Having difficutly being able to establish a cut path.

[fwharris]

Doc,

Your very welcome and glad to hear things fell into place for you. Great exercise!

[thebytedoc]

At the risk of beating a dead horse here...As we live, we learn (or so I hope).

The real secret to doing this is really in the import DXF process. Had I been more persistant about the the autoConnect I would have been able to cut out all that mess with connecting lines and all that (although it was a great learning experience)! As it turns out by adjusting the tolerance for connecting I was able to close the entire figure in the import process.

[bluecobra]

Doc, what Sketchup exporter are you using?

I'm using the Sketchup to DXF or STL plugin from here:
http://www.guitar-list.com/download-...les-dxf-or-stl

I created a half-moon shape similar to yours, but in SAE, and it imported good and was able to define a cut path as is.

Maybe this will help make the process easier for you.

At the risk of beating a dead horse here...As we live, we learn (or so I hope).

The real secret to doing this is really in the import DXF process. Had I been more persistant about the the autoConnect I would have been able to cut out all that mess with connecting lines and all that (although it was a great learning experience)! As it turns out by adjusting the tolerance for connecting I was able to close the entire figure in the import process.

Doc, with all due repect, that's why I mentioned a different dxf/stl exporter for sketchup. Why futz around with something if it can be removed entirely by using a different plug-in?
I should point out that I work in SAE, so your metric may make a difference, although I don't see how it would.

Good luck!

[thebytedoc]

Doc, with all due repect, that's why I mentioned a different dxf/stl exporter for sketchup. Why futz around with something if it can be removed entirely by using a different plug-in?
I should point out that I work in SAE, so your metric may make a difference, although I don't see how it would.

Good luck!

Mark,
I am using Sketchup 8 pro, so it has a built in export to DXF and STL. I have played with plug-in as well. It is a great plug-in and I appreciate it! However, it did have the same behavior (for me), again the cure is/was to use the Auto-connect Slider. Additionally, the plug-in was smarter about the scaling factor, no adjustment was needed. It would seem the built in export confuses millimeters and centimeters (or I am missing a step, but geez that would never happen! , so the difference of a decimal point makes sense and is really not a big deal, just adjust the scale factor and all is well. Thanks for the follow-up. Still scaling the learning curve on Sketchup and Designer, but it is fun!

[thebytedoc]

Already, one more advantage to the Export plug-in for Sketchup (again, thanks Mark!): You are able to select specific elements you want exported, where the built-in exports ports the entire sketch, regardless of what is Selected.