Sheet Metal options?

don_williams909

I need to be able to create a flat part, make some cuts either by laser of punch, roll it, then add an emboss feature after it is rolled.

Does Onshape have this ability?  I can find where I can create a rolled part from a sketch, but I can't convert a solid into a rolled sheet metal part.

In the image below, I have a flat part, that I want to roll into the shape in the background. The of course comes the emboss feature...
Thoughts?

Jake_Rosenfeld

@don_williams909

You should be able to click the "sketch" tool in the toolbar, and then select a face of the flat pattern (in the sheet metal flyout) as your sketch plane:
https://cad.onshape.com/documents/3bfe678e50db9ed3bc2f981f/w/33a760ac0a2786f6beb3e439/e/3a5d353f13151c3ef8f9cab4

mahir

I believe the order of CAD operations would be to create the basic rolled shape, then create the punch/hole features on the flat pattern view. The emboss may need to be added after "finishing" the sheet metal part. The emboss won't show up in the flat pattern unless you have add a sketch to locate it. If you're looking to create a round emboss, here's one option.

And here's an example.

don_williams909

How does one add a sketch to the flat pattern view?  I tried, but failed miserably...

Jake_Rosenfeld

@don_williams909

You should be able to click the "sketch" tool in the toolbar, and then select a face of the flat pattern (in the sheet metal flyout) as your sketch plane:
https://cad.onshape.com/documents/3bfe678e50db9ed3bc2f981f/w/33a760ac0a2786f6beb3e439/e/3a5d353f13151c3ef8f9cab4

owen_sparks

Neil sent some bloggage:-

https://www.onshape.com/cad-blog/tech-tip-how-to-sketch-on-the-sheet-metal-flat-view-in-onshape?utm_source=hs_email&utm_medium=email&utm_content=64501052&_hsenc=p2ANqtz--2DLOL0YzMA9L-dEMUG_RALsmJWGjR4igDNbjIe6hXKeAidwEb85DynLcoLYNc2ZqSKpbHwuSZT0VXwTi0lwLkHJfXEg&_hsmi=64501052 

Owen S.

don_williams909

So, I've been able to sketch on the flat pattern of a sheet metal part, but after making a series of holes, any other attempt at sketching and extruding fails.

konstantin_shiriazdanov

You might have finished sheet metal part?

don_williams909

So the Support team confirmed that part of what I want to do can't be done yet in the Sheet Metal module.  They'll get there eventually.

brucebartlett

Hi Don, these workflows are very important for those using turret punches and I agree there needs to be a better solution! At the moment there are workarounds here to get the placement points on the dxf for embossing but it is not a proper solution.  

In SolidWorks, I used to have a form tool library with all my available stripit tools, when I wanted to add to a sheet metal part you just opened the flyout and dragged them onto the part, very simple and worked with ease once you had the library settings correct. The only issue with SolidWorks was the flat pattern always retained the emboss and dxf had to be edited to remove the tangent edges from the retained enbose before sending the programer.

Onshape's solution of adding the sketch to the flat pattern as @Jake_Rosenfeld showed works without post dxf editing but ideally, we need the enboses to be parametrically linked and showing up as formed features on the 3d view. Having to add a finish sheet metal feature then position unlinked enbosses is not acceptable in my view.  We also need a way to build out an punch/enbose tool library.