Solidworks Newbie Questions

Hi all

I`m familiarizing myself with the sheet metal part of Solidworks

I made a test part thats 100mm wide and 50mm high ...extruded it....then added a 15mm flange....then flattened the part

question....the 2 lines at the radius....I`m assuming that is the bend allowance?..if so that's nice to know but does the software have other helpful tools to recreate that bend in the real world at the bending brake?

Can the software add the sight line/other assistance to the human fabricator....or do I have to work that out and add that line myself? I'm trying to find out how far the software goes after the flatten command...if what I see here is as far as it goes and i work it out from there

Thanks

Michael

Michael-
I am not sure why you have two lines displayed; the only way I could generate that was to 'force' unfold it.
Normally, you just use the flatten button in the model, or select the 'flat pattern' in the view selection.
The indicated bend line is the middle of the bend, or center of the bend allowance, and shows the bend radius,
the angle to bend and up/down.
The two lines you show IS the bend allowance distance.
As far as the sight line, you would have to add that in.
My drawing shows a 50mm long with 15mm flange at 1mm thick with 1mm BR and .5 K-factor.
I plasma cut parts and use the bend center dimension to bend parts accurately.
-Christian

Quote:

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Originally Posted by vondeliusc

Michael-
I am not sure why you have two lines displayed; the only way I could generate that was to 'force' unfold it.
Normally, you just use the flatten button in the model, or select the 'flat pattern' in the view selection.
The indicated bend line is the middle of the bend, or center of the bend allowance, and shows the bend radius,
the angle to bend and up/down.
The two lines you show IS the bend allowance distance.
As far as the sight line, you would have to add that in.
My drawing shows a 50mm long with 15mm flange at 1mm thick with 1mm BR and .5 K-factor.
I plasma cut parts and use the bend center dimension to bend parts accurately.
-Christian

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Thank you for reply

oooppss, I just realized I used the unbend curve command not the flatten part command. I think that's why it showed those 2 lines on my part rather then the single line of the centre of the radius as you describe.

its great that you can zoom in on the part you attached, you can really see what's going in the radius.

ill print some sample bend patterns and tack them on the aluminum and do some trial bends


thanks
Michael