Hello. I am researching how to create this arc on my products. It is a very popular feature in my industry. Would I want to use an angled bit? We’ve been doing this by hand for years, so it does not need to be cut perfectly. We can sand or tumble to remove burrs and imperfections.
This workpiece is only about 30 long, roughly 1.25 inches.
Thanks in advance for any ideas or suggestions you may have. RS
A ball nose or ball end bit will cut that rounded bevel on the guitar pick. Use a very small step over and it will leave only a little sanding.
I’m purty sure that a ball end cutter will cut the curved end the wrong way; concave vs. convex.
An angle bit would give you a flat edge. This edge looks round in the photo.
Its hard to tell the proportions from your photo, but it might be possible to get a small roundover bit in the cutout pass for the outline. I can see where a fixture would be necessary since it looks quite thin, but it would be a consistent curve.
How are you cutting these out now?
Are those guitar picks?
Depending on the angles, shapes etc. this would have to be a 3D toolpath. I think that is what Ensalaco meant. The drawback is that it will take a lot longer than if you could cut it with a form-tool. But of course the drawback of the form-tool is that it only can cut one shape. Maybe you can tweak your toolpaths to use a round-over form tool on some parts and a chamfering bit on others. Then sand the transition over.
Maybe the entire profile with this.
Followed by one side using this. 3D path needed.
And the opposite side using this. 3D path needed.
I know thats a lot of tool changes but if you are setting up for production and have a good number of picks per sheet, it might make sense.
A small ballnose used in a 3D finishing raster toolpath could likely be used and require minimal post-processing (sanding), but it’s also likely to be quite long per piece (due to the very small stepover required on such a small piece to get a smooth surface) and may not be suitable for high volume production. I don’t imagine such a toolpath taking less than a good 5-10 minutes.
I have a gut feeling that the optimal workflow may be to just cut the (then still flat) picks from the material, a large number of them at a time (dozens of picks from one sheet), and then make the two bevels manually (as you currently do, I suppose). Depending on how this manual step is done (I have no clue…), you may also be able to leverage your Shapeoko to also make a jig to hold a large number of picks for that step, or to hold just one but in a way that would allow perfect repeatability of the beveling procedure. Let’s say (again I have no clue…) that the bevel is made by holding the pick against a drum sander and rotating it in a certain way to create the uneven bevel, then I can imagine building a rotating jig that imitates the hand movement, in a perfectly repeatable way (therefore reducing the time of that operation to a couple of seconds)
Thanks to everyone for you suggestions. I have a Shapeoko friend here in Los Angeles who can probably help with a solution. At this point, I’m assuming some hand-work following the cut, at least in the first iterations of the solution. That’s fine. Eventually, however, I will want to set up a program where I can do dozens of these at once. It will come in time. It took me a long time to learn how to use my laser cutter, but now I’m a pro,
Thanks again, Everyone. This is terrific information.
RS
Nyzda, yes. There’s a whole high-end category for all music accessories. Our cheapest is $35, and we have a very popular model that sells for $99. All our prices are for one pick.
RS
Correct. 3D path and a ball nose. The curve / radius on the back of this guitar neck was done with a ball nose and a .030” step over. It takes minimal sanding.
Nice work on the guitar, buddy.
RS
Is that a variable radius? Or just an optical illusion?
Either way, I think you would want to use a ball mill, and a CAM software that can program it.
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