Luthier here, asking about software before I spend

[WillAdams (William Adams (Carbide 3D))]

I don’t think it is practicable to do an entire guitar in Carbide Create Pro alone as of v8 — at least, not unless one “allows the program its head” and accepts some design oddities due to the inability to completely control how the program creates the 3D model.

If you have 3D files for an already drawn-up guitar design, then Carbide Create Pro would be fine:

Working up toolpaths for a guitar body from an STL or DXF

as requested on support… Given a guitar body design as an STL: [image] and a DXF: [image] We import each: [image] [image] and look into how the imported geometry and 3D model work out for making toolpaths.

Making a guitar bridge for Carbide Create Pro

as requested on support… Given a file in Carbide Create which describes a guitar bridge: [image] there are a couple of different ways which this part could be made: draw up contour geometry and assign toolpaths to appropriate depths (note that this does not require Carbide Create Pro): Spoon Possible without CC Pro? model the design in a traditional CAD tool, export it as an STL and then import that STL into Carbide Create Pro and then cut that 3D model using Carbide Create Pro: Instru…

If you wish to draw up your own/a unique design with full-control, then you’ll need some sort of 3D CAD program which affords that ability.

The MeshCAM folks have a list:

Free and Inexpensive CAD Programs

and if you’re a Mac user:

CAD/CAM Programs for the Mac