Can someone step me thru createing this as a sheetmetal part? Never used sheetmetal before.
Can someone step me thru createing this as a sheetmetal part? Never used sheetmetal before.
1. Draw line of the "formed" view in a sketch. Do not put in the radius, just the two lines.
2. Click "base flange/tab" 18" for your length, .031 for radius, and material thickness.
3. Follow up on your filletts and holes with the feature tab.
Hi Dave,
Why don't you take a look at the sheetmetal tutorial? It's very helpful.
Best regards,
Walter
You can find the Sheet Metal Tutorial under Help in SolidWorks. Should get you going for the simple part you need to create.
Cheers,
Anna
This will get you started.
Hi Dave, 1. begin by starting new part, 2. then pick part, 3. next view right view. 4. Pick right plane, 4a. then pick sketch-line. 5. Draw profile of paddle. 6. Next dimension as shown. 7. You can align the end points vertically if you choose. 8. Pick Base Flange/Tab icon in the sheetmetal toolbar. 9. Direction 1 choose 18, 10. T1 = .03125 or whatever your thickness is, 11. radius is .03125. This will get you started. Thanks, Daniel
Thanks for all the replies. Now I need to add the holes, curved & radiused ends in the flat, how do I do that so it shows up in flat pattern & modeled versions?
Add the holes before you convert it to sheet metal, that will give you your holes in the flat pattern also.
Aren't I starting out as a sheet metal part?
It all depends... Did you draw a profile, extrude it, then insert bends? You can create a thin part add holes, cutouts, and what not then "insert bends" to change the extrude to a sheet metal part.
Yes, you are starting in sheet metal. The two choices are 1. pick the surface the hole is to be placed in and create the hole then go to the next surface for the next hole, or 2. the better solution is to select a surface to remain flat and pick it, then use insert> sheetmetal> unfold to flatten the part. click select all bends. Now the part is in it's flat state and you can place the holes and radisus' with a cut or You can place the holes and use the fillet tool to radisus the corners. When finished with all cuts select insert> sheetmetel> fold and click select all bends. This will reform your part and the holes will be placed as needed.
If you try to just use a plane and sketch above the formed part for your cut, the holes will not be perpendicular to the face of the sheetmetel when flattened and thus may fail when flattened and will definitely not work for a CAM program.
Is it possible to draw all the detail in one sketch as a flat part, then bend? This way all the dimensions in the blank are what I want, the dimensions after bending are what they are.
Sure you can... Model your part, dimension as you need and extrude as a sheet metal part. Then sketch a line and use sketch bend in sheet metal. This will allow you to create your flat blank first then bend.
Jim
Hi Dave yes, you'll then begin your sketch on the front plane. Extude it with a base flange/tab to the thickness you desire. Next on the top face of the part draw a line bisecting the paddle then pick the sketch bend icon and fill in the appropriate information, including the type of bend you'd like, radius and angle of the bend. Done. Thanks, Daniel
This looks to be exactyl what I want to do, however in step 4, what do I pick for a face?
Hi Dave you simply pick either the top half (face) of the part or the bottom half (face). This will be the section of the part that remains fixed while the other half, the half you don't pick, will bend either upward or downward. Depending on you. Thanks, Daniel
I'm sorry, maybe I'm making this much more complicated than it is & I feel dumb to keep asking, but you say to pick top half or bottom half? Do I need to split the part or something?
It's okay Dave, no, no extra steps or features are required. Simply pick either the face above the sketch bend line or the face below the sketch bend line. Thanks, Daniel
Thanks for your patience, that's exactly what I wanted.
You only have two choices ... top or bottom. Well, OK maybe 4 choices .... top or bottom, above or below the sketch bend line.
Just pick one to create the bend, then edit the Sketch Bend feature and select a different face to see what happens.
It's okay Dave, no, no extra steps or features are required. Simply pick either the face above the sketch bend line or the face below the sketch bend line. Thanks, Daniel