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Form Tool

Question asked by Tony Hayes on Aug 8, 2007
Latest reply on Aug 10, 2007 by Kenneth Barrentine

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Hello everyone,

I have a sheet metal part that I need to smash into a differentshape. This tool was built about 20 years ago and we a revision tothe part that changes the outside shape at the end. We cannot feedmore material and then trim this shape, so we have to smash thematerial to get the desired shape. I need to create a forming toolthat will smash this material to the desired shape. when I createthis and then put it on the part, the part then wraps around theforming tool. This is not giving the shape I need. I know I willneed to play the profile of the forming to but how do I keep itfrom wrapping around the form tool. I have attached photos Iwhat I need, what I am starting from and with my current methodgives me.

Thank You very much
Tony Hayes

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Kenneth Barrentine Aug 8, 2007 2:21 PM
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in the last jpeg, it looks like the material varies in thickness.
this will cause issues.

can you attach the part?
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- Tony Hayes @ Kenneth Barrentine on Aug 8, 2007 2:55 PM
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  Yes it will very in thickness. It needs to get thinner to push thematerial to the outside. The last .jpeg was the look of what I needin the end. We have other dies that do this same thing. I am new toSolidworks sheetmatel. What I am working for is to get the rightform on my forming to to get this profile. When I create the sameform tool that we have on the other dies the then part looks likethe picture the first picture, and not like the last. I am tring mybest to explain this, hope I am making myself clear.
  
  Thanks
  Tony
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  - Kenneth Barrentine @ Tony Hayes on Aug 8, 2007 3:24 PM
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    sorry, should have said, "varying material thickness is not allowed with sheetmetal tools".
    
    also, not sure if you are aware of this but, you can not "flatten" the "form tool" to get a blank shape.
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    - Tony Hayes @ Kenneth Barrentine on Aug 8, 2007 5:15 PM
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      Thank you Kenneth for reply by the way. Yes I do know thesethings about sheetmetal in Solidworks. I think I need to clear thisa little more. I have drawn the finished product as a sheetmetalpart (enclosed), with even thickness. The tool now cuts thematerial to a width of 67.2mm the full length of the part. At theend we need the material to flare out to 72.2mm (2.5mm per side).This will have to be done by thinning the material to push it outthe side in the die. The enclosed file is the finished product. Iam trying to figure out the profile I need on top of my form tool,not for my product model but just for the tool. You will see thatthe part has a step down 2.5mm with a ledge on one side. Thisstep down now is what causing the part to be wide at the end. Yeswe do know that our finished product will be thin but it is the 2.5step down and the ledge that is important for us to get.
      
      Thank you
      Tony
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      - Kenneth Barrentine @ Tony Hayes on Aug 9, 2007 3:08 PM
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        ok, so you know a little about sheetmetal.
        i attached a hacked attempt to depict half of the die.
        (yes there are issues at the transitions)
        
        ideally you would extrude all the features and fillet the corners last.
        Attachments
        6620_Die1.zip291.0 KB
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      - Tony Hayes @ Tony Hayes on Aug 9, 2007 4:40 PM
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        I am glad that you are helping me on this project. What you havedrawn I have already drawn that portion of the die. What I reallyneed is a forming tool the will smash the material in a previousstage of the die. We cannot change the feed amount and then trimthe outside profile. We have to smash the end to make it wider. Asbefore Solidworks will not handle very thickness in sheetmatel sothat is why I drew the finish product with equal thickness. Thepart as to get wider because of the 2.5mm step down. The step downis the revision that we must now have. Since we cannot trim theoutside after this stage in the die is why I need to smash it tothe right profile. I am not trying to create the form tool for thefinish part model. I am just trying to create the forming tool withthe needed look on top the give me the outside shape we need. Ihave enclosed pictures of a similar product that is produced at oursister company in Austria. That had to do the same thing. Thethinner material at the end is not a issue. When I create a formingtool that looks like theirs it wraps the material aroundeverything, I just need it to push the material outward.
        
        Thank you very much for the help
        Tony Hayes
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        Kenneth Barrentine @ Tony Hayes on Aug 9, 2007 8:50 PM
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        not sure what you're really after.
        the material is squished out but, it's of uniform thickness.
        
        note: for some reason the tool i created wants the face to be opposite of what you drag 'n drop to. if you use the tool i created and after you drop onto part, in fm, right click on form tool sketch, edit sketch plane.
        
        anyway, see attached.
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        Form_Tool.zip98.4 KB
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        Tony Hayes @ Kenneth Barrentine on Aug 10, 2007 11:09 AM
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        This is very close to what I need. I do understand that solidworkswill not thin the material, it will stay equal. But the flaring outthe side to be wider is what I am looking for. I know that I willhave to adjust that profile to get the desired shape. Did you justchange the colors because I do not see the form tool command in thefeature manager?
        
        Thank you
        Tony Hayes
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        Kenneth Barrentine @ Tony Hayes on Aug 10, 2007 1:09 PM
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        form tool feature not a necessity.
        
        yes, i just changed the face colors, a.k.a. "old school".
        yellow is for forming, red removes material, cyan is stopping face.
        
        the draft feature is not an ideal method for the flare, i was just lazy.
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        Tony Hayes @ Kenneth Barrentine on Aug 10, 2007 2:10 PM
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        Ok I see now how you are going about doing it. You said the draftwas the lazy way to do. Why do you have to use draft? And if usingdraft is the lazy way what is the correct way to do it?
        
        Thank you so much for the help
        Tony
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        Kenneth Barrentine @ Tony Hayes on Aug 10, 2007 2:59 PM
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        not going to use the word correct, but here is another method.
        this example has more control over flare dimension.
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        FormTool_Revised.zip72.4 KB
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