HuntinDoug

I was unaware of that...I'll have to take a look at that, and give it a try....Looks like you are Yoda

(In my best Obi-Wan voice) Trust your feelings Brett... Be one with your machine But seriously... Often times for me it comes down to my "gut feeling". Back when I was running a Prto-Trak milling machine, I never could get used to increasing my feed when the part began to chatter. It just didnt make sense...but it worked. Climb cutting gets a much better finish. With woods there are so many variables: tool dia, speed & feed rates, wood species, grain orientation, setp down, step over, etc.. When you factor in Zed flex, then all other variables are out the window. All it takes is for the bit to grab one time to cause you to have to change your shorts, and spook you into permanent conventional milling. The biggest problem I find when climb cutting on a machine that has Z flex is that even if you are only taking a .015" cut, it is a full height cut.

I always separate the individual shapes instead of having a single "model". In the case of a humbucker rout, I do the main body as one 2D area clearance, then I do the two deeper areas as another. In ArtCAM you can group them together in one toolpath (along with other parts). The downside is it takes a little longer to setup, and there is some overlap in machining. But, I find it gives you better control over the features.

All good advice from Mike I'll give a hearty "Amen" to the Mach3 suggestion. I've never used anything else, so I'm a bit bias. My question is: how much Z flex are you dealing with? These small entry level machines often have so much that it can be dangerous to climb cut.

Love it! I've wanted to do a steampunk build for some time now.

Wow!

Nice!... Love the neck lams as always. Do you have a surplus of Padauk?

Man...Bummer! The album "Montrose" was the second record I ever bought. I loved that whole album. I always wanted to see him team up with Ronnie James Dio. Call the band "R&R". What can I say, some people have fantasy football. I have "Fantasy Rock Band" RIP Ronnie

Now that is cool!

Good choice! I have a set, and I buy all my cutters from there.

Since we're throwing quotes out there, here is one I take very seriously: "Most men lead lives of quiet desperation and go to the grave with the song still in them." Henry David Thoreau I'm both a technical, and an artistic person. I've worked for "the Man" on and off most of my adult life. My work experiences include (in order): Restaurant work, factory work, machinist/toolmaker, sales rep, office "pee-on". In between, and during those I have worked for myself both full time, and part time. In every full time job I felt my ability/creativity was "stifled". I worked alongside many people who lead a defeated work life...It's sad really. IMHO, I would rather try & fail continuously than to reach old age with regret of never making an attempt to achieve my goals/dreams.

Some species of pearl are more translucent than others. You dont have to worry so much with abalone. If you use a black epoxy, or black CA glue on a lighter color like white, it can effect the luster if it gets too thin, or if you are doing a scrimshaw. My opinion is: the thicker, the better...especially on a radius. I was ordering from DePaule until he moved. Now, everything I order comes in with fishers & cracks. So, now I order all of my inlay materials from JoAnn at Rescue Pearl. I can call her to see what she has in stock that's not listed on the website. You can get a really nice set of .060" Paua for $45+ shipping...sometimes less. Last week I ordered 2 sets of a hard to find color in .080" thick...really nice stuff at a good price.

I cadded this out. In a "perfect" scenario on a 12" radius board, with a block set that is .050" thick, your 21st fret block you will have .032" of thickness left on the edges after sanding. Personally, I dont like using inlay that is thinner than .060" on a 12" board. If you havent ordered from StuMac yet, I would look elsewhere for a thicker set. I'm sure you can find a .060" set for less $$.

Well put! I would add: Be willing to sell your "toys" to fund the necessary tools. This includes your favorite guitar...I know, that hurts, but you pursue is only worth what you are willing to put into it. Be willing to spend the extra cash on quality tools. The tool acquisition process never, ever ends. Be willing to scrap any "sub par" guitar at any stage of the build process. I think most of us who do this full time have been there. Don't under estimate the satisfaction of bringing your vision to fruition. Don't let anytone tell you "you can't do this". Dont expect to get rich...

Ooops...take that back. It does work

I'm really surprised that this PC shows very little signs of use. The icing on the cake is the 3.5" floppy Even though it doesnt work. I've got Mach3 loaded, and the power savings & screen saver disabled. I won't have this PC connected to the internet, so I'm not going to set up watchdog. I'll most likely get another gig of ram for good measure. I already have a pci 25 pin card for the closed loop. I ordered a Gecko G540, and 3 300oz/in stepper motors yesterday...so I'm getting there.

I stumbled on this looking for parts for my CNC. It came in today. Works great so far. You just cant beat the price! I'm half tempted to order a second one. Directron PC Ooops...80 GB HDD

I've recorded a video...but I'm not happy with it. I'll try to get a new one going when I get back from Cozumel

Welcome to the forum One suggestion I have is to invest in a few more clamps. On a glueup like that, I use about 18 C-clamps. And remember...The one who dies with the most clamps wins

My nose is itching just looking at all that ebony dust

When I first got started, I spent waaay to much time doing the "trial & error" thing. Like I've said before...I wish I had someone to bounce ideas off of. Shoot me a PM, I'll get you my phone # Feel free to call me if you need to pick what is left of my brain

Speeds & feeds are a pain! I watched burning embers come off of mine once Usually its from going too slow, or a dull bit. I have multiple fire extinguishers in my shop. It can get frustrating "wasting" time in front of the computer, when you could already have a neck done by hand in the same amount of time. I spent almost 2 years (and a lot of wood) figuring out the best way to approach my CNC'd necks. Half of that time was spent trying to get the 3D model the way I wanted it. The rest of the time was experimenting with machining operations. In my case I found it's best to leave a small amount of "sanding stock"...usually .010" to .020". Smaller CNC seem to have a certain amount of deflection due to their size, which may be why yours is off a few thou. What I settled on was laminated necks with no scarf joint...which can be a selling point. The Jackson CS charges extra for no scarf. And, I find they are very stable. I make my blanks 3" x 36" which yields 2 necks. It comes out to less than 1.5 BF per neck. If I didnt have a 13 degree angle on the headtstock, life would be much easier, and I would use less wood. As far as the number of actual operations... I havent counted. I do them in batches of 12, so all of the roughing is more of a production. When I schedule a build, I pull from the roughed in stock, slap it on the CNC, and hit "start". It actually helps to do the TR channel before the CNC. Get some .250" x 1" ground dowel pins from Granger. Pop three .248" dia. location holes about 3/4" deep in your spoil board that are centered in your neck model. Then, use the tr channel to seat on the pins when you machine the neck profile. It will keep the blank centered on the TR channel...."Pins are our Friends" Here is a recent video I did of the process: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7eUKrZsASQc&feature=g-upl&context=G2740dccAUAAAAAAAAAA

I have one, but I'm not sure how accurate it is. And, it's not a complete drawing...just the body. I think it's closer to a 67'. PM me if you want it...

I order my bits from here: precisebits

Cool build I have worked with this type of material in the past when I worked in a countertop fabrication plant. We didn't use paperstone, but I'm familiar with it. It is basically phenolic resin and thin sheets of paper compressed at high pressure. Commercial laminates (Formica, Wilsonart, Pionite..etc) are a thin version of this material. The only way I know of to get it to adhere to another surface long term is contact adhesive, which would most likely effect the tone. Epoxy may work...never tried it. Phenolic material is very dense. It will dull tooling very quickly. I would look into a "rail" type fret stock similar to what is on a chapman stick.