I've started a CNC revolution

[Michael Thames]

I bought a Shapeoko as some of you may know. I've progressed pretty well on it producing everything I wanted to do so far, with the help of Mick Simon here in Santa Fe, and Eric one of Mick's VCarve students, as well as Will at Shapeoko customer support, and John at PreciseBits.

I have been posting my projects on my YouTube channel as well as my Facebook. My facebook has lots of classical guitar makers. There is a huge difference between classical guitar and steel string guitar. In the steel String and electric guitar universe a CNC is widely accepted if not a must have, however the classical guitar world is far more old school and traditional, and CNC use is rather suspect. It looks as though this is all about to change.

I've seemed to spark an interest in CNC use for classical guitar. My motto is "resistance is futile" .... ha ha!

In the last month I've had 6 guys tell me they are going to buy a CNC, and two guys wrote me this morning in Europe asking my advice on what machine to buy.

They all want the Shapeoko, but Perhaps Will can tell me if they have dealers in Europe. If not, what equivalent CNC can people recommend in Europe. The VAT import duties and shipping make the price of a Shapeoko prohibitive, unless there are dealers there.

So what does the collective recommend for under $3000?

[Michael Thames]

Thanks Will, I've coped your response to my friend across the pond!

[Jim Becker]

Michael, I see no reason why makers cannot benefit from using the CNC to do certain tasks that are repetitive, like those you have chosen to do, since that provides more time for the remaining hands-on craftsmanship as well as a significant increase in consistency. The CNC doesn't take anything away from the process, IMHO, and the maker still has the responsibility to develop the tone and quality of the instrument. It's good that a maker of your level of expertise is leading the charge. For your peers, it validates something that may have crossed their minds, but they didn't feel comfortable enough to execute on it until seeing your results. Those those who are "coming up", it will validate that it's a legitimate tool for the kind of instruments in question.

I will add one small caution relative to choosing a CNC machine. There is an increasing set of smaller, inexpensive machines that are available on the market because of the great increase in hobby market interest in CNC. For professional work like this, your maker friends should be sure to select a machine that has enough stiffness to be accurate. Shapeoko is pretty good in that respect for the money, but some of its "peers" are not likely a good choice. More machine is better than not enough machine, IMHO.