# Digitizing probe for guitar work :)



## Henriks (Dec 9, 2013)

Hey guys,


Just thought I'd share my latest project.


A digitizing probe to use with Mach 3. I'll by using it mostly to reproduce pickguards and guitar necks.


I had a few customers lately that wanted to have custom pickguards done, but only had a hand sketch or a piece of poorly cut mdf with the final contour. So I decided to take the plunge and do a probe myself. I'll be able to digitize archtops and other cool stuff. But i'll be using it mostly for contours.


Done with a 3D printer, 80% fill-out. It's almost solid plastic, i was amazed at the quality.


Wadda ya think ? 

















https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/5BckFYYrm2KhJ-3nBEGoMrXFEqxI3PaGVkpzbOAD2r0=w1075-h806-no[/img]


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## nnieman (Jun 19, 2013)

Wow....just wow.
What a fantastic idea.

Can we see a video of it in action?

Nathan


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## Henriks (Dec 9, 2013)

No video yet, but here are a few more pics. Coming close!

My plan is to use this to copy existing templates, and body contours. I had some requests for that. People that want a new pickguard with the same shape of an existing one. 

I also had a request for a jazz archtop sitka top...the existing one is cracked, and the gentleman wants a new one exactly like the old one...So i'm gonna use the probe to scan the sections (curtate cycloids) and redo the top like this.


Any questions, fire away!


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## YJMUJRSRV (Jul 17, 2007)

gone fishing


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## Henriks (Dec 9, 2013)

YJMUJRSRV said:


> I dont have any idea what this is - but it looks interesting. I am old school and non CNC etc. I have to say though that new tech is amazing. Are you saying you can "trace" a guitar with this so the software builds the 3D model for replication? I really am clueless here but intrigued.
> 
> How much time it would save if I could trust a machine to duplicate a neck profile.



In simple terms, yes. A digitizing probe will allow you to trace a neck profile, or any countour for that matter. A pickguard, a guitar body, you name it.

This particular project of my digitizing probe, came after a request to make a replacement top of a Gibby L5 that was damaged. The person wants an exact copy... Thats when this tech comes into play. I'm gonna trace the long arch and the cross sections, and reverse engineer the existing top.

CAD work can be a long and complex subject, but the data collected by the probe, is just a small part of the work involved. No software will automatically generate an accurate 3D model to use with the cnc.

in my case i've worked for many years in the mold making industry, with much more complex shapes to design and manufacture when compared with guitar parts.

so that being said... I can get a guitar neck machined in about 1 hour, ready for rough sanding. That is the actual machining, the data collection (probing) and cad design and cnc programming can take from a couple of hours to a couple of days.

This becomes interesting when you want to do more that just one piece ( or have a customer willing to pay for it ) 

if you wanna know more of how it works, i can get into all sorts of geeky details


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## greco (Jul 15, 2007)

Nominated for the coolist thread for 2015!

Please keep the pics coming...I am totally enthralled.

Cheers

Dave


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## Henriks (Dec 9, 2013)

Ok you asked for updates... Here it is! First without calibration.

it works!!!

[video=youtube_share;rzCXbhGFC_4]http://youtu.be/rzCXbhGFC_4[/video]


[video=youtube_share;ExCCPhrxZdc]http://youtu.be/ExCCPhrxZdc[/video]


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## Henriks (Dec 9, 2013)

Here are a couple more videos... Any comments?

[video=youtube_share;xagPydivHCw]http://youtu.be/xagPydivHCw[/video]

[video=youtube_share;G8_4pvsMRlA]http://youtu.be/G8_4pvsMRlA[/video]


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## oheare (Jun 18, 2012)

Fascinating stuff!

What is the sampling rate (I'm pretty sure that's the wrong terminology, but...)?


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## nnieman (Jun 19, 2013)

That is amazing to watch
How long would it take to scan and cnc route a neck?

