mistermikev

ok, I guess I know less about cam then I thought! did not realize I need cam, then mach3. so... looking again at the machines... if I go down to the one that is 3 axis they have a parallel port instead of usb... now they give you a para to usb cable... but I suspect direct usb interface would be better future proofing. so... is there any reason I want to avoid 4th axis if A) only going to save me $60 and B ) going to be a parallel port instead of usb? also... it sounds like then - any cam software should work with any cnc... but the controller software ie mach3 is going to specific to how the machine is built?

well... I said cad there but meant cam. mach3 is cam right? sorry, still figuring things out. there are still a few foggy things for me but the one thing I get is that cad is the part where you virtualize your model. many of the things you said after that are still above me a bit... but I understand you build the model in cad, then toolpaths in cam. g code, if I understand it... is a bit like machine instruction. you write programs using things similar to verbiage... but then that is ultimately compiled into simple instructions that are the equiv of g-code. sort of a list of coordinates in series. so... it sounds like I don't need the 4-axis... but is there any potential future benefit? is there any drawback to having it? to get to the bigger spindle and ball screws on all axis I have to spend a grand... so another $60 for the 4th axis. still don't really understand how it works... in laymen terms... it changes the angle of the bit so it leaves less tool lines?

thank you for the response. You've answered a question I had that was afraid to ask and go beyond my question limit (pretty sure I owe several beers already). So... I don't understand how a 4th axis would impede ones ability to carve. In theory... if you just had a ton of passes on a neck... you could carve it no? It would be a bit more rough? I could live with that... but it's really only going to save me about $60. I don't get how it works. many good points you make. what got me going in this direction is the idea that the controller would likely need to be upgraded. and I was thinking... I wouldn't want to put money into a 4030 because its not big enough to do some of the stuff I need. So if I spend a bit more... and maybe it works 'ok' for now... it'd be a machine worth upgrading. you went a bit above me on that last part... but then brought it down to my level at the end. I appreciate that. I'm not really concerned about speed at all. not going to be cranking out anything... just more interested in cutting out the parts that I don't really enjoy. working with mdf - even with a mask on... drives my sinus up a wall. I'd like to ideally hook a vacuum to this and possibly put it inside a box. there are also some things I'd like to be able to do that are difficult... ie do a 20" radius that blends to a 30" radius. I could do that by making both radius by hand, then mounting them together, and using a number of bearings... but it'd be really nice to be able to do it on cnc. I'm glad to hear your feedback on controller. it might be that the guys over at cnczone are trying to go fast. I understand that is one of the benefit of upgrading the controller but I'd rather not ever have to do that as speed isn't going to be a goal. afa templates... well I figure that is 2d and as such that is going to be the majority of what I do at first... cause it's simple. perhaps down the road it'd be nice to carve a neck and match a specific profile... but it's going to be 6mo to 1yr before I'll have my head out of my arse enough to try that. from what I can see... for what I'm willing to spend... I don't see anything that'd suit my needs better than this. afa mach3... this one doesn't say but all the others come with trial version of mach3... so I'm guessing mach3? do these things only work with one version of cad? sorry... i have so many stupid questions - and you and micro have been champs about addressing them. don't know how I can ever thank you enough but I am thankful!!!!!

while I'm sure that would result in a fine looking guitar... I don't see how you'd get metallic in there. If I was trying to get that finish w/o a spray gun I guess I'd try to use auto paint. Just don't see that type of finish lending itself well to wipe on. The prob is the last coat of metallic has to be dead smooth... if you wetsand it at all it always has visible lines - (not sure if whitness lines applies here). No paint expert here... but that's my gut feeling on it anyway. looking fwd to build pics.

all quite over my head for now and haven't been following it... but I'm very thankful you shared! I have nothing intelligent to say... so thanks again!

yup, I got that... was just being funny. at a place where I worked we had a little joke code competition going on at one point... who could accomplish the most with just one line. in theory you can go on forever in some languages but in practice it gets harder and harder to not ruin the whole line with a mistake that you then can't pinpoint. good times!

actually looking at it... bringing back flashbacks of machine code. ewww! never wanted to remember that! bit translation - yuk!

