Randy Zwitch Zwitch Guitars
Forum Replies Created
-
I had wondered this myself, whether it was worth the effort to perfectly notch the linings to make this work. Because frankly, the logic doesn’t really hold up…if the brace were to come unglued, wouldn’t it potentially be rattling inside, even if it were pinned down? 🤔
-
-
(Deleted, messed up the nesting of comments)
-
I have been / am in your position, and let me say this…just scrap the bodies, or use them for practice finishing. But certainly, I wouldn’t build them out as full guitars.
My rationale on this has evolved as I’ve realized that once I make a mistake that I consider fatal, I’ll just half-ass the remainder of the project. In your case, you had some blowout, and then you cut/glued a piece in that wasn’t so great, so now you’re two negatives in. Since it’s not a client project, you don’t have to continue torturing yourself (especially since it’s cherry/maple, not something crazy exotic)
-
I’ve never tried doug fir, but I have had this happen many times with darker/oily woods. My solution has been to use both lower temperatures and dry bending, and that has minimized the amount of this that I see. But also want to say that I’m a relative beginner, so we’re talking low tens-of-sides bent, so this might just be my anecdata
-
Looks like a great opportunity for those of us who aren’t so established. Don’t have anything now to showcase, but maybe later this year
-
“Hold my beer and watch this” — Every bad idea ever 😏
That’s a good point, hadn’t thought about the face side being plastic-y/non-stick. Ill report back when I find out (off the guitar first of course!)
-
> 1) For those of you that have both capabilities in your shops, which do you find more useful or more often used on a regular basis?
Without a doubt, the CNC is much more useful for building ELECTRIC guitars. For acoustic guitars, the CNC is pretty useful for making molds, fretboards, doing soundhole, inlays etc., but obviously doesn’t do anything towards bending the wood.
3D printing is great for making one-off little tools, clamps, etc. that would be helpful to have. But it’s absolutely not as useful as a CNC machine is.
> 2) How did you choose a cnc machine? Given the high cost and huge number of products in the marketplace the decision is a bit daunting.
I’ve owned two CNC machines: Shapeoko 4 XL and OneFinity Journeyman Pro. I upgrade from the Shapeoko because I kept finding myself running into the width limits of the machine (it is 17″x33″ IIRC).
The Journeyman Pro is 33×48″ cutting area (1/3 sheet of 4’x8′ plywood) which has been plenty for me. This machine is also much more robust, as it uses metal screws instead of belts, which leads to better rigidity when cutting into hardwoods.
> Given that the learning curve is steep, I am inclined to be partial to those products/software options that have an abundance of learning resources.
The learning curve isn’t as steep as you might imagine, until you get into 3D carving. Meaning, if you are making templates from plywood, you could pick that up very quickly. Once you get into CAD from a design standpoint (say, for carving guitar necks), then it does get a bit more complicated. I use Fusion 360, which does2D and 3D design and machine toolpaths, so it’s a great one-stop solution. If you were just making templates and such, the Shapeoko comes with free software that’s pretty good.
> If any product comes to mind, please share your thoughts.
My best advice is that you can’t go wrong with a Shapeoko Pro/Shapeoko 5 or a OneFinity machine. I’ve not personally used it, but Sienci Labs also seems pretty well regarded. The biggest thing upfront is get the biggest machine you can comfortably fit in your work space. Once you get some projects under your belt, you’ll start to see bigger projects…that’s why I ended up getting rid of my original machine, just wanted to do things slightly larger than I had. I learned a lot, but ultimately bought twice :/
You don’t need a dedicated spindle to start, you can use a trim router. Using a spindle just gives you nice-to-haves like automatic speed setting, quieter, and possibly larger bits.
I’ve written a lot already, but happen to continue answering questions as you work through your decision! Post budget, machines you are looking at or whatever and happy to share my experience
-
Possibly answering my own question…given my current drawing, there is 11.157″ from the f-hole point I chose to the end of the body. If you assume that’s the 14th fret, it implies a 26″ scale length (within 0.025″ tolerance). With 25.5 scale length, the f-hole should be about an 1/8″ different.
Surely that doesn’t matter?
-
I don’t have experience, but you might search on YouTube for Troglys Guitar Show. He’s known for taking apart guitars (mostly Gibson) and showing the guts
Here’s one for an SE with Narrowfield pickups, but unfortunately, you can’t read the number off the pots here (but, there could be other videos where you can)
https://youtu.be/w61QqNIk568?si=JWIrzDMZfeIiZvvP&t=220 (link is right to the timestamp where you can see)
-
Nice! I take it all the parts were there then?
