Inlays Made Easy (Spoiler: Lasers. But You Should Watch Anyway)

Here are a couple CAD/CAM tips to help you add your client's art to your their build.
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be good,
Tim

[@heymrguitarman7637]

I wish I knew someone called 'Danny Super-Cool Dude'. What a name 🤣

[@timsway]

His middle name is "Ima"

[@maxrufusschepelernkarrebk8980]

The figure on the headstock veneer is great, but the ray fleck is amazing!! Great video:)

[@jamesh5460]

Embrace the technology! This is awesome!

[@floydlay9189]

Tim,,hat's off for progress,,great content!

[@GregsGarage]

I love the way you’ve embraced you digital gear... it’s adds value in places rather than replacing the handmade quality of your projects.

[@timsway]

Exactly. I thi k that's the key (and what is often missed in the cnc/woodworking debate. It's not replacing skills, it's adding new skills.

[@JasonPeltier]

That bounding box trick is awesome! Thanks for that idea.

[@guitfidle]

Oh yeah, I really like the black outline too

[@juanziegler1471]

Not here often, sry ,But learn something every time , This was impressive !!

[@chickenlickin3820]

your a good guy keep up the good work.

[@hartleyshandcrafted]

im starting a career in lutherie and ive been highly considering a laser machine for my first tool. custom inlays and even just cutting the guitar body into a piece of art in itself right off the bat? cant beat that.

[@RichardMartin]

I’m a bit of an ignoramus when it comes to digital making but lasers are always cool, and anything that helps you speed up the making process can only be a good thing. I can only imagine how long that would take to cut by hand, and how many you’d need to do to get the perfect one.

[@timsway]

right? It's totally possible to do all that with an exacto knife and it'd probably take an hour or two and be fun and relaxing - not the end of the world. But those hours add up over time in a work setting.

[@jimmylewis7896]

Love it

[@z4zuse]

Have you considered glueing all pieces in one go, by keeping the small pieces in place using blue tape?

[@timsway]

This onlay was simple enough to not bother and risk little bits of tape glued in the cracks, but yes, good tip to share : dry fit and tape over the surface of it and you can glue it all down at once.

[@ecalzo]

i am really happy if you will compete with big business man.. well done .. hi from italy

[@timsway]

with pleasure! :)

[@davebauerart]

Really good info and the horseshoe crab inlay looks cool!

[@negotiableaffections]

Facinating viewing Tim. As a small scale maker I've always found that, cost wise, I've always been chasing the 'big guys' where 'fancy' new tech is concerned. It can be tricky to stay competetive even tho' many desk top machines, lasers, 3d printers etc are now competitively priced. We can definitely become 'more' competitive by adding new tech but I think we're still working under the 'indivdual', 'unique' or 'one-off' type banner and that usual means less than competitive prices. We don't do what we do just to corner a market, thank god.

[@timsway]

indeed. There is a sweet spot between "mass produced by robots" and "handmade the old fashioned way" that people like us can live and thrive in.

[@cradd00]

That’s a great tip with the 5x5 bounding box. I’m always trying to figure out sizing when transferring art from one program to another. Also, when you created the slightly bigger design for the headstock why did you not use the offset option in your vectric software? That feature really makes it simple!

[@timsway]

I didn't get in to it in this video, but in this case, the offset feature made the sharply pointed ends of the crab rounded over slightly. That feature is designed to "surround" the existing art or fit inside it. I could have gone through and manually fixed each one OR I could have made my art slightly larger and used the offset tool in reverse to make a slightly smaller copy, but in this case it was easier and worked better to simply blow it up a half a percent. That's one of the things I find most fascinating about complex software like this: for every user there's another way of doing things and navigating it really does become more like an art form then following steps or directions. Like an artist pushes the same paint brush differerent ways to achieve different looks.

[@cradd00]

@@timsway that makes sense. I would’ve never even thought of doing it like you did, but with that explanation I understand. I’ve come across this issue myself, next time I’ll try your method.👍

[@timsway]

@@cradd00 theres so much to learn. I understand about 20% of what that software can do. You probably do, too, but a different 20%!! Lol. That's why we share tips ;)

[@BadChizzle]

So sweet looking! Great job!! 💫

[@ruftime]

Thanks Tim! I use Lightburn for my C02 laser, continuously improved software and great community/help forum❤️

[@timsway]

Yea, I started using lightburn about a year ago and like it a lot.

[@Brownstone31]

Love the bounding box idea. I’ve even had the professional guys mess up the scale from time to time. It happens.

[@timsway]

does that mean you are you calling me unprofessional? :)

[@JoePalumbo221]

I have been wanting to dab a little in those types of inlays with my laser that is siting in my shop collecting dust. Lol. Now I'm inspired. Thx

[@timsway]

in case you didn't know "HollowCoreDoorsAreTheNewPallet" and a great, free source of thin wood to start practicing and learning :)

[@JoePalumbo221]

@@timsway That's great because my house is full of them. Lol.

[@johnlemus7921]

Hey Tim, hope you are well. This was another great video. As soon as you mentioned Fossils I got a picture of a guitar body that was carved out like an Excavation Dig. Or one that looked like half of a T-Rex Skull. Those would look super cool.

[@timsway]

fun idea. we discussed "layering an edge of the guitar like a stepped, archaeological dig, exposing fossils inside, but decided against that in the end for this build.

[@deanc6539]

The Lightburn software you are using will allow you to adjust the kerf so you don't have to resize the shape. Naturally, there's a KZbin video tutorial. It's called "kerf offset" under the cutting settings. It might save you some fiddling around.

