Project Description: This individual project served as a lab practical for my CNC Machining course in Fall 2022. We were given a 1x3x4” block of nylon and had to make something interesting that demonstrated our ability to machine something with proper part setup, tool selection, feeds and speeds, and roughing versus finishing and contour passes. I opted to create two segments of a guitar’s fretboard to see how a compound radius feels on the fingers, since I was also enrolled in Guitar Design and Manufacturing at the time (check out that project too!!!)
Software Used: Fusion 360 (Part modeling), Vericut (CAM)
Big Wins: My part turned out great and was a useful reference for what it was. Unfortunately, doing a compound radius was beyond the scope of tools available to us in the Guitar class, but it was still a nice little connection across courses.
Challenges: The main challenge I had for this project was having to use a different software than what I was familiar with for CAM, but that issue was managed easily enough since we had other projects and tutorials that taught us Vericut.
Key Takeaways: Designs that enable easy part holding is one of the most important considerations when designing for manufacturability.
Here’s my final machined block that has both ends of a compound radius fretboard.
Here’s the simulation of the stock part after the initial roughing pass.
Here’s the final part according to the simulation. My part turned out identical. This operation was easier though since the part didn’t need to be moved at all between operations.