was thinking... if it's anything like vb or bash shell - I'll just pipe my arguments into more arguments and write one big line (just kidding, hehe).

first off @MiKro I know you were working on a machine build and I feel guilty that I'm even considering spending near what you said you would be selling for... and I don't want to offend. I'm sure the machine I'm contemplating is not nearly as good... but I'm fairly convinced I need a machine that there are lots of resources/threads/semi-support online... and that has pushed me to consider the 6040 - please forgive. can anyone shed light: this week I have been trying to read up on cnczone about dif machines. from what I have read the 6040 machines are "much better built" (ball screws for all 3 axis, spindle that can do hardwood, and 5" x 15" x 25") so I am contemplating this one: https://www.ebay.com/itm/USB-4Axis-6040Z-CNC-Router-Engraving-Machine-Metal-Mill-Cutting-1-5KW-24000-rpm/392791430830 my expectations are fairly low. If it can cut all the templates I need for a build, do pcbs... I'll be thrilled. if I understand, the controller that comes with any of these models may be something I need to upgrade to a geko g540 at some point? @curtisa did you observe this with yours? I've started watching fusion 360 tutorials and have downloaded the free 1 yr version. I'd like to stay free for now... and did not like freecad bugs. I think I can use the free version of mach3 to run the machine and ensure it will work? free version will only execute 50 lines so I won't be able to do much? then another $175 to get a license? was hoping for a bit more guidance... are there any cliffs I'm about to go over?

saw a cool take on this once... where they headstock was extreme. they took a couple of the balls off of a used string... and put a set screw thru it with a small spacer under. the string was kept in the groove in the ball end of the string perfectly and didn't look like it would have much tension issues. Thought it was a pretty low tech but good solution and it even looked kind of cool. in case it helps.

I took a quick look at that... brilliant. the bit themselves as the pin - epic. One thing that kind of stood out - you commented your code! love it. For now... it's a lot of 'above my head' but the nice thing about this thread is it just became a bookmark because I'm certain I will go back and digest that line by line. thank you so much for sharing that with pg and rubbing my nose in it here. fantastic stuff. I really appreciate you guidance!~ THANK YOU!

thank you again for the reply. i was thinking that the typical body is say 13.5 x 19... if the 3040 translates to 15.75 x 11.81, and assuming that's ACTUAL work space... I could do a body template in two 13.5 x 9.5 pieces giving me approx 1" of slop on all edges. meaning bridge pickup|tremolo mount|butt of the guitar vs neck pickup|neck cavity|horns. If they sort of had a finger joint between them... again perhaps this is pie in the sky but at least in theory I could make a 2 piece template for say an sg body. fretboards - I imagine that would take a rock solid method of moving the workpiece away from the machine once the first cut is done. I can't imagine the kind of atttention to detail that would take. bravo.

thank you sir. a thousand thanks. that is a wealth of info and I very much appreciate it. I was leaning towards the 3040 just because I was thinking it might allow me to do 'half templates' of a guitar with hopes of joining them together. That might be 'pie in the sky'. it gives me great confidence to hear you say you started out on something similar. I'm fine with the idea of a 1/2 mdf template taking a while... I'm thinking perhaps if I could play with one I could get comfortable enough to make big templates and pay someone with a bigger/faster machine to run them. if I find I would use it a lot I think I can maybe convert this to lazer etch and buy something bigger. I just don't want to spend $3k w/o ever having tried it as it might be a big waste. a thousand thanks for your reply.

I guess those are slotted a bit already (there are one's that barely have an indent) - that said they don't look that deep and may need to be adjusted to follow the radius. you could easily nudge them one way or the other.

assuming this is accurate... looks like the bridge pickup potentially hits a 10nf which would drop some highs off of it... then direct to out jack. then both go to 3 possible dif caps and one 'off' position so depending on the values there I'm guessing it's a hi pass. that's the long way of saying 'yeah'.

