buildlog.net

Anybody know of some reasonably priced software to convert STL files into something editable like STEP?

STL is a horrible file format to start with for CAD. Most high end CAD systems can import the file and try use it in assemblies, but feature like holes are not even round.

No personal experience with it, but...

http://www.solveering.com/instep.html

FIrst google result.
Still a few days of free beta left.

But yeah, like Bart said, STL is a very bad starting point.
It's not parametric nor procedural, it's just a triangulated set of vertices.
Kinda like raster vs. vector image.

Here is one imported into CAD. As you can see there are a lot of faces. Even if you could start stitching faces together, at best you will end up with the Sketchup quality CAD file.

You could open it in a CAD and use snap to reconstruct the whole thing parametrically from the imported vertices.
Then again, you could that from an STL as well...

I find it easier to start a new part file and then reference the STL for basic dimensions. That way I can make a completely parametric model.