Now that I've been messing with this for a couple of days, I've noticed that sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. Also, at what point the center scale handles disappear is dependent on how far out you are zoomed (the closer you are zoomed in the less chance the handles will disappear prematurely).
Here's a video that shows me getting rid of some artifact lines. It's probably not all that useful, but it shows an example, and as you will see in this instance or only worked partially.

Again, you are right jgb, but you can get it to work, but it must be done exactly correctly.

To make this work, it usually requires that you zoom and move the handles in more than a single step (zoom, move, zoom, move...), and it will not work correctly unless the last handle movement (before they disappear) is pushed right up to the threshold of the tolerance level. This all depends on whether you were zoomed in close enough, AND that the last handle movement was pushed as far as it would go.

-Just because the the handles disappear doesn't necessarily mean that the planes have all merged to the same coordinate.

One thing I've noticed when testing this is that the further the distance between the planes you are trying to "level" out, the more exacting this process must be in order for ALL the lines can be erased without faces being deleted. You can see this when trying to level out three planes where one plane is substantially more distanced from the other two; the line that divided the closer planes will likely be able to be erased without deleting a face, but the other line cannot be erased without deleting a face(s) in the process.

-This is why this process usually works when dealing with the artifact lines problem. The various planes are so close to being on the same planar coordinate that when the handles merge and disappear, you can almost always delete the artifact lines without problems, because all the planes merged according to the necessary tolerance threshold.

I hope this is all clear, if not, I might be able to make a video that shows how to make this process work effectively for anyone that might need it.

@jgb said:

In effect you are flattening the surface that went very slightly off during the intersect. And that is a very good suggestion.

But that will only work on surfaces that were (before the intersect) exactly planar to any 2 model axis, that is; the surface is aligned in 2 axis directions. If the surface is at any angle, flattening using the SU scale tool will clobber the surface, as Scale works strictly along axis directions.

For non-axis planar surfaces use Fredo's Scale tools, where you can define the scaling box's orientation.

Right.
I haven't used Fredo's scale tools, and I'm sure using these would be the fastest way to do this, but I would think you could use the AXES tool and set it to a perimeter edge and face, which should align with the rest of the model (I think..) then group the surface, do the scale fix, then un-group and re-attach the surface... probably the uber slow way of going about this compared to using Fredo's scale tools.

Here's a solution that often works to allow you to erase the artifact lines without having to rebuild the geometry:

Select all faces and edges of a single plane where the artifact lines are showing up.
(I should probably add a little clarification on this:
In this first step, what I mean is to select all coordinating faces and edges, including artifact lines, of what was originally a single plane before the artifact lines showed up.)
Go into wire frame mode and activate the scale tool, then zoom in as close as you can to the center handles. They should appear as if you have selected a multi-planar object and not merely a single plane, so in other words the scale tool should be showing a cube and not a plane, with two center handles instead of the single one we would expect to see.
Now scale the "top" center handle into the "bottom" center handle so that both handles will merge into a single handle, which now indicates that Sketchup recognizes the selection as a single plane.
You should now be able to delete the artifact lines. Just be sure you zoomed in far enough that when you scale the handles together that they really do merge and aren't just really, really close.

I should probably add a little clarification on this:
In that first step when I say to select a single plane, what I mean is to select all coordinating faces and edges of what was originally a single plane before the artifact lines showed up.

@unknownuser said:

@xiombarg said:

I'm fairly new-ish to Sketch-up (I'm just getting into the plugins). It's amazing how far these incredible plugins and their writers have taken Sketchup. I'm sure Round Edge is common-place among you sketch-masters, but.. wow. Just wow.

Thanks for your encouraging comment.

To round edges, I would suggest you rather use RoundCorner, which is more recent and does all and more that the old RoundEdge script.

Fredo

Thanks!
Incredible.

I'm fairly new-ish to Sketch-up (I'm just getting into the plugins). It's amazing how far these incredible plugins and their writers have taken Sketchup. I'm sure Round Edge is common-place among you sketch-masters, but.. wow. Just wow.

Man, I am just amazed. Your plugins are the zen that I've wished Sketchup had. Great work, seriously.

thomthom, I can't even begin to thank you enough for this tool. You rock.