New User With Questions

[Imacman]

Hi I Am new here, i've just downloaded the software and i am just learning it. I am using a mac, and I am A graphic Designer with Extensive Illustrator & Photoshop BG (...lol Like thats gonna help...lol ) I am interested in using the Carvewright to build guitars and strumsticks...it seems to be perfect for my needs... I have a few easy ( for you guys ) questions.. I have designed a basic guitar shape and managed to import the jpg file... as I am playing around.. i get a message telling me that the selected bit is no good.. The boards I will be using are 13" wide 40"long and 2" thick... Can some one tell me, if I am going to be able to cut the basic guitar shapes ( elevtric guitars ) using the software & machine?... I am hoping that i can do the full 2D line art designes in Illustrator then import the jpg image... then simple apply the attributes to the diffrent edges, drill holes, carvings & routings etc? Am i expecting too much? is there anything else I should know?.. Any help is greatly appreciates...lol.. I can name a guitar Models after you if you can help?
Thansk in Advance
Imacman

[c6craig]

Welcome aboard!

LiquidGuitars is the resident forum expert on all things guitar and violin, so if he doesn't post in this thread, you can always PM him for questions.

Do a search for posts created by him and you will see some of his fantastic creations, and many helpful tips he has provided, such as sled creation and such specifically geared toward your use.

The only thing I'm not sure of is being able to do a cut path 2" deep, due to the limitations of the bit. But you may be using something else to do the cuts with, or LG may have a fancy trick up his sleeve.

Good luck, and I look forward to seeing some of your work posted here!

Craig

PS - Be forewarned...don't get discouraged when you see his work....it will truly render you speechless....

[jhatcher]

If you are making through cuts, it will fuss because it assumes that you are trying to cut 2 " with a bit, and the max cut is 1". I am assuming that you are selecting the bit to use.

If you want to carve something that thick, I would use the 1/8" cutting bit, maybe one from the rock chuck guy since his has 4 flutes, do a 1" cut, then mirror the pattern on the bottom of the board and do a 1" cut. One more thing is when you define your bit, make the max depth at the MOST .25 (I would do it at .125) it may take longer, but you save your bit.

Hope that helps.

Jeremy

[CarverJerry]

If you are interested in building guitars liquidguitars.com is a must, this guy can do some of the best work I've ever seen. I play guitar, have about 5 of them and some day want to scan one and see what I can do with it. With LG being in the guitar business don't get too bumed out if he doesn't share many of his tricks, but yes do go to his web page and see what he has for sale, not only guitars but some files as well.

[rjustice]

If you are making through cuts, it will fuss because it assumes that you are trying to cut 2 " with a bit, and the max cut is 1". I am assuming that you are selecting the bit to use.

If you want to carve something that thick, I would use the 1/8" cutting bit, maybe one from the rock chuck guy since his has 4 flutes, do a 1" cut, then mirror the pattern on the bottom of the board and do a 1" cut. One more thing is when you define your bit, make the max depth at the MOST .25 (I would do it at .125) it may take longer, but you save your bit.

Hope that helps.

Jeremy

Hi Imacman.... I am the "Rock chuck" guy that Jeremy speaks of. You can check out aftermarket parts for your machine on my website www.cw-parts.com . If you have interest, you can also search for "rock chuck" here on the forum to find lots of good info on my aftermarket chuck system, and bits.

Welcome aboard, and happy carving!

Ron

[Imacman]

Geeze Guys thanks to all!... it being my first post here, you never know what to expect...lol.. or even to expect a response.... but Is see this forum is indeed alive and well! Now I feel pretty good! I've just finished reading the posts you've gotten me off to a great start, If anyone needs any graphic work ( Illustrator/photoshop ) feel free to ask no charge I know both packages inside out and I am an Illustrator...I'm gonna have lots of questions, so it'll be a fair trade off. So just for clarification...

• 1 inch is the maximum cut depth.. and then i can flip the board over for the final cut through....is there any problem lining up the board so the cut from the back through would be properly registered?.. I'm sure there is a techqunique for this...or I could complete the cut with a band saw or jig.. then finish with a sander i guess. In regards to cutting thickness.. I guess where the specs say a maximum thickness of 5 inhes of wood... thru me off... but I see it is actually limited by the length of the bit.?

