I often work with sheet metal that needs to be rolled into a cylinder with a formed lip and run into the issue of not being able to Unfold the cylinder to add Cut-Extrude features to its flat pattern that would then be Folded and visible in its rolled state. See attached. Why can I Flatten these type of parts, but cannot choose a Fixed Face to Unfold?
Is it possible to unfold an L or C-shaped sheet metal sweep?
The above link has the answer. You can do this with just a Swept Flange. In the sketch that defines the Sweep path, you add a small straight line to the curve and that allows you to select a Fixed Face when you try to Unfold. Works perfect! Thanks Dennis Bacon. It appears that "Fixed Face" should be thought of as "Flat Face" when using the Unfold feature.