CNC router for ukuleles?

What about a machine-carved archtop?

Skrik said:

What about a machine-carved archtop?

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Yeah, that's a perfect example of another use for it.

It's how Bill Collings does i!

I'm woking with a guy very local to me on fingerboards and headstock inlays. I'll let you know how it goes...

I have 2 CNC router's on standby.....but can't find a job for them on uke's..Router and template is so much quicker..maybe if i was doing complicated inlay stuff the CNC machine would come in handy..As for "neck carving" you are talking 3D programing stuff... and that sort of software ain't cheap...and you have to do the programing as well...or pay someone to do it...and it isn't as fast as you think ( unless you use the "really fast" top of the range machines)..it takes ages to get a good finish to the job ..and if you go too fast and start losing steps in the process the whole job is scrapped...and when it is done it's still rough and needs sanding and all that..have a look at these demos....if you are a big manufacturer and you can afford to make 10 at a time this way..then this is the way to go.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hfrlwiok9Is&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DKaxizFajKg&feature=related

Timbuck said:

I have 2 CNC router's on standby.....but can't find a job for them on uke's..Router and template is so much quicker..maybe if i was doing complicated inlay stuff the CNC machine would come in handy..As for "neck carving" you are talking 3D programing stuff... and that sort of software ain't cheap...

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You can see a few of my 3D models here: http://mattclara.com/models3D.html
The chess set came out particularly nice.
I appreciate all your comments, but the one I'm looking at costs less than a fancy computer, and prices are only going to come down. I kind of see it as the future of woodworking. Sort of like the way computers and inkjet printers have proven to be the future of photographic printing, specifically dark room work (I still have a dark room, though I don't use it much these days). Sure, you can still do it the old fashioned way, knocking each image out, one at a time, with variances between each one, and no guarantee for success for any of them, or you can get it right in Photoshop (and like any skill, that's easier said than done) and then print as many as you'd like, one after the other, or go large format and print a boat load, and then cut them out.

Imagine a few angels (or devils) on the upper bout:
(only not so deep!).
Or how about a nice sound hole carving, like one of the circles out of this one:
.
You can't tell me that wouldn't be cool--it would be! People would be tripping over themselves to be the first to own one. If they sounded good, that is (and didn't cost too much).

editor's note: those images are from the CarveWright website. Not to be construed as an endorsement of the CarveWright, they just have the best gallery of carvings to look at.

yeah, if you got the skill like matt...CNC may be the bomb-diggidy way to go. When it comes to computers and programming, I max out on a Speak-n-Spell

Good grief, I'm still looking to get a table saw, drum sander and a band saw that can resaw greater than 5 inches!!!

However, I do have autocad and soildworks sitting on my laptop doing nothing....

I have a mandolin made by a young luthier in Canada who insists that handmade means every tool is guided by a human hand. No CNC. He believes that each piece of tonewood is different, and duplicarver machines can't take those variations into account. I can't say I disagree with him. If CNC is the future of woodworking other than in a high volume production context, it will be a giant step backward IMHO.

Human input will always be necessary, but I jump at any chance to use technology to make a process more efficient or consistent. The biggest hangup with most ukulele related CNC work is the 3D programming and debugging the cutting paths. A lot of people see a CNC as a magic duplication machine, but it takes a lot of experience to set up right. Seems like you already have experience in the field. I'm interested in what you can do.

I'm interested in a CNC for roughing out our necks in house, but I'm more interested in the possibilities with using it to help me build machine accurate new jigs and fixtures. If we bought it only to make necks, the machine would never pay for itself. I could pay two people full time to shape necks by hand for less. Like any other tool, a CNC is just a machine. It can be a great one if you know how to use it, or it can be a $50,000 neck making machine.

Here's a company that uses CNC for guitar sound holes.
http://www.lutehole.com/

I work in a school so am fortunate in having access to CNC routing machinery, I've also been working in CAD/CAM, on and off, for about 30 years. I've learnt many tricks and techniques for getting these machines to do just what I want, based on traditional woodworking methods, the biggest drawback I find is that they see each workpiece as just a lump of material. As far as the machine is concerned it might as well be cutting acrylic, alluminium, mdf or wax. It can't possibly take into account any of the natural features of wood, that's where the programming tricks and dodges come into play.

Having said that, I use a CNC router quite extensively in my Uke making. In fact, if I didn't have access to one I wouldn't of made anything like the number of different ukes I have.

Here's one where the router was used for almost everything except the neck carving.



The body and neck were profiled as one, the 'sound holes' cut then the blank was reversed to produce the cut-outs in the back forthe electronics. The fretboard was thicknessed, profiled and had the fret positions marked along with the holes cut for the dots. The headstock and bridge were carved and the back coverplate cut and engraved, all on the router.

There are lots of uses for them when building 'conventional' ukes too. They can thickness perfectly flat, cut the recess and inlay for soundhole decoration, mark the fret positions, etc. The one thing I would never use one for is carving the neck. They simply can't do it as well as a spokeshave. To get a smooth finish on a 3D curved shape means making hundreds of passes a few thou. apart. This means a huge file size and excessive machining time, even then a CNC machine cannot possibly contend with variations in grain direction. Besides, I love using a spokeshave, it's my favourite hand tool.

My next project is going to be carving an arch-top. This means getting to grips with some fairly complex 3D drawing. This software is fine with straight lines and fixed radius curves, but when it comes to smooth, flowing 'organic' surfaces, it's a totally different ball game.

I'll let you know how I get on.

Clifford.

Paul has it right. You have to use CNC with intelligent care. What is very notable is that Taylor guitars use a very sophisticated non-CNC set-up for the neck profiling - and it shows! I am exploring CNC methods for making fingerboards so I can inlay a white line to the edge, and recreate the tree of life used on Larson models for my harp ukulele. Stuff I couldn't contemplate by hand. I am also having head plate logos made - repetition jobs that machine accuracy can answer for me. However, the rest is hand building and may I say it, apart from soprano ukulele, hand bending. Yet I do not subscribe to hand building is best - I profile most of my neck using router templates and carve the shape by hand. I'd like to have my uklectic components made using CNC but when I discussed it with my man and he saw my setup his comment was - seems to me you have got it sorted.

mzuch said:

I have a mandolin made by a young luthier in Canada who insists that handmade means every tool is guided by a human hand. No CNC. He believes that each piece of tonewood is different, and duplicarver machines can't take those variations into account. I can't say I disagree with him. If CNC is the future of woodworking other than in a high volume production context, it will be a giant step backward IMHO.

Click to expand...

Yeah, that's what they said about computers and ink jet printers.

That's good info, Clifford--thanks.

I don't think there is anything more beautiful than an instrument created completely by the human hand but, I do see a need even in my own shop to help speed up production.
I like the little flaws left from a hand

Diy cnc ?

Just remembered these sites I found last year when researching for a student's project.

http://www.instructables.com/id/CNC/

http://www.solsylva.com/

http://www.cnczone.com/

Food for thought eh?

Here's the one I use. It's about 30K US. I can save "ready files" in the machine itself. The hold down system is a vacuum that sucks through the MDF table.

I haven't thought of using it for ukes since patterns seem to be faster. I have used it for tele bodies, and necks.
Here is a snapshot of the ready files (made in Toolpath.)