lines to shape?

[dm]

Is there some way to join several line segments into a fillable shape that is cleanly extrude-able? I've been having a hard time with making lines 'stick' together. The manual has always seemed a little convoluted to me, and it has always been difficult to figure anything out from the instructions.

Thanks

[Guest]

You can use the Combine into surface command to create an extrude. Make sure that all of the lines are touching each other, then go to the Tool Menu and select Combine into surface. Your cursor will become a bucket if you place it in the center of the objects it will create a polygon which you can then extrude.

[GRC]

I have also had a hard time getting the "convert lines to surface" command to be reliable. Frequently I have to go through the whole perimeter joining the lines. ClarisCad had one command that traced the whole perimeter - it was great!

Sometimes, I have had to make several sub-surfaces and then add them together.

The surface command frequently does not work if there are other lines inside the perimeter.

Then, I have to displace the perimeter lines outside the local area, create the surface, and then displace them back into the correct position.

The command also leaves the individual lines underneath the new surface, sometimes making it a pain to get rid of them. I thought there was a switch somewhere that did not duplicate the original lines when making a surface.