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I'm considering a small CNC and probably won't purchase one til next year or the year after before I retire. I don't want to shape necks or bodies, I only want to cut inlays, templates and jigs. 24" in the largest direction for cutting fret slots. Are the sub $1k units OK for this?

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Hutch

Get the heck off the couch and go build a guitar!!!!

I know I keep you guys busy here. That's because I sit in front of a dang computer all day and can't wait to retire so I do a lot of arm chair building

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Hutch

Get the heck off the couch and go build a guitar!!!!

I was in the same boat, looking at about that size machine, checking out black friday sales, with price tags around $2000 to $2500.

Found a ~1 year old NextWave CNC Piranha XL (12x24 envelope) on craigslist for $1000. Bought V-Carve desktop for $350 and I'm making sawdust (experimenting, so far, but it's very promising).

I wouldn't mess with the sub $1000 stuff personally. Look a few pages back for a post on the 3018 cnc for a review.

I've spent my career (30 years and counting) in and around CNC machining so the learning curve hasn't been bad. Just a matter of, how does THIS software do what I want, how does THIS machine deal with ..... etc.

(I drive a desk a lot myself, lol).

My first CNC machine was a NextWave Shark--not a bad machine, and plenty capable of doing the kinds of things you're wanting to do. They're light duty machines, but I had no problems cutting inlays, fingerboards, jigs etc. with mine. They do show up used here and there (I sold mine when I got a bigger/heavier duty machine) for reasonable prices.

I've actually not used my CNC as much since I retired though! I've gone back to doing more operations by hand again.

Dave

Working with CNCs all day, usually the last thing I want to do is more CNC. But I couldn’t resist, eventually.

I was a 40 year IT guy before I retired. In later years, I was an administrator and project manager working mostly in developing justice systems, but I worked with motion control systems for many years. Not CNC, but a lot of servos, PLC's, and so forth. Same kind of stuff, so I too had the background and interest.

CNC sort of hit in a convergence of many of my interests--wood working, programming, geeky motion control stuff, building gizmos. A few years back, I was building a more affordable line of banjos, and doing most of the work on the CNC (I still did all of my engraving by hand and still french polished and stuff like that). Getting fairly decent at 3D modeling and having parts come off the machine that looked like my rendering software said it would look like felt pretty good!

Dave

I’ve been impressed with the OpenBuilds kits. We are all capable makers, and we can all assemble some aluminum extrusion. The “C Beam” machine has a 12x12 cutting area and seems robust. Fit it with a high speed air spindle and it should cut ablam for inlay just fine. It should come in under $1k even with a couple of spindles.

I have a machine that has 1000mx750mm cutting area, and sometimes wish I also had a robust little machine for small things like inlay on a headstock. I think it would feel like less of a production if I had a little desktop unit.


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I started using CNC a few years ago, interested, like Hutch, in a small, simple (inexpensive?) machine primarily for inlays and such. (I was motivated by the challenges of cutting, and then inlaying, oval rosettes.)

I'm now using my second CNC machine (larger, sturdier, and more expensive). Once comfortable with the processes, I've found a number of ways to use my CNC machine(s) to simplify the build process, to improve accuracy/precision, to lessen tedious aspects of the build -- and to expand my design options while recognizing the limitations of my woodworking skills (e.g., bas-relief headstocks, rosettes, bridge designs, tail decor).

Start with a small and inexpensive machine if you'd like; your journey may not end there. (My first bandsaw was a 12" Craftsman.)

https://fb.watch/2e84yqOBcd/

This popped up on fb today...the price is attractive

Looks like a nice machine for the money--clever configuration.

Dave

A few suggestions/comments:
-- rigidity is most important when cutting to high tolerance is critical, e.g. inlaying. When carving signs or pictures, being "off" by a few thou (or even a few 10's of thou) may be hard to detect. When inlaying a headstock or fretboard or rosette, it can be more critical. In most desktop CNC machines, the major rigidity issues relate to the gantry -- either the guides for the gantry (on the Y-axis rails) are sloppy or the gantry itself bends or deflects due to forces on the router bit. In any case, cutting at slower speeds and with smaller bites (depth of cut) helps. Maintaining minimal distance between the cutting tip of the router bit and the "center of deflection" in the gantry can also lessen the distortion of the machine, and, thereby, the inaccuracy of cut.
-- some machines increase their effective rigidity by having a limited range of motion. This is especially true along the Z-axis, but the result may be inadequate Z-axis travel or inadequate capacity for thicker workpieces. For guitar building this is most likely to affect use of the machine to cut necks or head block mortices. In many cases, machines with shorter gantrys (so, less X-axis travel) will be somewhat stiffer.
-- check out millrightcnc.com They have a range of well-designed offerings, good quality at competitive prices, good customer support, and an active and supportive forum. (I'm a satisfied customer.)
-- CNC hardware is useless without software. Free software is available, but most is either of limited functionality or challenging to learn (some is both). Consider purchasing VCarve Desktop from Vectric ($350).
-- be prepared for a significant learning experience (and a good bit of frustration along the way).

Bottom line:
-- adding CNC capability to your shop is far more impacting than getting a new, better, fancier table saw or jointer. It opens up all sorts of possibilities. So be careful with all this -- CNC is addictive. A year from now, the issues you're currently considering will seem "long ago and far away."