Removing lines underneath a closed shape

[KeysOpenDoors]

Hello!  I'm attempting to prep complex artwork for a laser cutter.  One would think I could remove any lines underneath a closed shape?  But the results never end up looking all that good if I'm using the "shape builder" tool or "minus shape in front".  They end up affecting other parts of the artwork not near the intended area, as seen on the screen recording.

Can one not just sheer/cut/crop/delete underneath a selected shape?  I could go around and manually clean it up but that would take forever on how complex this artwork is... this is just one layer out of 50.

A clipping mask creates the PERFECT result but it's not distructive... so the cutter will still attempt to follow those lines.

[d0nut247]

I had a similar issue, i think it was resolved just using one of the pathfinder pallette options. The shape builder tool seems to add points and mess stuff up, but the shapebuilder ' buttons' in the pallet do a simpler cut and flatten kind of job. i think in the end it was the 'trim' option that did it - maybe divide... sorry. Just make sure to select 'all' of the artwork that currently a)looks as you want it and b) needs any kind of attention to remove hidden and masked bits. then hit the button. I know you've tried minus front. but i think one of the options actually 'nukes' the artwork to be just what youd expect. I had issues with similar complicated pdf's being cropped and re-arranged on page.