SolidWorks 2010 Bible

Chapter 29: Using SolidWorks Sheet Metal Tools

Making rolled conical parts

One of the reasons for maintaining the legacy Insert Bends method is to have a way of creating

rolled conical parts. You can create cylindrical sheet metal parts by drawing an arc that almost

closes to an entire circle, and creating a Base Flange from it. However, no equivalent technique for

creating tapered cones exists with the Base Flange method.

With the Insert Bends method, a revolved thin feature does the job nicely. You simply revolve a

straight line at an angle to the centerline, so that the straight line does not touch or cross the cen-

terline; the revolve cannot go around the full 360 degrees because there must be a gap. Sheet metal

parts are not created by stretching the material (except for Forming Tools).

When creating a rolled sheet metal part, you cannot select a flat face to remain fixed when the part

is flattened. Instead, you can use a straight edge along the revolve gap, as shown in Figure 29.39.

FIGURE 29.39

Selecting a straight edge for a conical part

Select one of these edges in the

Fixed Face/edge selection box