-
This is helpful, but I’m not sure what my next step is. As far as I can tell, the neck is exactly where I want it from the pitch, string alignment and elevation. But I also have the .035” gap.
So not sure where I should target to close that gap without making everything else that is correct not be worse
-
Can you link to the file? I have a 3D printer and could use this jig, would be happy to print one for myself and if successful, print one for you also
-
Sure, I’m in no hurry
-
That’s a great point about the “happy accidents”, though I’ve never really managed to pull one of those off 🤣
> The cherry body with maple stringers is alright, but to me the maple was not oriented in an aesthetically pleasing fashion.
I missed this in the original post. Since there’s nothing wrong with this body, except that you wish the wood was different, maybe keep going with this one? If you really don’t like it, you could always paint it a solid color. But you can get to that point after you’ve done all your fabrication. If you mess up on that build, then nothing lost. But if you SUCCEED, I bet it will feel really good.
-
That’s definitely one of the “pro” points for finishing each build, making sure that you get practice in all areas. That’s one of the reasons I suggested keeping the build around to practice finishing.
But as for “when do you stop making mistakes?”, I don’t know. I still make plenty each build (I’m getting close to 15 started, fewer completed), I just try not to make the same ones over and over.
-
It’s not that a script is “better”, just a different workflow. Instead of having to start with the template, you’d have it as a menu item.
The real value is that it doesn’t just have to be about a fretboard. I created a separate tool that just puts various constants into a project without drawing anything. I do think generating all the molds for an acoustic might be the next thing I pursue, and if I seems valuable in my workflow then maybe it will be to others
-
That is great feedback, thank you! I’m definitely familiar with Austin’s work, I’ve learned a ton from him.
Ultimately, tedium reduction is definitely what I’m aiming at. Drawing guitars is fun (to me) and sometimes software, so this rabbit hole presented itself and now I need to figure out what to do with it (or stop and get back to work building 🤣)
-
Great find…it’s not the lawyer who lost it, just Fender for not pursuing it for 50 years!
I’m more interested in acoustics, so I’ll probably start at those classic body shapes
-
Great to meet you too!
-
> I cannot imagine coding all that Python; I am only just learning a bit about this programming language, so it’s all still very new to me.
I didn’t actually type all the lines, I’m using those newfangled “AI” tools. But that only works because I’m a former software engineer AND understand the CAD model, so I can easily verify the code correctness
As for your requests, I think we’re on the same page. I could have “S-type”, “T-type”, “Bolt-on bass” type of templates for sure. I do wonder at what point that gets me into trouble though 😂
-
You’re welcome, both machines really unlock new capabilities. Just need to be careful not to get sidetracked and forget to build guitars 😅
FWIW, I would’ve repurchased from Carbide3D had I not found the OneFinity on Facebook Marketplace. Great company, really focused on ease of use and support
-
My post might have given the wrong impression…I’m not waffling on the scale length, but really asking a more subtle question.
Given the mold I already have been designing against (J-200), I could approach the f-hole placement in two ways:
– I could take what I have shown as a screenshot (which seems aesthetically pleasing), make that intersection point where the bridge goes, then inferring a scale length
OR
– I could ignore my f-holes for the moment, pick a scale length, then place the f-holes at the bridge location
What I’m asking is whether it matters which way I choose? I’d have to imagine that we’re not talking a big shift either way, but given I’m drawing this out in CAD first, I figured I might as well ask
-
If you go to the model linked above, there is a PDF that highlights all the hardware needed
-
I wasn’t familiar with the loothalong, thanks! I *think* I have figured it out, first checking for mystery bumps/undercutting further and using sidewise flossing (we need better names for this!) on the purple tape side and base of the neck.
If I don’t get it in an hour or so, then I’ll jump into the loothalong. Thanks Ian and Pete for putting some ideas out there for me to think about 🙂
-
I don’t think the other two did make it into the repository, but in my case, once I have the support in place I can imagine how those template pieces should work.
If I model them myself, I’ll share them here
-
@jmstewartguitars This looks like a pretty trivial print, so I’ll try and build it this week and post back. If it’s an obvious success, I’ll print the parts for you also. It won’t be expensive, the design doesn’t use much filament
Social Media