Guitarfrenzy Posted April 6, 2006 Report Posted April 6, 2006 I have a video tour of the Fender factory that I just encoded for you guys to see. It's very interesting, and at 44mb it's still worth the download. It's over 6 minutes long, to give you an idea. Fender (Corona, California) Manufacturing Tour Just thought I'd share this information. Enjoy.. Quote
rhoads56 Posted April 6, 2006 Report Posted April 6, 2006 good stuff, i love seeing these sorts of videos. Did anyone notice the BAD BAD machining?? clue: between the 1:45 and 2:30 time frame Quote
thegarehanman Posted April 6, 2006 Report Posted April 6, 2006 It looked liked they routed some truss rod channels off center. Do I win a prize? I could have done without the music, but it's a good video, none the less. Quote
thegarehanman Posted April 6, 2006 Report Posted April 6, 2006 bummer, guess I can't be a manager at the fender plant. my dreams are shattered, oh the humanity! Quote
ibreakemineedtobuildem Posted April 6, 2006 Report Posted April 6, 2006 Was it that some of the arm contours were inconsistant? Quote
thegarehanman Posted April 6, 2006 Report Posted April 6, 2006 The insane unevenness of the headstock in 2:22? Whether or not that's what you saw, that doesn't look too good. Quote
liquid_gabe Posted April 11, 2006 Report Posted April 11, 2006 Carvin will send you a DVD with some very cool footage of their factory. Watching their California carvetop model shaped by the CNC is pretty amazing. Quote
Setch Posted April 11, 2006 Report Posted April 11, 2006 I'm guessing Perry means the shot of the CNC trimming the neck perimeter, around 2:56. The cutter is shaping the headstock, freeing a piece of waste material, and you can clearly see a bit 'step' of unthicknessed headstock on the 'ball' section of the headstock tip. The same step is visible when the female worker is applying the trussrod washer and nut. However, this shot reveals why it's there - it's the entry point and extra support for the long drill bit which drills the headstock trussrod access. Quote
Guitarfrenzy Posted April 11, 2006 Author Report Posted April 11, 2006 I'm glad everyone liked the video. There are a lot of things on the video that I thought was cool, and gave me some ideas too. The first one was the side dot machine, it was very neat to see them be able to drill them all at one time (3:39-3:45). I also thought the way they sanded their fingerboards with the moving belt sander was cool (3:10-3:19). The machine that could cut all the fretwire off flush with the edge of the fingerboard was interesting (4:01-4:04). All in all it was a good sneak peek into their manufacturing process. Now, you guys just need to help me build all these awesome machines.. lol Quote
Setch Posted April 11, 2006 Report Posted April 11, 2006 Yeah - I want all their toys! The dot driller made me very jealous... Quote
bigdguitars Posted April 11, 2006 Report Posted April 11, 2006 I liked the metal jig at 1:58... tempting maybe should build one. Quote
Guitarfrenzy Posted April 11, 2006 Author Report Posted April 11, 2006 I liked the metal jig at 1:58... tempting maybe should build one. Yes, if you was doing one style of guitar body, you could really use those type of jigs to be precise. If I'm not mistaken and correct me if I'm wrong it looks like they used a machine to preslot the nut (4:05-4:10). If so that's very cool.. I'm sure it just gets them close, they probably have to slot them a bit deeper for good action. Quote
rhoads56 Posted April 11, 2006 Report Posted April 11, 2006 If I'm not mistaken and correct me if I'm wrong it looks like they used a machine to preslot the nut (4:05-4:10). If so that's very cool.. I'm sure it just gets them close, they probably have to slot them a bit deeper for good action. Its fender, thats as close as it gets Quote
Guitarfrenzy Posted April 11, 2006 Author Report Posted April 11, 2006 If I'm not mistaken and correct me if I'm wrong it looks like they used a machine to preslot the nut (4:05-4:10). If so that's very cool.. I'm sure it just gets them close, they probably have to slot them a bit deeper for good action. Its fender, thats as close as it gets Sadly, you might be right.. lol Quote
rhoads56 Posted April 11, 2006 Report Posted April 11, 2006 ok, pause it at 2:03-2:04 and look at the quality of the machining. They are for necks. Nice work Quote
jer7440 Posted April 12, 2006 Report Posted April 12, 2006 I liked the metal jig at 1:58... tempting maybe should build one Let me know. That would be pretty easy to machine. Quote
Setch Posted April 12, 2006 Report Posted April 12, 2006 You mean the bit going into the planer with a gap underneath it? I saw that but didn't attach any importance to it - I'd expect the feedrollers to flatten that down as it goes through the planer. Besides, it's too thin to be neck stock - possibly a maple fretboard being rough dimensioned, in which case any unevenness would likely be removed by radiusing. Unless I;m missing something... Quote
rhoads56 Posted April 12, 2006 Report Posted April 12, 2006 yeah you are. :D Its a thicknesser. It requires a perfectly flat surface on one side (the bottom) to be machined correctly. Quote
cole Posted April 12, 2006 Report Posted April 12, 2006 now we can see where the quality was traded for quantity... ...oh well Quote
Setch Posted April 12, 2006 Report Posted April 12, 2006 I was always led to believe that a thicknesser had feedrollers which bear down on the piece being machined, and this means that a warped piece will be forced flat as it goes through, thus emerging evenly thicknessed but not necessarily flat. Still, I'm not sure what they plan to use those bits for - based on thickness it must be fretboards, but it seems wierd to bother thicknessing them like that, rather than jointing one side and then sending them through a radiusing shaper. Quote
fryovanni Posted April 13, 2006 Report Posted April 13, 2006 I was always led to believe that a thicknesser had feedrollers which bear down on the piece being machined, and this means that a warped piece will be forced flat as it goes through, thus emerging evenly thicknessed but not necessarily flat. Still, I'm not sure what they plan to use those bits for - based on thickness it must be fretboards, but it seems wierd to bother thicknessing them like that, rather than jointing one side and then sending them through a radiusing shaper. They do have feed rollers that apply a bit of pressure(not usually enough to flatten a board of any real thickness). It is not a good tool for taking out a warp in a board unless the table is large enough to keep the board runnunig even, and after one side has a flat surface turn it over(can take a lot of wood). I amjust yapping though. I am waiting for the movie to download and I can watch it). Peace,Rich Quote
Setch Posted April 13, 2006 Report Posted April 13, 2006 Oh, make no mistake - I'm just yapping too The board in question is pretty thin - 3/8" maximim from the look of things. I know a planer won't get things flat, it'll just equalise their thickness - so if you want a flat piece you need to plane or joint one face first. Of course, this is mostly just conjecture on my part, my pokey 1 car garage has no space for luxuries like planers, hence the masterpiece of inellegance that is my router thicknesser Quote
egdeltar Posted April 13, 2006 Report Posted April 13, 2006 I saw nothing in that video that I feel is good..at all. No quality at all, just rush rush rush. No thanks.. Quote
bigdguitars Posted April 13, 2006 Report Posted April 13, 2006 even though I have my monster router I would still love to have that 4 head cnc... Imagine opening your one car garage to find that.... lol Quote
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