Following on from the thread where I purchased a diode laser, I'm going to do a build which uses it heavily.
The laser it a Sculpfun S30 Pro.
The guitar will be Zemaitis inspired, but with an inset maple top and different decoration rather than the usual engraved metal top.
One of the main things i wanted the laser for was more accurate marking out than I can do with my deteriorating eyesight.
So first step is to engrave the body blank with the centerline and main routes.
And whilst I was doing that I also cut some templates for the deeper body routes.
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Its rather weighty, hence the chamber. It may also get some Swiss cheese holes in other areas under the top.
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http://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/89942/caspercaster#latest
It will be used for:
Templates (cutting, i'm purposely going for a template heavy design with the inset top)
Marking out body (engraving)
Marking our fretboard (engrave fret slots, outline and additional decoration. possibly cutting it out too)
Making the inset top (cutting out and engraving additional decoration)
This is all stuff I know it will do now, but it requires me to think about my build process a bit differently. I'm going to do all the routing and fitting of the inset top before cutting out the body the usual way
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Not massively figured, but I don't want anything OTT as it will feature some other decoration.
The outline is just drawn on for now to check positioning, I might flip it the other way
It's about 4mm thick, so easy to cut with the laser
I'm going to try to keep the pickup cutouts to make bobbin toppers for some homebrew P90s.
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Cutting went great. Engraving needs to be sealed filled and levelled off. Also I changed my mind on bridge before cutting and didn't reposition the decoration.
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It's a pretty good fit.
I won't glue that on yet, will carry on working on the body first
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I went a bit fast and used an offset fill setting rather than the usual fill setting, which is more thorough but a lot slower
I think it's still workable even if I have to re paint in some of the lines at a later stage... or sand them off entirely and re-engrave at a slower speed.
I think I'm going to colour the middle of the maple, maybe just leaving the outer ring and pickups natural
The laser does cut the maple really well at these thicknesses.
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Complete with matching wood backplates
I suppose I should start making a neck
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the templates for back plate routes are slightly larger than the plates themselves. The top is a friction fit, the back plates are purposely loose to allow for finish
The next laser job will likely be the fretboard
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