[General] 3d printing

[Michael Spiceland]

I visited a few pig roasts ago and saw a 3D printer (maybe a MakerBot)
and a CNC machine.  I've since gotten decent at making 3D objects in
Google SketchUp .  I wanted to inquire to see if you all had any
experience sucking in files generated in SketchUp to make real things.

I can make some sample widgets in SketchUp if someone wanted to play
with it.  With the free version, it can export KMZ and DAE [1].  The
MakerBot FAQ, in particular, says it works from STL files.  It should
be as easy as installing a plugin for SketchUp and and cleaning up the
model before it is exported [2].  In any event, it looks very doable.

[1] http://sketchup.google.com/intl/en/product/whygopro.html

[2] http://wiki.makerbot.com/google-sketchup

Thanks!
Michael