CHAPTER
Using SolidWorks
Sheet Metal Tools
IN THIS CHAPTER
Learning how to use the Base
Flange controls
Using generic models to make
sheet metal parts
Working with imported
geometry
Making rolled conical parts
Working with the Insert Bends
method for sheet metal parts
tutorial
Using the Base Flange Sheet
Metal method tutorial
S
olidWorks contains two completely separate methods for working in
sheet metal. In one method you can use dedicated sheet metal features
from the start, and in the other method you build a part using thin
features and other generic modeling tools, and then tell SolidWorks it is
sheet metal so you can flatten it.
The reason for two methods is that the generic modeling method came first,
and then SolidWorks introduced a more powerful set of dedicated sheet
metal features. You can use these tools together or separately, and either way
you get an accurately flattened part at the end.
Sheet metal tools do not always represent real-world sheet metal manufac-
turing processes 100 percent accurately because some shapes that result
from bending processes are too complex to easily represent in a CAD model.
So there are times when you still have to use your imagination a little bit.
The main point is that the Flat Patterns are always accurate because sheet
metal is usually fabricated using 2D data.
Using the Base Flange Features
The features used in the Base Flange method are easy to grasp conceptually,
and they have many individual controls. These are the tools that represent
the newer method of building sheet metal parts from dedicated sheet metal
features. You can edit many of the features by pulling handles, by using spin
arrows, or by typing in specific numbers or dimensions. Maybe best of all,
SolidWorks knows to change the thickness for the entire part at once.