Gibson Overcomes Z-Axis Constraints with Custom EtherCAT CNC Router

When floor space is fixed but production demands grow, engineering has to close the gap. For Gibson, the iconic American guitar manufacturer, the acoustic manufacturing team was challenged to design a CNC machine capable of flipping a 20-inch wide instrument body, a process that requires significant vertical clearance (Z-travel), that could fit within a strict 3x3-foot footprint on a crowded factory floor.

Standard commercial CNC routers capable of that vertical range were simply too large for the available space, often requiring footprints over 5x the size of Gibson's allotment. To solve this, the engineering team, led by Electrical Engineer Brian Killian, decided to design and build a specialized router in-house.

Instead of a traditional high-gantry design, which would be too tall and bulky, the team engineered a custom frame with a recessed fixture. This design allows the instrument rib set to be positioned deep within the machine bed, enabling the necessary flip-and-machine operations without requiring an excessive Z-axis height.

When selecting motion control components for this critical application, the decision was driven by proven reliability. The facility had previously utilized a commercial router equipped with Teknic servo systems. That machine had operated consistently without motor-related downtime, giving the team confidence in the brand.

For the custom routers, Gibson selected a Centroid Hickory control system, which required an EtherCAT-compatible motion bus. They paired this with Teknic’s ClearPath-EC servos. The ClearPath-EC is an integrated servo system that combines a brushless motor, high-resolution encoder, and drive electronics into a compact, IP67-rated package. Because it uses the EtherCAT industrial Ethernet protocol, the system ensures high-speed, synchronized communication between axes while drastically reducing cabling complexity—a crucial benefit for a machine with such a compact footprint.

The transition to the custom build was smoothed by Teknic’s engineering support, which assisted Gibson with the initial configuration and tuning to match the unique mechanics of the recessed-fixture design.

Following the success of the initial unit, Gibson is moving forward with plans to scale the solution. The compact, high-precision design has allowed them to solve the space-versus-capability problem efficiently.

"All the things we've done with Teknic has been really good," says Brian. Based on the performance of the first unit, Gibson intends to build up to six identical custom routers to support the volume of their acoustic production lines.