Pete Howlett
Well-known member
With the departure of my assistant back to germany I had to make plans and one of them was conquering my battles with CNCand CAD. After a really false start with a sub-standard machine I invested in a working tool which I have now successfully trained to make my pearl headstock logo. Given my eyesight, lack of dexterity and muscle fatigue I couldn't pssibly execute this by hand...
What I love about this is setting up the machine - about 5 minutes, switching on and coming back 2 hours latter to find 16 nicely cut logos waiting to be prized off their base.
Tip here if you are doing this... glue pearl to a substrate like MDF using Titebond but separated from it with a sheet of paper. When it comes to prizing off the pearl, flood the piece with water and in a minute the paper will be breaking down and you can remove the logo! Old wood-turning technique before the days of dovetail chucks.
Was a bit of trial and error working out the tolerances for dropping in the pearl but I got it in a few steps... Ebony plates are flawless. The leadwood has a tiny bit of 'ghosting' but you get this with rosewood.
Next up for my acoustic ukulele is pin bridges
What I love about this is setting up the machine - about 5 minutes, switching on and coming back 2 hours latter to find 16 nicely cut logos waiting to be prized off their base.
Tip here if you are doing this... glue pearl to a substrate like MDF using Titebond but separated from it with a sheet of paper. When it comes to prizing off the pearl, flood the piece with water and in a minute the paper will be breaking down and you can remove the logo! Old wood-turning technique before the days of dovetail chucks.
Was a bit of trial and error working out the tolerances for dropping in the pearl but I got it in a few steps... Ebony plates are flawless. The leadwood has a tiny bit of 'ghosting' but you get this with rosewood.
Next up for my acoustic ukulele is pin bridges