Is it me, or is it really the case that a mesh cannot be used as a cutting tool (as can a surface or solid or line/curve) by which i can split/break/trim a surface or solid? (Yes, this question is a rehash of my last visitation on this theme...)

I had some minor success exporting from Rhino 3 a mesh i imported that i exported from VCP 6, which started out as a .obj wavefront object file exported from Delftship.

I imported into Rhino the mesh from VCP. In Rhino, only a few symmetrical areas came in, but i exported that selected geometry back to VCP.

I told VCP to convert the mesh to surfaces and lo and behold found i could join IN ONE FELL SWOOP ALL 17 or so surfaces. Tempting fate, i used the split tool and sure enough, it worked.

However, when i tried to convert the entire model of mesh to a solid, it failed. Tried to surfaces (i didn't bother trying mesh to mesh), but the program stopped working.

Whomever on high who is insisting that a mesh can not be broken (as if it's some future reserved "special" feature (i'm looking at you, ACIS) needs to be shaken and rattled. If Rhino 3 and PolyCAD can do various things (which i'm not successful at reproducing), then at the very least, a mesh should be breakable.

Tim, is it the case that a mesh is only selectable with the pointer so long as no modifying tools are selected? I'm finding i cannot select the mesh and use it as a dividing/breaking surface. Is there some term of use out of ACIS/Spatial/et al who are tying your hands and disallowing what i am trying to attain?

ZLC