Great Guitar Build Off 2021 - Episode 2

[@Metalbass10000]

Congrats on your, so far, relatively successful efforts at following your ambition to develop your skills and knowledge of CNC machining techniques, and tooling, and how they apply to guitar and bass building. I've been playing guitar and bass for over 30 years, working on these beloved instruments since the day after I got my first guitar,. I've been building guitars and basses for about 25 years, though my current builds will be the first instruments built under the business my wife and I started recently. I graduated Phi Theta Kappa, Dean's List Highest Honors from a two year Machine Tool Technics degree program, and spent the next 12 years working my way up from CNC machine operator, through setups, supervising, programming, mold (mould 😉👉) making, tool, die, jig, and fixture, design and making, prototyping, advanced programming and process engineering technician, Manufacturing Process Engineer, to Manufacturing Process Engineering Department Manager, and then most recently adding to that Department Manager role the additional role of Production Department Manager (although they aren't paying me for both positions, that's for certain!),. I applaud you for pursuing your interests, and I will try to offer any little tips or insights, without going into a full-blown CNC course lecture. My wife and I are starting a KZbin channel to accompany the website where our instruments, components, parts, merch, etc can be purchased, and I will be including a lot of information demonstrations tutorials lessons q&A whatever people seem to be interested in ranging from where I started, hand tools, very basic, very old, and tools, through power tools, manual machining, up through very cutting edge technology CNC machining I will also offer more in-depth and process optimization focused information through probably something like patreon. We I already looking into developing application specific tooling, specifically designed for use on domestic and exotic hardwoods, figured hardwoods, highly embraces and or highly oily hardwoods, salted and burled hard work, and in addition, fixturing, work holding, jigs, inspection equipment,, because I really want to take my passion for music and musical instruments as well as the passion I have for manufacturing process and she needing and combine it all in a way that I can help people pursue their dreams their goals and be able to build incredible, beautiful and strengths are ridiculous looking hung some shit that make them happy, because if I can help people, as I am helping to provide for my wife and my children and build something that's I can feel good that will take care of them in the future, when I will consider myself truly blessed and very very fortunate. I noticed a few things in your setup, and your tooling, new programming, and your setup, and all of these things are topics that over time, with experience, and with learning opportunities, like what you'll find through youtube, and you're going to learn more than you can even imagine at this point. I can offer you one quick tip because my wife is calling me too help her out but once you have your fretboard where you wanted positioned on the neck you can take a very sharp, very small blade and make an extremely small vertical scribe line on the edge of the fretboard and on the neck, in close proximity and lined up with each other, and do this on each end of the fretboard and you will know for certain whether or not it has moved as soon as you look at it. You can use a pencil, but we pencil, even the finest pencil, is not as precise as a very fine blade. Also, if you describe the line shallow it can easily be sanded out, probably easier than erasing and sanding some pencil marks, and don't ask me how I know that, but it's a lesson I learned well. There are also locations on the front board and on the next surfaces where you can plan ahead to leave a millimeter to of extra stock to do your scribe lines in and out of the way place on the ends of the fretboard as well as on the side of the fretboard to know if the front door inside the side or end to. Okay my wife is now giving me that look so I'm going to go help my wonderful wife and I look forward to seeing you next video. Keep up the good work keep learning,

[@JohnClothier]

Thank you for the wonderful comment. I’ll look forward to seeing your content. Sounds a great idea for a business. Thanks for the tip with the blade!

[@mc-yt2rc]

looking good mr clothier!!! can't wait to see the rest of this!. The next has just uploaded, going to watch right now!

[@JohnClothier]

Thank you!

[@starcustomwoodworking9879]

Looking Good!! Glad to see I am not the only one using a CNC. You are spot on about it not being any easier. I think the benefit is in the long run you can reduce production time once you have your paths down, but there are a lot of testing to get there. Best of luck sir!!!

[@JohnClothier]

Thanks! Absolutely! Cnc to me is just another power tool to be used in combination with all my other tools. Yes they can make repetitive work quicker and more consistent

[@Metalbass10000]

Wow, I apologize for the extremely long-winded comments. It's so long I don't have time to read it tonight check for errors, as my phone has trouble translating English into English!

[@harrisonandrew]

John, I am absolutely loving that neck. Great design.

[@JohnClothier]

Thanks! Glad you like it.

[@MetalMike87]

Looks stunning already

[@JohnClothier]

Thank you!

[@stevenmaddock4237]

Look forward to more videos great 👍

[@JohnClothier]

Thank you!

[@fatpotanga]

Great work John. Really enjoying this build. Inlay is spot on. You also have a really great, easy presenting style. Looking forward to watching this progress

[@JohnClothier]

Thanks. Really appreciate that!

