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Hey guys,

Just thought I'd share my latest project.

A digitizing probe to use with Mach 3. I'll by using it mostly to reproduce pickguards and guitar necks.

I had a few customers lately that wanted to have custom pickguards done, but only had a hand sketch or a piece of poorly cut mdf with the final contour. So I decided to take the plunge and do a probe myself. I'll be able to digitize archtops and other cool stuff. But i'll be using it mostly for contours.

Done with a 3D printer, 80% fill-out. It's almost solid plastic, i was amazed at the quality.

Wadda ya think ?


[img]https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/3VerWs47I4W4Q_YEN-d3SOAGzUVghAnXNV2gA4PmLh4=w1075-h806-no[img]
[/img]https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/5BckFYYrm2KhJ-3nBEGoMrXFEqxI3PaGVkpzbOAD2r0=w1075-h806-no[/img]

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CNC is a tool, not cheating

Wow, that's really cool!

wow! cool!

Show more

I think it takes a lot of CAD work to get the data to be meaningful. You are certainly qualified.. keep us posted.

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Ken

Well...it can be challenging if you want to digitize a free-form shape, and reverse engineer the skin...

However, my plan is to use this to copy existing templates, and body contours. I had some requests for that. People that want a new pickguard with the same shape of an existing one.

I also had a request for a jazz archtop sitka top...the existing one is cracked, and the gentleman wants a new one exactly like the old one...So i'm gonna use the probe to scan the sections (curtate cycloids) and redo the top like this.

Here are a couple of more pics of the setup process. I need to figure out a way to correct a signal issue i'm having right now.

Any questions, fire away!

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CNC is a tool, not cheating

cool stuff. Seems to me if you are doing the retop thing and using CC to arch across, then you only need to scan the long arch.

Use that data with the perimeter outline to create the new cross arches. How many cross arches are you going to import into the CAD drawing?

Why are you using CC if you are copying an existing arching?

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Ken

Those are some very valid points you have there.

But from my experience, a guitar top that is re-engineered from a point cloud or even of scans of a cross sections, always show very acute imperfections.

I'm not even sure that the archtop in question has CC's as cross-sections.

But the gathering of data will be for reference only. Then, I can rebuild all the cross sections, with proper simetries and build the skin from those.

I have worked in the past with laser scan raw data for this kind of job, and it's really hard to get a smooth surface that will look like an actual guitar top...

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CNC is a tool, not cheating

Yep, sounds familiar...
I wonder what a perfect copy would look like from the data you get.
I see your point about correcting the imperfections though. Sinking from bridge pressure would need to be corrected back to where it was without bridge pressure etc...

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Ken

It works!!!

Next, calibration time and then we'll tackle the first part : a cracked L5 top that will be reverse engineered.

[youtube]http://youtu.be/ExCCPhrxZdc[/youtube]

[youtube]http://youtu.be/rzCXbhGFC_4[/youtube]

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CNC is a tool, not cheating

Here are a couple more videos... Any comments?


[youtube]http://youtu.be/xagPydivHCw[/youtube]

[youtube]http://youtu.be/G8_4pvsMRlA[/youtube]

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CNC is a tool, not cheating