I know it's some sort of passive treble/bass network... but I don't really know.

hehe, we was both headed to the sm place.

i'm sorry, in school I learned to read the first and last sentence and that is a hard habit to break!! yes you can do bass/mid/treb but passive version (no 9v battery) would suck tone something fierce. ie you will loose a lot of output. could be done but not adviseable. afa passive bass/treble... that's doable. not going to be as drastic as active but... this one is designed for guitar so you maybe want to put the caps in there temporarily and experiment... perhaps this is a better diagram for your purpose http://i605.photobucket.com/albums/tt137/pinkjimiphoton/twobuckers3waytrebbass_zpsca402e9d.png the active version requires a preamp. I'm going to assume you don't want to build yourself so then the options are: go look on alliedexpress or evilbay. here's one if you want cheap: https://www.ebay.com/itm/2-Band-Balance-Volume-EQ-Preamp-Circuit-Bass-Guitar-For-Active-Bass-Pickup/263714709470?hash=item3d669f1fde:g:JJ4AAOSwTbVbCQb7 really this preamp has a set number of knobs (no idea what they do) I'd assume it comes w a diagram to show the input wires and it may be designed for more than one pickup (ie with a blend knob).

lot of character in that wood. I like it. afa bridge width... not sure it matters much here because if you are using a TOM style bridge you'll have to cut the slots in it anyway... and I'm not sure you have many choices... further... if you are doing a TOM bridge you are going to need either a neck angle or a dif bridge. I would recommend you use a clamp to place the neck on the body... and then use a straight edge to bring the edge of the neck back to the bridge area. then draw on a potential low e and high g mark... and see how the string lines up against the neck. You could, of course, do this all in a graphical editor. I don't think I could guess the ideal width of bridge based on width of nut. it depends on the angle of the neck sides, the overhang on either side of the nut. Further... this might need to be influenced by the pickup poles. here's a good p bass diagram... can you follow this? if you have questions I'm happy to try and help and many more here will too... but basically - connect the dots. the cap is just a simple .05 cap. .047u is fine. you just need that... some wire, a jack and two 250k pots.

your welcome EDIT: I think in retrospect he may have meant "scarlet johansen" by scarjo... and not joe scarborough... an honest mistake

wait... so we have to date joe scarborough if we win? I'm mean, he's a handsome guy and all... and I'd be lucky to date him but... I'm so confused. Just give it to me straight: do I do or do I don't have to date joe scarborough?

so, if I may... goal: pcb, headstock template, ornamentals/inlay, pickup/control-cavity/neck-pocket template. budget: throw away $600 or less are any of these worth it... and if not is there any specific alternative you could recommend? 3040 - $565 https://www.amazon.com/VEVOR-Engraver-Engraving-Drilling-Cutter（3/dp/B08FQRZ4CJ/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?dchild=1&keywords=cnc+3040&qid=1601464106&sr=8-1-spons&psc=1&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUExWFRDTFJVQUYwME1UJmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwNTQxOTcwMUYwWEs4S0NMTDRNWCZlbmNyeXB0ZWRBZElkPUEwMTE4NDYyMlowR0E4TkVNVDNOViZ3aWRnZXROYW1lPXNwX2F0ZiZhY3Rpb249Y2xpY2tSZWRpcmVjdCZkb05vdExvZ0NsaWNrPXRydWU= 3018 - $250 https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07P6K9BL3/ref=crt_ewc_title_dp_2?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A1CJB5SYI9X4XC 9" x 14" x 2" - $450 https://www.whittlecnc.com/

I know that feeling and would say - trust your instincts. I think you could totally do it... but if it goes south it's "shoots and ladders". plus an all knob look is clean and cool!!

you could just go with a mini on/on/on spdt... very small https://www.stewmac.com/electronics/components-and-parts/switches/mini-toggle-switches.html?utm_source=google&utm_medium=shopping&utm_campaign=2020-09-gp&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI_5XYq6iP7AIVYB6tBh0yWAlUEAQYASABEgIjSfD_BwE if you do go rotary switch.. pretty simple... you need at least 2 poles and 3 throws ie 2p3t rotary. once you get the switch I'm happy to help or many others here can guide you but it's really easy. edit: in case you go mini switch... this diagram will come in handy later... just putting it here: and in case you go rotary...

got it... you change the shims between the jig and the board. or i spose if you had a jointer that had both in table adjust + out table adjust... you could just do that.