SolidWorks 2010 Bible

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.