experience is mostly 3 axis vertical machining centers.


Thanks, Brandon

In Canada, a lot of guys have been going with XZero CNC. George builds all the parts and you put it all together yourself. I have not personally dealt with him but XZero is probably who I will shop with next.

I have heard he can be hard to get a hold of and difficult to keep in constant contact with. The machines are top notch though.

I have a Laguna IQ Pro. It has been very effective so far. My CAD skills are the limiting factor, not my CNC router.

All the information is on http://www.cnczone.com/ so far as building machines goes. There are a few other forums like CNC Arena that have some stuff, too.

My current machine cost me about $25K all told, but it's one of a kind. The original machine wasn't a bad deal: 48"x48" process area with three spindles, 2" thick solid aluminum two-zone vacuum table, got it for $6500 delivered with a 5HP vacuum pump and a box of ER-32 collets. Retrofitting it with linear motors and a KFLOP was super affordable, but it's all relative- you can't buy a machine with linear motors for less than a few hundred thousand.

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Bob Garrish
Former Canonized Purveyor of Fine CNC Luthier Services

I have an XZero Raptor--there are a bunch of them here in the states too. I've not seen a machine anywhere near the price point that even comes close to the build quality. They're not exactly kits--at least they weren't when I got mine. More like a bunch of parts with no instructions or anything like that. But the way the parts are machined, it's pretty obvious what to do. George was very helpful whenever an question came up.

I've used mine for several years now without a problem.

Dave

I built my own thanks, in large part, cnczone.com. I recently had a chance to do work on a Haas VF3, and found myself preferring mine. I spent about $1500. It is far from perfect, but I'm constantly amazed at what it can do.


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I have a couple Raptors as well. As Dave said, it's very DIY but if you can deal with that, it's a very good price point.

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http://www.birkonium.com CNC Products for Luthiers
http://banduramaker.blogspot.com

Mine started life as a DynaCNC machine, but I have rebuilt it with new bearings, couplers, and screws. I'm still not done yet, but it works.

http://www.guitarplansunlimited.com/In%20the%20shop%20pages/CNC%20Rebuild.html

Thanks for the replies. The xzero machines look pretty solid and the price seems too good. I'll have to get a hold of them. The site is a little vague on what is included.

I just pulled the trigger on a 30x60 raptor from xzerocnc. George was easy to get a hold of and seemed nice. I had heard there may have been problems in the past with getting things from him but so far it's been good. I also ordered the 2kwatt tekno spindle from damencnc. I'm looking forward to getting it together after I finish my current guitar build.

I just ordered a 30" X 48" Xzero Raptor too. Looks like a good machine for the money.