Video: Vertical Machining Centers at Taylor Guitars
Equipment most of us associate with metalworking is used in this famous guitar maker’s production woodworking application.
.jpg;width=70;height=70;mode=crop;format=webp)
When I visited Taylor Guitars to learn about its manufacturing process, one of the manufacturing technologies I encountered was vertical machining centers. While some of the VMCs at the company’s factory in El Cajon, California, produce metal tooling for in-house use, most of these machines are carving wood to sculpt the guitars. In this video, factory neck department manager Julie Gardiner talks about this machining center application. Also, company founder Bob Taylor describes the challenge of making a product out of wood. An organic workpiece material, wood is very different from metal, in part because the quality of the material available is gradually in decline.
I visited Taylor as part of a film shoot for a forthcoming Edge Factor documentary on music-industry manufacturing. Find updates about the progress of this project at edgefactor.com.
On that same trip, we also shot this video at DW Drums.
Related Content
-
10 Ways Additive Manufacturing and Machining Go Together and Affect One Another
Forget “additive versus subtractive.” Machining and metal additive manufacturing are interconnected, and enhance the possibilities for one another. Here is a look at just some of the ways additive and machining interrelate right now.
-
Vertical Lathe Executes Heavy-Duty, Long and Continuous Cutting
New VT1000EX Vertical Lathe from Okuma America Corp. possesses the capability to cut and machine difficult materials through, according to Okuma, its highly rigid, mechanical configuration, extreme thrust and torque.
-
Watchmaking: A Machinist’s View
Old-world craftsmanship combines with precision machining on a vertical machining center and Swiss-type lathe to produce some of the only U.S.-made mechanical wristwatch movements.
