newb questions

[lamesh99]

ok, i know this was probably asked a million times, but here it is again. can i cut 2,5D or 3D in kcam? i am close to finishing my little desktop machine, and the first things i will be making are improved bearing mounts, stepper mounts... obviously, this has to be done out of thicker material (let's say up to 40mm). can i cut it with kcam? i got a hang of the most of the kcam setup, but when i import a block with a central hole in dxf, all i get are lines, as if it's engraving in air, so to speak.
any tips or tricks?

[lamesh99]

to answer my own question, and maybe help others:
of course it can. it's only a matter of importing files, or pre-written gcode. this is how i do it:
first step: draw the object in sketchup. to export stl, you need the stl plugin you can get from here: su2stl (SU Plugin) - Ruby Library Depot. there is an explanation for installation. draw the object, export it (selected part or the whole thing) as .stl.
step two: i am using meshcam, as i find it very simple and straight forward. you need to to some tuning before you can generate toolpath, but it's not a big problem. for exporting gcode, i use basic gcode mm/arcs.nc
step three:import the gcode file into kcam. again, you will need to do some tuning, depending on your machine. then, cut.
i think this would actually be 3D cutting, and it works for me. hope this helps