Sheet Metal with Bends - Best Practice

john_hauck

I'm looking for the best practices to make a sheet metal part like this:


Here is my document that creates the part in a less-than-satisfying way:
https://cad.onshape.com/documents/c9b1947c91de47696bc70390/w/d4bd0e8f4b3552a78bf7c120/e/34bb678ad7e318efe9ff8cbe?renderMode=0&uiState=6449297d8d70874f3a187292

I think the solution is to make surfaces of the desired part and then use Sheet Metal, Convert, with Bends - but I cannot get the bends to select.
In any case, what is your most elegant way to make this?

eric_pesty

This isn't a bad way to approach it, the only step you were missing was to boolean the surfaces together before doing a "thicken". You also don't need to use so many mirror features:



https://cad.onshape.com/documents/f0f01ef62e70e845d7d317b1/w/c409a154e0c8c0d97d26cbca/e/112da03a9e0b21626471d25b

eric_pesty

Also wanted to add:
An alternate method would be to use the "sheet metal fold" Featurescript, which does make this simpler (see alternate method folder in doc above):
https://cad.onshape.com/documents/9f116620b0f6d04445f57293/v/2df4f2beeec4dae0b92bdf58/e/de11451baedbaa3f6c9bae51

eric_pesty

This isn't a bad way to approach it, the only step you were missing was to boolean the surfaces together before doing a "thicken". You also don't need to use so many mirror features:



https://cad.onshape.com/documents/f0f01ef62e70e845d7d317b1/w/c409a154e0c8c0d97d26cbca/e/112da03a9e0b21626471d25b

eric_pesty

Also wanted to add:
An alternate method would be to use the "sheet metal fold" Featurescript, which does make this simpler (see alternate method folder in doc above):
https://cad.onshape.com/documents/9f116620b0f6d04445f57293/v/2df4f2beeec4dae0b92bdf58/e/de11451baedbaa3f6c9bae51

john_hauck

eric_pesty said:

This isn't a bad way to approach it, the only step you were missing was to boolean the surfaces together before doing a "thicken". You also don't need to use so many mirror features:



https://cad.onshape.com/documents/f0f01ef62e70e845d7d317b1/w/c409a154e0c8c0d97d26cbca/e/112da03a9e0b21626471d25b

>>  ... the only step you were missing was to boolean the surfaces together before doing a "thicken".
Bingo!
Thanks a ton!
I've been chided for using mirrors too much in the past too. Maybe I'm narcissistic?

eric_pesty

LoL!
The mirrors aren't "wrong" but you were just making your life harder! And since you needed to boolean stuff anyway, mirroring the different surfaces in one go with the "new" option is just less features and clicks than creating multiple mirrors with "add".

When the actual part is symmetric I usually prefer to just mirror it at the end.

Also in this case if using the "fold" method. The simplest would be to mirror the sketch (probably just once to create half the part but with both flanges at the same time, but also could do the whole thing at once). Then do the thicken sheet metal and add the two fold features (using the lines in the sketch for the folds), and mirror the part at the end.

glen_dewsbury

@john_hackington
Meant to pass this on earlier except I got called way.
@eric_pesty
Was going to use part mirror with one side completed but got an error when I checked add. Is it because of the fold on line function? I've used part mirror of sheet metal before with much more complex models.
https://cad.onshape.com/documents/d8be8f9c1b768560d2efa699/w/b50c2cbd87bdfd9eada2d8e3/e/89cac0c9dc005e4f0bbc20b8

eric_pesty

@glen_dewsbury
Part mirror is working for me on this (even with the "fold" feature from the "alternate" method)...

The one thing I have noticed is that you always have to manually specify the "merge scope" when doing an "add" mirror of sheet metal (whereas a normal part will automatically populate it with the thing you are mirroring). Does it fail even when you make sure the merge scope is correctly specified (I've forgotten to do this more than once...)?

glen_dewsbury

@eric_pesty
Tried going back to check the merge scope and also tried changing to merge with all. Still getting an error on the merge with this part..

eric_pesty

@glen_dewsbury
Very odd... Seems to work for me, or where you trying to do something else?



https://cad.onshape.com/documents/12d528c1259d9ecf7d407b64/w/a94e20cd71fd3992efac2e80/e/64aeaf8da120e5b75c6a0fc3

glen_dewsbury

Was split the other way with one FoldSM.