Uploaded June 2015 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago

---

Recently I was contacted by a company looking to send me a CNC router for review, I thought a guitar would be the perfect first project to try it out on. In case you missed my previous video about building a Cigar Box Guitar, you should definitely check it out. I go much more in depth about every step of the process and how it can be done with very inexpensive tools: youtu.be/FDKCvCQzkTk

The X-Carve CNC machine can be found here: inventables.com

I used this open source vector editing software to draw up my guitar design: inkscape.org

I haven't figured out a good host for my vector design files yet. If you know of one let me know in the comments (just the name, not the full web address. I have website addresses blocked in the comments to deter spammers).

To determine the proper fret measurements I used this online calculator: harpkit.com/category/fretcalc.html

In my final instrument I found that the intonation was a bit off. I think that's due to the bridge being at a perfect 90 degree angle to the strings. It should be on a bit of an angle to give the thicker strings a slightly longer scale. That may be a change I make on the next one. I also used a 23" scale length in this video whereas I cut my previous guitars with a 24" scale which is a bit more forgiving.

Thanks for watching! #NightHawkInLight

-~-~~-~~~-~~-~-
Check out my latest video: "How To View Invisible Air Currents With Lasers"
youtube.com/watch?v=K94Cc21KEIA
-~-~~-~~~-~~-~-