Classic 6 string
guitar, Flame Maple
top on Padauk neck
and body, finished
with gold
hardware.
including the control cavity, pick up
electronics and the neck aperture.
Special long reach solid carbide cutters
were designed and supplied to Organic
Guitars for this application. The
ballnose spiral was used for all outside
shaping work and the straight spiral for
the recesses.
The CNC is left for up to 8 hours to
complete all the machining operations
required. The small wooden ‘tabs’ are
left intact to hold the body in
place during the cutting process,
and are subsequently sawn off
when their purpose is served.
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Organic Guitars in Peterborough had an
interesting application for the Trend CNC
Smart. Now custom guitars are being
constructed using modern technology alongside
traditional methods.
Each custom guitar is initially designed
O
The CNC Smart
cutting and then
moulding the
outside shape.
ur CNC team over the years
have successfully installed
over 250 Smart CNCs in a
huge variety of different industries and
applications. A number have provided
solutions for the manufacturing of
complex items such as traditional gun
stocks and electric guitars.
using highly advanced bespoke software
to create a virtual model of the guitar
to be made. Measurements can then
be adjusted, and texture applied to
determine the guitars aesthetics. The
software can even predict which areas
of the body and neck will come under
higher levels of tension.
One prestigious installation was for
Duncan Wales at Organic Guitars who
have a very discerning customer base
requiring the highest quality in custom
electric and bass guitars.
The software then post processes the
drawing and creates the G Code files
for the Trend CNC Smart machine,
ensuring that every cut into the wood
is highly accurate.
by John Tigg
With the guitar shown above, the main
body was made from Padauk with a
book matched layer of Flame Maple
on the front face. Four holes are first
drilled and counterbored to fix the
blank on to the jig on the machine.
The back is skimmed using a large two
flute straight cutter. Two holes are
then bored for the engineers dowels
to act as index points to ensure that
both sides match up perfectly as