Posted on January 19, 2010September 9, 2025 by Dale Phillips Questions: Custom CNC Orders Questions: Custom CNC Orders by Dana Bourgeois Originally published in American Lutherie #74, 2003 and Big Red Book of American Lutherie Volume Seven, 2015 Greg Pacetti of Fairbanks, Alaska asks: Do you know of a CNC machining company that could take a custom neck order of as little as thirty in quantity? Dana Bourgeois of Brunswick, Maine answers: Small runs are nice in theory, but one-time engineering, programming, and setup costs can kill you. For example, I just had a run of twenty-five pyramid bridges made by Maverick Precision Wood Products (207-225-5043; maverick@exploremaine.com). The one-time costs came to about $500, after which bridges cost $12 each. If I never make any more than twenty-five, the overall cost of each bridge (including setup, and so on) is $32. If I had wanted only one, Maverick would have made just one, but it would have cost $512. In reality, I will probably use five hundred of them over the next ten years and my cost will eventually come down to $13 each. Also remember that I supplied the CAD drawing, which meant that I got exactly the bridge I asked for. The engineering cost would have been much higher if I had given Maverick a bridge from which to generate their own drawing. The bottom line is to try not to make runs that are either too small or too large. A small builder might use up to twenty-five pyramid bridges over a three-to-five year period. At that rate, a cost of $32/bridge is realistic. ◆
Posted on January 19, 2010September 9, 2025 by Dale Phillips Product Reviews: Frets.com CD Product Reviews: Frets.com CD by Fred Carlson Originally published in American Lutherie #62, 2000 and Big Red Book of American Lutherie Volume Six, 2013 Frets.com CD I don’t know how many clones luthier/repairman Frank Ford (Gryphon Stringed Instruments, Palo Alto, California) has made of himself, but we in the lutherie world can be thankful that they all devote vast amounts of time to furthering the luthing cause. At least, it sure seems like there’s got to be more than one of him, considering all the stuff he’s got going. I ran into Frank recently at one of the bimonthly meetings of NCAL (the Northern California Association of Luthiers) where he updated attendees on his latest and ongoing ventures. These included a couple of things that fit into the product category and seemed worthy of mention here. I’ve been intending to figure out a way to justify a more detailed mention of Franks’ amazing lutherie web page, www.frets.com, in one of these columns. I’ve made note of frets.com in the past, but I hadn’t yet figured out how to put a product spin on it. After all, although it is undeniably the product of an enormous amount of work and dedication, a website is essentially bits of digital information on a computer somewhere, freely accessed by anyone with a computer and an Internet connection. This is pretty different stuff than router jigs and fret files. It’s more like a book, only you don’t obtain a hard copy of it. (Unless you do an awful lot of downloading to your computer printer!) Become A Member to Continue Reading This Article This article is part of the Articles Online featured on our website for Guild members. To view this and other web articles, join the Guild of American Luthiers. For details, visit the membership page. MEMBERS: login for access or contact us to setup your account.
Posted on January 19, 2010September 11, 2025 by Dale Phillips Questions: Online Machining Service Questions: Online Machining Service by Scott Marckx Originally published in American Lutherie #84, 2005 and Big Red Book of American Lutherie Volume Seven, 2015 Scott Marckx of Port Townsend, Washington offers a useful tidbit: There’s a company on the web called emachineshop (www.emachineshop.com). People can download free CAD (computer assisted drafting) software, design whatever kind of machine part they want out of a wide variety of materials, e-mail their order to the company, and get the thing in the mail. It seems like it may be very helpful for all of us luthiers who are trying to find or make special tools and jigs.
Posted on January 10, 2010May 26, 2025 by Dale Phillips Letter: First Guitar Letter: First Guitar by Gretchen Weeks Brough Originally published in American Lutherie #45, 1996 Dear GAL, I am a new member, in the process of making my first guitar — a flattop acoustic cutaway. I became interested in lutherie when my husband needed a quality acoustic guitar and we couldn’t afford what he wanted. I asked a local luthier about learning the art, and his recommendation was to get all the books and videos I could find, and then buy a kit from Martin as a first project. This, we could afford! In AL#43, a letter from Mr. Rick Topf mentions computer aided design (CAD), and wondering if there would be any interest in drawings done in AutoCAD format. There certainly is! I am, by trade, a freelance computer drafter, working in AutoCAD format. Not only would I be interested in drawings anyone else has done in AutoCAD, I would be happy to offer my services to anyone who wants their drawings done in AutoCAD. Become A Member to Continue Reading This Article This article is part of our premium web content offered to Guild members. To view this and other web articles, join the Guild of American Luthiers. Members also receive 4 annual issues of American Lutherie and get discounts on products. For details, visit the membership page. If you are already a member, login for access or contact us to setup your account.
