The Bottom Side Machining Job
The bottom side of the guitar body is machined first. The complete Machining Job tree is shown here on the right. The operations are divided into two setups. The ⅜” end mill setup performs all operations that require a ⅜” end mill. All are 2 Axis operations except for the Roughing for belly cut operation which is a 3 Axis Horizontal Roughing toolpath.
The first mop will use 2 Axis Hole Pocketing to machine the two registration pin holes that will be used when the stock is flipped over to machine the top side. The ⅜” ball nose setup contains all of the 3 Axis finishing operations comprised of three Between 2 Curves Finishing operations and one Parallel Finishing. These operations are illustrated further in the images below.
Operation Details (Bottom)
In image (A) below we see the guitar body 3D model (bottom side up) displayed in Rhino. It is comprised of a polysurface (solid) model. While we only show the solid model, there are actually other 2D and 3D curves derived from the model that are used for toolpath containment. For simplicity, we have hidden the wireframe geometry. Image (B) shows the box stock highlighted over the part model.
In image (C) we see the cut material simulation after the ⅜” end mill setup. The Registration pins is a 2 Axis Hole Pocketing operation used when the stock is flipped over to machine the top side. The two back cavity operations are 2 Axis Pocketing operations located in the middle of the body. The 3 Axis Horizontal Roughing operation can be clearly seen. Of particular interest is the operation named Profile with two big tabs. This is a 2 Axis Profiling operation using two 2D curves. The distance between the endpoints of the two curves controls the width of the tabs. In image (D) we see the operations contained in the ⅜” ball nose setup. The Between 2 Curves operations perform the finishing for the upper fillets around the perimeter of the guitar body. The Parallel Finishing operation finishes the the back belly contour.
On the left we see the 3D polysurface (solid) model of the guitar body. On the right we see the box stock defined in RhinoCAM. | |
On the left are the simulated operations using the ⅜” flat end mill. These include 2 Axis Hole Pocketing, Pocketing, Profiling and 3 Axis Horizontal Roughing. On the right we see the operations using the ⅜” ball nose cutter. These include 3 Axis Between 2 Curves Finishing and Parallel Finishing. |
More about Laguna Tools
Laguna Tools was founded in 1983 by Torben Helshoj who saw an opportunity to bring high-quality European woodworking machinery to the US. The first tools to be introduced were combination machines and soon led to Laguna Tools’ most iconic machine, the Italian Bandsaw. Over the years, Laguna Tools has built an extensive line of woodworking machinery before moving forward with development of their own CNC Automation.
Laguna Tools launched their line of CNC Machines with the SmartShop and soon followed up with the Swift Series and iO Series machines. After innovating on their CNC Routers, Laguna Tools came out with even more advanced machinery such as CO2 Lasers and Plasma Cutters. Laguna Tools now has a wider range of machinery available than ever before, all to help their customers achieve their goals to improve the way they do business.
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