[@timsway]

oh good to know. thanks!

[@sgsax]

I've been learning how to use FreeCAD to make/edit models for 3D printing. It's been quite the learning curve. I know Vectric is for 2D, but it looks like an utter dream to use. Thanks for the behind-the scenes look!

[@timsway]

it is indeed a steep learning curve. Vcarve is 2D but their more expensive Aspire is 3d, but more for building models for cnc than 3d printing, etc. It works a little differently than other cad stuff but for me, since I'm invested in their language and way, I do everything in it.

[@sapelesteve]

Interesting video Tim & I am glad that the laser machine is working so well for you. BTW, did you know that the horseshoe crab is not a "crab" at all but is actually an Arthropod and is closely related to Spiders & Scorpions. 👍😉

[@timsway]

I had heard that once but forgotten it. They are interesting creatures for sure.

[@6r4metroman]

Don't know if you have used it but there is a kerf setting in Lightburn...

[@timsway]

I think I did, as does my cnc software, but I tend to create my own shadow vectors for some reason. I think it's because when I first started using CNC I messed up once. LOL! In Vectric software you can easily create a trace vector whatever distance you want with a only a couple clicks.

[@johngrant5749]

Great results. I’m sure even the $300 CNCs from China would be satisfactory for veneers. I’m thinking sound hole use too. One thought re your large laser, I guess vibration isn’t a problem when cutting? Just wondering when seeing the work free standing on the bed.

[@timsway]

There is a fan sucking exhaust underneath and a small amount of air getting blown down next to the laser beam that can cause problems (if you look carefully you can see the little parts getting blown around) but for the most part things sit still in there, even thin things, and you don't need to secure it. If I were cutting or etching paper, I would put a magnets on the corners of it to make sure it stays still.

[@johngrant5749]

Thanks Tim

[@dkraft]

Learn how to use kerf offset. It will save a lot of trial and error.

[@Zthreve]

His name is Danny Supercooldude? You should engrave a custom keychain for him. I bed he was never able to find one with his name on it as a child.

[@timsway]

lol

[@nicolassanchez3099]

Niceee Also, noticed the secret scrinshot at 2.57

[@timsway]

lol. I missed a spot :)

[@nicolassanchez3099]

And i miss speld screenshot -

[@maartenr1000]

Looks great! How did you do the inlay recess in the fretboard and body. Since those are probably not veneers. I’m guessing scan function but does it give a equal (enough) depth in the recess? Other way would be engraving the outline and chiseling out the rest but that would beat the purpose.

[@timsway]

Yes, exactlythe body inlays were cnc routed with a v bit and infilled with epoxy. But I have done deep laser etches by turning up the heat and running the file a couple times and infilled them, too. It's possible.

[@garagemonkeysan]

Great video. For a second there I thought you were referring to my dxf. : ) Useful information! Agree the pink pops more. Mahalo for sharing! : )

[@timsway]

lol, not specifically, but I did have to connect a couple of your lines... :)

[@timsway]

Hoping to get to that soon, btw. Waiting on a part for my laser to fix it up

[@garagemonkeysan]

@@timswayHmm. Sorry. Using Fusion360 and export to dxf which I'm not familiar with. 😀

[@timsway]

@@garagemonkeysan I dont know enough about other stuff to help or tell you what you are doing right or wrong, but if it makes you feel better, on the same day I had the same problem with a file from an employee of a company in the biz I work with (not naming names... :)

[@garagemonkeysan]

@@timsway No worries. Makes me wonder how places like SendCutSend deals with it. 🙂

[@CraigHollabaugh]

Tim, loved the detail here. Are the neck and body inlays also made with cutouts in veneer? I've always wondered about this. Hey, thanks for these Saturday nightcap videos, always a treat. ps. We just fired up our new 180W laser this afternoon.

[@timsway]

cheers. In this case (and usually) Those inlays are done with epoxy resin simply poured in to the cutouts made by the cnc. I show the process in some of my videos, most recently and detailed in this one: kzbin.info/www/bejne/roi8ia2kps2afbc

[@CraigHollabaugh]

@@timsway thanks, I missed your fretboard video when posted, it's the exact answer to my question.

[@michaelmenkes8085]

You should do an entire CNC for hobbyist luthiers series. When doing my GGBO build I had all these CNC inlay plans but couldn't figure out my CNC programming at all.

[@timsway]

I could probably do a more indepth cnc tutorial video. I avoid that part usually bc it gets a little "in the weeds" of the tech stuff and not a tech channel, but if there is interest...

[@michaelmenkes8085]

@@timsway your argument that CNC and lasers makes you a competitive luthier also means that this is a guitar maker topic as much as a "tech" topic.

[@karabarkdull2929]

Tim tonight I saw a two-sided guitar advertised KZbin it had 12 strings on one side and 6 on the other one side appeared to be in acoustic I like the other side must have been an electric cuz I don't know how you would have to acoustic guitars when it is double sided the other night I saw a round guitar but was acoustic I don't know how you would play a double-sided guitar do you?

[@timsway]

I've seen those, too. It's a gimmick, yknow? A clever yet impractical idea, like half the things I do :)

[@RJDCR]

kool

[@DanI-yh9lu]

Do you know if the laser can cut pearl inlay?

[@timsway]

fake definitelty. real, probably?

[@gianny9484]

Bravissimo 👍🏻🤝🏻 I would like to share my project with you I’m sure you’ll like it

[@timsway]

Tag me!

[@Nerotique]

It's not my thing... Intently watching anyway.