Gitcad,
No worries on response time. I',m always missing stuff on here, there is just so much traffic.
Someone else on here, ACspike I believe is his name on the forum, has a web site with probably 20 to 30 vector outlines of various guitars. He also created a program to convert those vector outlines to DXF. When I import these dxf files all the curves import as splines.
I played with a machining simulation using one of these outlines and I found that if I turn my tolerance setting low enough I can machine these splines with almost no faceting. The programs get quite large, but for simple 2d machining it would be no problem. The faceting that does result is very fine and would be easy to sand out.
Using these spines in a 3d application would still be a pain in the butt.
On another note, I did manage to machine my les paul body over the holidays and I am very happy with the results. The 2d work and the 3d carve all came out beautifully. all I have to do is some sanding to get ready to finish. I don't have a digital camera, and I havn't taken the time to borrow one, but when I do I will post the pics right away. I have a thread started in the in progress and finished section, I'll post the pics there.
It seems we have hijacked the crap out of this thread so maybe our future dicussion would be better placed in that thread. Here it is:
3d lp thread
I will also check out your new forum.