David,

glad to hear you are interested in the process. One gets a real kick from the results once your efforts come back in the form of a laser cut kit. 3D CNC cut blocks I have yet to see but you can imagine that producing 3D drawings for a router to produce MK style parts and then have those milled is also quite cool!

In my brief experience I'll just say that I put my mind to the idea of ending up with a CAD plan on the table by the time I was done and be pleased with that alone. If you head down this road, be prepared for some "peripheral learning" and a decent dose of patience. We modelers tend to be good candidates for both of those facets though. I kinda think of it as being akin to baking a cake. You can make one if you have the ingredients but knowing what the ingredients are and how and when to mix them makes the difference between a nice fluffy cake and a flat leaden disc the dog will get excited about...

If you pick a project that you just gotta have, it helps in ploughing through some of the trials and tribulations of the learning stages. I guess CAD is kinda technical so you have to enjoy that side of things to stay with it. In my software experience I have found 3D programs to be the hardest to get your head around. For some of the younger kids today, it just looks like a stroll in the park for them - it's cool to watch someone proficient with 3D materializing things out of thin air. Fortunately, 3D CAD is not always needed so I picked projects that I figured I could make work in 2D alone.

There I go again with mumbo jumbo - I'm just glad to hear that you are interested in getting into it. [8D]

Cheers, David.