As you can see from my previous posts, the CNC machine was used for much more than originally intended. So as a next step it came naturally to also apply it to fine-tuning the body shape.
As CamBam isn’t really the best tool to draw Bezier curves, I resorted to good old Adobe Illustrator to draw the outline:
![](http://www.glui.de/wp/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/image-1-1024x631.png)
Although not trivial, this could then be exported as DXF and then imported into CamBam to base the toolpath on.
I had to order an extra long end mill tool to cut all the way down from 40mm height to ground (took a while too…)
![](http://www.glui.de/wp/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/IMG_0643-1024x768.jpeg)
This slope actually done manually:
![](http://www.glui.de/wp/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/IMG_0648-1024x768.jpeg)
The next design decision was not what I had planned (although one guitar maker had warned me when I bought the ziricote). The problem was that this slab of wood was darn heavy:
![](http://www.glui.de/wp/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/IMG_0150-1024x768.jpeg)
More than 50% above a standard Strat body:
![](http://www.glui.de/wp/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/IMG_0151-1024x768.jpeg)
So as I needed a lot of room for electronics anyway, I decided to cut pockets everywhere, turning this axe into a semi-acoustic (or maybe quarter-)
![](http://www.glui.de/wp/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/IMG_0670-1024x768.jpeg)
Much better now :)
![](http://www.glui.de/wp/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/IMG_0676-1024x768.jpeg)