[@ChrisFranklyn]

Wow mate, you're really putting that CNC to good use! I wonder if you sanded upside down, moving the neck over the sanding block the aluminium dust would fall away? Obviously it would be harder to see what's going on...

[@JohnClothier]

Lol thanks! Yea that’s an idea. I wonder if the pressure from the sandpaper would push the dust into the grain anyway though. Could be worth an experiment

[@MikeEff]

I love the inlay!

[@JohnClothier]

Thank you! Far from perfect but I’m happy enough with it

[@donaldmackay6749]

As usual a superb job, John. Thanks for sharing.

[@JohnClothier]

Thanks! Glad you liked it

[@donaldmackay6749]

You know John, that using a CNC machine is not cheating. For the bulk of my business I do heirloom restorations. The rest of my business I mostly build bespoke boxes, jewelry boxes, urns and the like. The only reason I can keep up is through the judicious use of of my CNC. I tend to think of my CNC as the apprentice that I have never had. Back in the day the part of the apprentice journey was to so all of the busy work and get it ready for either the masters approval and in most cases the master puts the finishing touches. Not much difference in running a hybrid shop. For the bulk of the rough work my apprentice (CNC) does the work and I finish it.

[@JohnClothier]

That is a really interesting way of looking at it. The cnc is the apprentice! I love that! You get a lot of people that think a cnc is cheating but I think it’s just another tool to be used. Like any tool, it has taken a lot of learning to get to where I am and I am only just able to make things. A lot more learning to do

[@anuallaf]

Nice design and great narration. Keep it up 👍

[@JohnClothier]

Thanks!

[@steveroberts]

Nice work John

[@JohnClothier]

Thanks!

[@Adventuresfromtheshedofdreams]

Looking good John, the fretboard will look great when finished :)

[@JohnClothier]

Thanks! I hope so or I’ll have wasted a great piece of wood lol.

[@corradomontoneri4904]

Great job, what size & type of cutter do you do the fret slots with?

[@JohnClothier]

Thanks! Its a 0.6mm cutter I got from amazon

[@blackchaman2011]

Hello John, I'm really enjoying your videos. Great build so far! I use the same thicknesser as you do, but I have an issue with snape. Would you happen to know how to eliminate or reduce that on the Triton? As I can see from your videos, you don't seem to have the same issue, do you?

[@JohnClothier]

Thank you! I’m far from an expert so not sure why it should be different. I do have snipe with it as I think everyone does with this style of machine. I jus work around it

[@blackchaman2011]

@@JohnClothier I of course meant snipe :D Dunno what I had in mind at the moment of typing, probably Hogwarts :D Thank you for your response. I also work around it using waste pieces of wood before and after the piece, but I just wondered if there existed a fix or setting on the machine itself. Keep up the good job ;)

[@JoePalumbo221]

Looks great.

[@JohnClothier]

Thanks

[@ianb4801]

interesting Al "rod" used for those dots. It seems like Al tube to me

[@JohnClothier]

You are right it is a tube and not a solid. My apologies if this upsets you and you are unable to look past this simple slip of the tongue. Have you tried learning a new skill and videoing it at the same time? If so perhaps you would be so kind as to share it so that I could learn from it.

[@EricJanOud]

If you're using V-Carve, then why not use a V-carve inlay? V-Carved inlays are way more acurate than straight inlays, and can have "no radius" sharp points. Doing so on a curved surface might be a challenge, though - haven't tried that myself yet. And it will not be 100% true to the original vectors. But I think the relatively small Z deviation will make that pretty much unnoticable. Maybe worth a test piece?

[@JohnClothier]

That is exactly what I plan to try in the future. As you say, it’s the curved surface that could prove an issue. Combine that with the thinness of mayn’t only 1 or 2 mm in places. I thought I’d start here and work up. Definitely worth playing with for sure.

[@cubfanmike]

Gibson co. says a guitar is upright in a stand, headstock at top. In this position, your inlaid queen looks to the left; however, in playing position, she is on her back. As an American, I approve but is it as 'British' as your accent?

[@JohnClothier]

Lol it’s a good point. I did think about orientation but decided better to be facing the queen when playing rather than her looking at the floor.

[@glennlilley8608]

Cnc? Please don't! The inlays look ok But! Well y'know?

[@JohnClothier]

Sorry not sure what you mean. Thanks for commenting.

[@glennlilley8608]

@@JohnClothier I guess I'm just not a fan of Cnc Not to take anything away from the process you understand, it's just a personal preference

[@JohnClothier]

Fair enough. To me it’s just like having an apprentice in the workshop that I can ask to do some of the routing work for me lol