Gotcha. I was watching his video about it...he says it cost about $1300. All the parts that look like metal are actually plywood. It's interesting at least.
The problem with improving cheap Chinese stuff (or perhaps with things made of plywood that probably should be metal) is I don't want to blow $800 on fiddling with something instead of paying $1500 for something that works. But paying like $150 to figure something out is worth it.
The Shapeoko looks really good too. I'd like to get something that's at least big enough to do necks and bodies.
My hope would be that the CNC router would be replacing a lot of other tools and be the centerpiece of making. (warnings made by a poster above are absolutely taken to heart btw). I just did 6 telecaster necks and 1 strat neck by hand, they all came out decently but it seems like 90% of the work could be done on the CNC and it could do it better than I could, and then I could really put my energy into the design, fit and finish instead of constantly being stressed about getting all this manual work done.
Just purchased the plans from the Highline Guitars guy and am building at least the mechanical part of his machine. In my case replacing the plywood with 6061 aluminum to ensure the rigidity of the frame and prevent as much deflection as possible.
The problem with the kits like the Shapeoko is that they are too small for guitar work and are not very sturdy, there is quite a bit of deflection from what I've heard from many others. The Highline guy replaced his store bought one with his home made one.
One of my buddies bought a really high end Laguna CNC, it was about the same size as the Highline Guitars one but was over $6,000.
Yeah, if you are looking at producing anything in quantities then a $1500 investment could make sense. My general advice would be to buy an off-the-shelf model unless you are more interested in learning how to make a CNC than actually having one. Making anything from scratch for the first time is a ton of work. Rewarding, yes, but it will take more time than you would expect.
I make things in quantities of 1 so can't justify the space or cost for a commercial CNC. Rather than the centerpiece for my work, a CNC is a precision tool to do a few things that would be hard for me to do (or do precisely) by hand: engraving, blind fret slots, compound radius, etc. FWIW, all the moving parts on my upgrade are metal, including the entire Z-axis. Only the base/table and gantry (which is fixed) are plywood. My costs were $300 US including everything (tax, shipping etc. on all parts, plywood, little fasteners, wiring etc. that some people ignore.)
Good luck!
In my case the build of the machine is just as much fun as building a bass guitar. In addition I require fewer jigs, have an accurate machine and can stay further away from the router bit.
Like I mentioned above the "budget" CNC kits are fun to learn on, but they are not really suited for building guitars. My friend Helmut has a small one that is both laser and cutter motor. He makes small stuff like pcb boards, custom truss rod covers and other things. It's perfect for that, but can't cut a guitar fretboard, never mind a bass one. He did do a fan fretboard for me, at an angle on the machine, but it needs some additional work at the nut to make it usable...it's just gathering dust in my shop right now.
As for investing in tools, it's worth it in my eyes to get something good at the beginning then to have to slowly replace things as you go along. I can't tell you how many times I had to replace cheap stuff. It ends up costing far more in the long run.
Just an example... when I first started out I purchased an old Craftsman 12 inch band saw. I did a bunch of work to it to level everything, to keep the blade from sliding on the wheels, made fences, etc.. it was underpowered, barely cut hardwood, had to be creative to cut out a guitar body because the throat wasn't deep enough and couldn't really re-saw anything thicker than 6 inches, which isn't wide enough for a guitar top.
I sold it, along with a 60th Anniversary Fender Stratocaster and purchased a Laguna 1412 bandsaw. This is the best tool in my shop right now! It's a dream to work with can re-saw just about 14 inches, is powerful and is super easy to set up and adjust. Completely worth the over $1,200. cost.
Just my silly $.02
