Flatten curved acoustic guitar top?

[ceruleanblue72]

I've created a simple curved acoustic guitar top and now I need to flatten it to cut it on the CNC. I've tried everything but no luck so far. I can't seem to get it working in the sheet metal environment as there are no flat areas to reference. Any suggestions gratefully received!

[g-andresen]

Hi,

These are always cut roughly to size and the overhang is trimmed/cut flush with the corpus once it has been glued.

günther

[Warmingup1953]

You can do it as two halves( I note that the body is not symmetrical so) you'll need to do two flat patterns ( I have just done one by extending the 1/2 Body edge 10mm as a tangent then thickening and converting to Sheetmetal Body).

[jhackney1972]

Fatten model is attached.  I had to give your surface some thickness (0.5mm) to do the flattening.

[g-andresen]

Hi,

I have common production methods in mind and  would like to see how a (geometrically) correctly created flat pattern can be glued onto an existing structure without edge offset.

günther

[ceruleanblue72]

Thanks very much for that! That is pretty much exactly the solution I ended up working out myself after I made the initial post and it does the job. I have since had a response from Ludovic at Autodesk support that is possibly a little simpler and more elegant that involves taking the whole top, thickening it, converting it to sheet metal and using the 'flat pattern' command (which I'd not been aware of till now). The result can be exported as a DXF. Here's his video https://go.screenpal.com/watch/cZ1ZiKV8iyK

[ceruleanblue72]

Thanks very much for your help!

[ceruleanblue72]

Yes, this guitar is bit unusual in its construction. The top will end up as it was originally modelled by naturally bending and conforming to the edges of the sides which are which follow a complex curve. This natural arch stiffens and strengthens the top as there is no bracing on it. The guitar is a 'neck through' design with the break angle of the strings at the bridge running 'sideways' to the tailpiece so the bridge transmits no tension to the top. Hope that makes sense!