Pro luthier reporting in.

If you’re using a 3 axis CNC router for carving both the pockets and the inlay pieces themselves, do yourself a favor and get a small diameter end mill (.03125”-.020”).

I do the majority of my pocketing with a 1/16” down cut bit and then reestablish the outer profile with the smaller cut.

Keep your RPMs high and your feed rate low. Take small DOC bites even on cleanup cuts. Those small bits break when you breath on them wrong, so be gentle and don’t overload them. I run mine at 18000rpm, a feed rate of around 10ipm and never push my depth passes past 1/3 of the cutters OD.

Additionally, you may want to resize your pocket a little tighter. I like to oversize my pockets by about .0025” depending on the material, and don’t be afraid to leave your pocket on the machine while you do your test fits so you can open it up further for a better fit.

Also, ebony dust and thin CA glue are great at hiding gaps.

Sorry for the info dump. I just get fired up about this kind of work since it’s my bread and butter.

I love the design so far and look forward to more progress pics in the future!

Wow, this is awesome!! Looks so feathery and delicate. The contrast is eye-catching; very gold-on-black luxurious

Well done, looks really good.

A little video tip for doing inlays manually by a seasoned master craftsman.. It’s from german television but maybe the auto translation will help you if you don’t speak it.

14 string?

CNC on those delicate “fins”? Well done.

How big is the CNC? Professional or home built?

Cool! That must have been a tiny bit to cut the negative pointy ends.

What is it though? Kinda looks like a guitar handle?

Looks great my friend! I’ve also started monkeying with CNC inlays lately, though my first attempts were far simpler than this. Is this a vcarved inlay or did you use a straight bit?

_{PLAY FRETBOARD}

Woah, fancy.