Nathan


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## Henriks (Dec 9, 2013)

oheare said:


> Fascinating stuff!
> 
> What is the sampling rate (I'm pretty sure that's the wrong terminology, but...)?


Well, it can be set according to your needs. But usually around 10 inches / minute. I can decide to probe points every 0.01inches if I want, but then the time will increase greatly.

There's no rule, but it can't be so fast that the machine has a hard time stopping after the probe made contact with the object. If you go too fast, the probe can be easily damaged... and we don't want that 

- - - Updated - - -



nnieman said:


> That is amazing to watch
> How long would it take to scan and cnc route a neck?
> 
> Nathan


The problem isn't the scan part. I can scan a few sections from a neck in under one hour, including the setup.

The complex part is to design the neck in 3D after gathering the point data. You can't just scan, and press play to machine a part.

I would say for a guitar neck, I would need a couple of days from scanning to final machining. That is, just the back of the neck - not counting the actual fretboard and manufacturing operations for fret installation and finishing.

Do you have a particular project in mind? 

I need test parts LOL


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## Henriks (Dec 9, 2013)

Not much, but here's another video 

[video]https://youtu.be/c0tcCS35W_E[/video]


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## nnieman (Jun 19, 2013)

Honestly I don't really have a need for anything right now....but it's so cool
I could send you a guitar neck and you could clone it!
That's amazingly cool (at least to me)

I've got an epi lpjr neck that appears to be made of tofu or stryofoam (some kind of rubbery substance)...I could get that cloned out of hard maple....so cool

Nathan


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## Henriks (Dec 9, 2013)

nnieman said:


> Honestly I don't really have a need for anything right now....but it's so cool
> I could send you a guitar neck and you could clone it!
> That's amazingly cool (at least to me)
> 
> ...


Yep, send it along! LOL

Just to clarify something though... The goal of this whole project isn't to copy existing copyrighted instruments.

I'm gonna use it for specific projects like to do an exact copy of a damaged jazz guitar top. I had a request for a LP pickguard made out of anti-static plastic. I'll use it for that too.

Also, a couple of luthiers in Montreal wanted to have a way to make jigs based on existing ones that they had. I'll use the probe to gather the necessary data in order to CNC those parts.

Therefore, instead of doing a lot of measuring by hand to duplicate an existing piece, this will be a tool that will accelerate such process.


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## Guest (Jun 30, 2015)

Henriks said:


> Just to clarify something though... The goal of this whole project isn't to copy existing copyrighted instruments.


I agree. Good for you. Using the neck example though, it's great that
you could replicate the carve on the back for instance.


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## nnieman (Jun 19, 2013)

Originally Posted by *Henriks*  
Just to clarify something though... The goal of this whole project isn't to copy existing copyrighted instruments.


Good point
I actually bought the guitar to steal parts from and intended on reshaping the headstock.
I really like the carve and feel of the neck but I'd like to extend the heel a little bit and have it made out of ....wood...like hard wood...not the tofu it appears to be made of.

I think the probe would be great for replicating a neck that you liked the feel of.
I love the feel of my baja tele nec (large, soft v) and you could replicate that for all the partscasters I build (with a different headstock, obviously).

Plus, if you have the neck digitized, any time I need a new neck you could cnc one up!
Sure beats cruising ebay trying to score a used one that doesn't need a fret job.

Plus that could be changed to a strat heel, you could change the radius....

Anyone want a baja tele neck with a 12in radius? Call Daniel!

Wow...this opens a whole neck world of possibilities for restoration work as well as building/assembling/rolling your own guitars.


Nathan


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## Henriks (Dec 9, 2013)

So, here's another video of a real project.

The gentleman wants another version of the same guitar he already has. It's a Tele Plus from the early 90's.

[video]https://youtu.be/-6_sa0IFn3A[/video] 

And after probing, here's the result (notice all the reference points on the body to position all the components. Those were gathered with the probe too).










And the software used:


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