Acoustic guitar necks

Cutting out acoustic guitar neck blanks.


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Hey David,

Looks like the 1F did a nice job. A little less
labor intensive than a bandsaw, files, and sanding. lol

Nice work!

Neil

Thanks Neil. Took awhile to figure out the right bit, and depth of cut per pass. Started with 3/8" end mill going 3/8" deep and got way too much wobble. Ended up with a 1/2" end mill running at 24,000 rpm, 50 ipm, and 0.130" deep per pass.

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The 1F was rock solid for that deep cut.

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Nice to see the 1F can handle the deep cut!

What spindle do you have and are you happy with it?

Mark, I have a Huanyang 2.2kw 220v spindle and yes I like it. The vfd quit communicating with my controller so I have to turn the spindle on and adjust the speed manually but I can live with that. I’ll eventually upgrade to a Hitachi vfd. I originally had the Makita router but when I tried to cut mother of pearl for my logo I broke my .010 end mill (Precise Bits), too much run out. The Huanyang handles the MOP no problem, and it allows me to use a 1/2" bit to cut out the necks.

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Thanks, my machine is still on order. I plan on upgrading to a spindle. I sold my original CNC a while back (which I regret) due to health reasons but even though I am still dealing with health issues I can’t stand not having a cnc…. I had a 2.2 spindle and the machine was super robust. Though I am downsizing my machine, I think the 1F is going to be the best at this price range and am looking forward to it. Coming from the previous machine, I don’t think there is anything in the same build quality as the 1F; looking forward to it! I’m glad to hear that you are able to cut MOP without issue.

How hard was it to set up the spindle/VFD?

Thanks, Mark

Set up was easy. Youtube is your friend.

Would you mind linking to the specific spindle and hitachi VFD you was referring to? I plan on upgrading mine later this year.

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https://www.amazon.com/Huanyang-Spindle-Milling-24000RPM-Engraving/dp/B077BTW4NQ/ref=sr_1_6?crid=1S7B3XQQXW72C&keywords=huanyang%2B2.2kw%2B220v&qid=1643657293&sprefix=huany%2Caps%2C94&sr=8-6&th=1

Thanks. Much appreciated.

I have a Hitachi VFD as well - refer to this post when you’re setting it up:

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Hey all,

the Hitachi WJ200 is nearly identical to Omron MX2, see here.

I recommend it highly over Huanyang or other cheap VFDs, see here.

By the way it’s these VFDs that Mechatron uses in their Control Cabinets or that they sell in their spindle/VFD bundles


Further Reading

“Omron MX2” on Onefinitycnc Forum
“Hitachi WJ200” on Onefinitycnc Forum

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Hi, I’m new looking for a cnc to make guitars and guitar bodies.
How is your experience with the onefinity?

Hi Henrik, I’m happy with my Onefinity. It’s a solid machine. I did have to replace the recommended Makita router with 2.2 kw Huanyang spindle though. The Makita had too much runnout to cut mother of pearl for inlays without breaking a 0.010" bit. The new spindle also gives me the option of using 1/2" bits.

I mostly build acoustic guitars. Thus far I’ve used the Onefinity to cut braces, make bridges, cut wooden rosettes and their channel on guitar tops. It does a great job on fretboards both profiling and cutting fret slots. I’ve been making fretboards with a compound radius. I’ve also used it to cut and rough out one piece mahogany necks and cut truss rod slots.

As for electric guitars I have used the Onefinity to build a copy of a Melody Maker. I use it to cut out the body and then chamber it to reduce weight. I then cut out a 1/4" thick top, glue it to the body and cut out the control cavity and neck pocket. I also use it to rough out the neck and make the pickguard. Now that I have it all programmed I can put one of these together in a couple of days. The use of jigs or fixtures as they’re called in Fusion 360 and proper clamping are most important. I learned this the hard way with broken bits and ruined projects. Fusion 360 was a learning process.

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Here are some pics.

acoustic neck

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This is awesome, I am looking to build acoustics as a hobby, any chance you would be willing to share your files for acoustic necks? I am trying to learn all this CAD/CAM stuff, would be happy to compensate you for them :grin:


Violin neck. I have to work on blending the surfaces.

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