PROJECT DESCRIPTION
This is a LongMill 30"x30" project designed to look like an acoustic guitar with laser engraved lyrics to the song title “I’ll Remember You, Love in My Prayers”. The look on the gentleman’s face in the pictures is what this project story is all about and how the LongMill has opened a doorway to fulfill the imaginations and dreams of whomever we create for.
The gentleman in the pictures is a widower, who’s wife passed away from an illness sometime in the past couple years. Every evening when he put her to bed, he would whisper the song to her which was their favorite growing up. The singing would sooth her to sleep, eternally entrenching the memory of their last months together in his mind. For them it was a memory that spanned the beginning of their life together and until they did so depart.
When recently approached by this gentleman’s son regarding of doing a design he had seen on Etsy, he was told that we have a Sienci LongMill CNC machine and we can do much better than that. With no idea of what it was for, we were armed with a desire to create a template that we could reuse for future projects and we underpriced this one knowing that this would be worth the effort.
When it came time to pickup the guitar, the gentleman’s son was astounded at what we had done for him. With a tear in his eye, he said, you have no idea what this will mean to my father. Although this was meant to be a Christmas gift, the family decided to give it to him early for his birthday instead. The look on his father’s face in the pictures says it all.
LESSONS LEARNED
- This one was done in pine and although hardwoods were discussed with the customer, it was cost prohobitive
- Pine is prone to tear out and rough cuts, thus the reason why the laser was chosen. Pine does not burn as dark as hardwoods.
- Body cuts were done first, slots painted, body sanded to remove overpaint and then lasered. Paint masking or wood pre-varathaning was not required knowing the cuts for the painted areas were not complex or prone to tear-outs. Sanding with 180 to remove the overpaint and then to 320 grit for a smooth finish.
- Guitar neck, rounded profile was created in Vectric VCarve Pro. The Aspire version is needed to taper the profile from one end to the other.
PROJECT TECHNICAL DETAILS
General
- Two part project, neck and guitar body
- Body measures 22” wide by 26” high
- Neck measures 4” wide by 28” high
- Both cut from 1.5” thick edge jointed pine
- Software, Vectric VCarve Pro
- Laser, Banggood 5.5watt
- All project design elements and tool paths created by myself
Neck Tool Paths
- Rounded neck profile on back, 1/4” ball endmill (profile tool path in VCarve)
- Flat pockets, 1/4” flat end mill (down cut)
- Cutout, 1/4” flat end mill (down cut, 1.5” cutters)
Body Tool Paths
- Keyhole slot, 1/8” down cut end mill
- Keyhole slot, 3/8” keyhole bit from Lee Valley
- Company name, 60 degree v-bit from Lee Valley
- Neck slot, 1/4” end mill
- Middle hole, 1/4” end mill
- Body outline, 1/8” end mill
