First post here, long time lurker.
Disclaimer;
I am a custom carbonfibre mfg.
Mostly build bikes.
Have been building carbon guitars for about 3 years now.
Started building wood guitars in the 80's.
First let me say that I also hope the prices don't come down?
Cheap offshore stuff already floods the bicycle market. I fear it is coming.
The prices being thrown around for full Al. molds are WAY OFF!!
If the builders are paying that much for tooling, they need to do some research, move to Michigan, or hire a production manager???
You could buy a top of the line CNC 5-axis mill for less than 50k!
Tooling, or "molds" can be made from many different materials with the exact same results.
Cheap gelcoat, high-temp polyester resins/surface coats and fiberglass can yield high quality parts; Formula 1 tooling is mostly molded.
Smaller parts may use Al for tooling.
We also (mfg's in MI) use "casting resins". They have the same, or in some cases better properties for "fast-cycle, high heat" cures. They can have Al., TI., steel, or other additives depending on the application.
I use a Boeing Mil-spec. epoxy resin that will "air, or open" cure.
Still has a 56 thousand lb. "shore or tinsel" strength.
My first experience with carbon was in 79' at a factory that built racing boats w/ solid carbon sails, (they looked like vertical wings)
Here are some molds, (made from carbon, w/epoxy high-temp resins and surface coats;
You could pull a 1000 parts without damage as long as they are properly prepped before molding.
It obviously took many man hours to create the design, drawings, plugs, then molds before finally pulling any parts.
But 50-80k would cover me for a year.
These were done in weeks. The carbon used for the molds were mostly from the scrap bin. AL. angle and a strip of TI. was used to keep the neck area stable under higher heat.
My necks have .005-007 thous. relief built in. Still use a truss rod on all carbon necks. Built a dozen prototype necks and 9 full guitars before committing to molds.
JM