NyanCAD: Correct motivation for learning CAD

I'm embarrassed to say how many hours I've wasted CADing nyancat paperweight for 2.008 now.
Off to go spend even more time producing CNC mill G-code using Mastercam for a machining appointment at 8am o__o

10/1/11 Edit:
Aha, so I realized (thanks to Steve, shop instructor extraordinaire) that there are many things wrong with my CAD. Sadly, I chose 5 mils spacing for the grid I used to trace nyancat. Turns out our smallest drill bit is 1/16'' ( over 6 mils). Eheh. Also, I was planning on going 0.3'' deep, which would take forever to mill out using 1/16'', as it can only go ~0.02'' down per z-axis pass.

yea, milling fail.

that, dear friends, is the look of a lot of milling time.

I was halfway through the infuriating MASTERCAM too. Lesson learned: avoid branching as much as possible. See that right-most sprinkle that touches the cat's head? Caused me no end of trouble!

Next step? Infinite Mastercam'ing. Instead of being a nice cavity with extruded nyancat, it'll probably end up being closer to pedestal with a nyancat on top done in thin layers. I'll also use a larger diameter tool to pocket out each shape and then contour with the 1/16''. So, first up, redo solidworks using 0.7'' grid spacing (resize reference picture accordingly -- btw, found under insert > sketch tools > sketch picture).

I'll stick the files up on github sometime soon.

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Todo this weekend:
Saturday: Get ISP and PoV working, 6.131 lab writeup, MITERS misc. (project grants / safety / update website), PoV with partner 10am, Theater scene practice 2pm. Apply to summer jobs.
Sunday: 6.131 lab (1pm to midnight), 2.008 group meeting 7pm, watch a play (3 pm), go visit Sprout? (2pm)
Monday morning: lasercut cookies, document cookies and ISP.
Oh yea, speaking of ISP programmers, this week's assignment was to mill ISPs using these desktop Roland Modela 3d mills:
So someone made an even tinier one that doesn't need a USB connector (fits right into the slot): http://bardagjy.com/?p=628
Then someone riffed off of that and made one that has a break-off part for bootloading the chip:
http://fab.cba.mit.edu/classes/MAS.863/people/valentin.heun/2.htm