[Voyageur]

I'm interested in getting a mill to do inlay work on stringed instruments. I've been looking at a mini mill, specifically the Grizzly G8689 (X2) and adding the CNC parts from CNC Fusion. I'll be cutting pearl and abalone in the range of .030 - .060 and routing pockets in ebony, rosewood, or maple primarily.

I've searched the forum and found threads with some discussion of cutting and pocketing inlay but nothing specifically indicating the use of a mini mill.

Is this a good choice of hardware for this type of work?

Also, any suggestions on software?

Thanks,

Tim

-------------------------
Voyageur Banjos

[stevespo]

If you're primarily interested in cutting pearl (and wood) for inlay that's not a good choice (IMO). If you want to have the flexibility to tackle metalworking tasks, then there are some things you could do to accomplish both.

With proper attention to the gibs and screws (anti-backlash nuts, etc) it has the potential to work fairly accurately. The real problem is with the spindle speed. 2500 RPM is just too slow for the micro mills you'd be using for your profiling and pocketing operations.

One option is to run the stock spindle, and just work VERY slowly. The small tooling is very sensitive to vibration and runout, so I wouldn't expect great results.

A better option might be to attach a 2nd high RPM spindle and dedicate that to inlay. I don't know if that is even possible with a mill that size, but there may be a place to do it.

I cut a lot of pearl at 24K RPM and wouldn't want to go much slower than that. Many are using air powered spindles that run upwards of 40-60K RPM.

The best option would be to find a small dedicated machine with linear rails, high quality screws, high speed spindle, etc. I guess it all depends on what your needs are for speed and accuracy. Will you be cutting a few parts for fun, or trying to do this quickly and efficiently?

Steve

[stevespo]

Also keep in mind that the travel on that machine is quite limited. You could inlay a headplate, but a full fingerboard would require indexing and several different operations to place inlay along the board.

Steve

[mwood3]

I think a cnc table router with a high speed quality spindle would be more suited, as you could also cut guitar bodies and other parts if you so desired, and the travels would be more ideal. there are several very good open source designs or you could buy plans if you are so mechanically inclined to build such a device

[Voyageur]

Thanks for the quick reply Steve. My needs are mostly for fun. This isn't my day job. I'd like reasonable accuracy and if I have to trade time for accuracy because it results in a less expensive machine that's ok. I also have constraints of space.

I realize that I will be re-positioning a fingerboard. Most any of the machines that I've seen that will do a whole fingerboard are too big for my space. I'd like to get this done without building a bigger workshop. Though come to think of it maybe I'm attacking the wrong problem! : )

Most of the work would be shell or wood. I don't foresee large, elaborate patterns like vines and such. We might do a little metal work at some point.

Thanks,

Tim

-------------------------
Voyageur Banjos

[stevespo]

See how you make out with the default spindle, and then consider mounting a small, auxiliary spindle somewhere on the mill to cut pearl.

To put things into perspective, I'm running a 24K RPM spindle and 2/3/4 flute end mills in sizes ranging from .025" - .03125". Typically, I will take 4-5 passes to cut .060" thick MOP and abalone, at feed rates from 6-10 IPM.

That's probably a bit conservative, but pretty consistent with what most people are doing. With most woods, I'll go 2x as fast. An equivalent chip load with your 2500 RPM mill would be less than 1 IPM.

If it meet your other needs, give it a shot and see what happens. You'll still have a nice little general purpose mill and can address other issues as they come up.

Steve

[SORCHEROR]

how much is your budget?i have have a machine i would sell,perfect for what you have in mind,the x only has 12 inches of travel,but should work for you,the spindle is variable
0-15,000 right now,has 5/8 double nut ball screws and 20mm round linear guides
let me know and i could email some pics,i havnt figured out how to post pics on here yet
on yeah,the y travel is aprox 7.8 inches and Z 10 inches

[Voyageur]

Thanks for all of the replies. After some more thought and further research I think that I am going to head in the direction of a home-built table router. Something like a JRGO perhaps. Perhaps biting off inlay is a bit much for a first machine. Since we'll be working mostly with wood the JRGO is interesting and looks like a good place to start. Once we get it built we can use it to build another machine for inlay!

Thanks,

Tim