I have a Shapeoko Pro XXL and want to cut a neck for an acoustic guitar. I have the 3D file and toolpaths figured out (I think, haha), but can’t figure out how to get the Z clearance I’ll need. The piece of wood I’m milling is 4" tall. Plus the bit will need to be at least 3" long for clearance. That 7" of clearance. I only need 4" of travel, though, which the machine barely has.
Has anyone figured out how to do this? Custom router bracket raising the router higher? Modify the bed to put the part lower?
I’m really hoping I don’t have to buy a different machine. I only build guitars for myself and kids and it’s hard to justify the expense.
Some good ideas in that thread. What about removing a couple of the t-tracks AND raising the machine a couple of inches. I would think it would require a sturdy way to attach the new lower bed to the machine to maintain accuracy.
How tall is the finished part? My guitar just happens to be sitting right next to me. The height not including the fretboard is 3.75. If using a 1/4" ball you’ll probably want to cut 0.125 below the flat top surface where the fretboard mounts. So now we’re looking at 3.875 (Still under 4").
If the Z travel is actually 4", that gives you 0.125 clearance. (I would then use 0.100 retract).
But you are saying you only need 3" of cutter???
You then just need to adjust the height of the spindle to fit within that cut range.
The 7" clearance you mention is from the lowest point you need to cut to the face of the empty spindle.