• Thanks for the heads up with the Guitar guru on here I'll check his site out now... I'm certainly not competition I don't plan on selling the guitars...just impressing people with them!...lol

• Finally it seems this is the right machine for the job...to be honest I'll be happy if I can use it to outline the basic shapes, and slots to rout out.. but it seems I will be able to do quite abit more once I get the hang of things.
Thanks again

Imac.... Newfoundland, Canada.

[dbfletcher]

Geeze Guys thanks to all!... it being my first post here, you never know what to expect...lol.. or even to expect a response.... but Is see this forum is indeed alive and well! Now I feel pretty good! I've just finished reading the posts you've gotten me off to a great start, If anyone needs any graphic work ( Illustrator/photoshop ) feel free to ask no charge I know both packages inside out and I am an Illustrator...I'm gonna have lots of questions, so it'll be a fair trade off. So just for clarification...

• 1 inch is the maximum cut depth.. and then i can flip the board over for the final cut through....is there any problem lining up the board so the cut from the back through would be properly registered?.. I'm sure there is a techqunique for this...or I could complete the cut with a band saw or jig.. then finish with a sander i guess. In regards to cutting thickness.. I guess where the specs say a maximum thickness of 5 inhes of wood... thru me off... but I see it is actually limited by the length of the bit.?

• Thanks for the heads up with the Guitar guru on here I'll check his site out now... I'm certainly not competition I don't plan on selling the guitars...just impressing people with them!...lol

• Finally it seems this is the right machine for the job...to be honest I'll be happy if I can use it to outline the basic shapes, and slots to rout out.. but it seems I will be able to do quite abit more once I get the hang of things.
Thanks again

Imac.... Newfoundland, Canada.

Since you are versed in Illustrator, you will definately want to search the forum on "ai2mpc". This is a dos program that will alow your to convert Illustrator 8 files to MPC vector elements. I see that you said you are on a Mac...so you will probably need a pc emulator to be able to use it.

Welcome to the forum!

Doug Fletcher

[TIMCOSBY]

doesnt give you a very good pattern. there are already some strat type patterns out there. do a search for strat and you may find them and welcome to the forum.

[Deolman]

I believe the depth of cut while carving is now limited to 7/8"-it is a limitation of the bit itself. The depth of cut-out is 1" - again a limitation of the bit. You can't arbitrarily put in a different bit - bits are tied to the software.

Regarding JPG files. JPG files when compressed, lose information, when imported into CW software there is (for lack of a better term,) noise the software tries to follow. Not good! The format of preference are PNG files. Lots of info when you do a search although you may have to use quotes to overcome some search restrictions.

[henry1]

Hi Imacman.... I am the "Rock chuck" guy that Jeremy speaks of. You can check out aftermarket parts for your machine on my website www.cw-parts.com . If you have interest, you can also search for "rock chuck" here on the forum to find lots of good info on my aftermarket chuck system, and bits.

Welcome aboard, and happy carving!

Ron

I back rjustice for his chuck once you see it run you will know why

[geocan]

I hope you can show us some of your guitars once you are done, I would love to see them. I am not an expert on carving out guitars but I would be carefull when carving the mirror image on both sides of your project, my concern would be to not go too deep as to weaken the portion which will be holding the two portions together. The risk you have is that if the cut path breaks away from the main panel, you will end up with your board in sections bouncing around inside the machine which will definitely damage something. Call me if you have any questions.

[mtylerfl]

...i get a message telling me that the selected bit is no good.. The boards I will be using are 13" wide 40"long and 2" thick... Can some one tell me, if I am going to be able to cut the basic guitar shapes ( elevtric guitars ) using the software & machine?...
Imacman

Hello,

A couple Tips & Tricks issues may help you with special cut out techniques...

ISSUE 23 August 2009 – Custom Tabs for Full-Depth Cut Outs (http://www.carvewright.com/downloads/tips/CarveWrightTips&Tricks_Aug09.pdf)

ISSUE 24 September 2009 – Two-Sided Carve Techniques (http://www.carvewright.com/downloads/tips/CarveWrightTips&Tricks_Sept09.pdf)