3D Scanning Madness

[Archie]

Hi
I wodnder if this is a crackpot idea but what if you were to scan arch top f holes on an arch top that doesnt have binding on them and make custom binding that just slots in ? Ie white plastic or maple? Id love some for my Jazz line.

i mean you could but the problem you run into is scale.
If everyone wanted them I could sell them at say £30-£50 a set but to make one set would involve days if not weeks of R&D which would then make the cost more like £1,000 a set.
It's like the first arched plate I made. If I sold it for what it cost me to make, it would be around £200k

[EmanueleFaggion]

This is such an interesting work. Thank you for sharing with us! Luthier porn!
Are you planing to sell the scans in the future? (Sorry if you replied this question yet and I missed the reply).

[Archie]

This is such an interesting work. Thank you for sharing with us! Luthier porn!
Are you planing to sell the scans in the future? (Sorry if you replied this question yet and I missed the reply).

Hi Emanuele

No plans to sell them as yet but had crossed my mind. The problem is how much would you charge?
There are a lot of sites that sell digital plans for guitars and some even sell pre made CAD. These websites although run by some lovely people, are also run by people/companies that are purely in it for the money. They would have no problem in buying a scan from me and then reselling it, thus likely cutting me out of any future sales opportunities.
Perhaps this type of paranoid thinking is bad but given that I have purchased from these sites in the past when starting out and then realising that their work is incorrect, speculative and deliberately sold under false pretences, I decided the only way to do it right, would be through learning and investment my end. That learning and investment could never be earned back by selling a few scans but putting them out into the public would take away one the of the opportunities I have in manufacturing.

Two examples of these websites being somewhat dishonest are when I purchased the CAD for a Gibson L5 that on machining had some pretty big problems. On complaining I had no response from the seller. I paid around £500 for that CAD. In the end I spent nearly 3 years waiting for the opportunity to do it right from the ground up by scanning one myself and then reverse engineering the CAD myself.
The second company sold some PRS plans to a friend and the neck dimensions were all off. They spent considerable time arguing it, instead of refunding my friend the €12 or so he paid.

I also spoke to another site that claimed to have plans for a 57 Stratocaster. After consulting with the seller, he admitted that these pans were good estimates and not from scans or him having the guitar model year in question. I then went out and scanned a real 57 stratocaster.

I would love to share all this stuff and one day I will. I just need to understand better that shape of my business/operations going forward.