SOLIDWORKS Sheet Metal

SOLIDWORKS Sheet Metal Tips and Tricks from Javelin’s Certified Experts

SOLIDWORKS 2021 – Performance Improvements in Sheet Metal

If you work with SOLIDWORKS on sheet metal parts with many bends, then you will find that performance is faster in SOLIDWORKS 2021. The time to flatten complex sheet metal bodies containing many bends has been dramatically reduced in SOLDIWORKS 2021.  After creating this single-body part containing 77 bends, I found the time to flatten…

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Getting the Perfect SOLIDWORKS Sheet Metal Miter Flange

Getting the perfect fitment with sheet metal could make you look like a king or queen among designers and friends with the welder/fitters. They shall dance and sing to the all Supreme of sheet metal miters…. Although SOLIDWORKS Miter (mitre) Flange is a command that doesn’t seem hard, there are some hidden challenges which I…

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How to salvage imported sheet metal data the easy way in SOLIDWORKS

SOLIDWORKS Imported Sheet Metal Service

What if you receive an imported sheet metal model with weird abnormalities, like jagged edges or crazy surface shapes? Maybe it’s not even a solid, due to these issues.  I’ve seen a few such models while working in the sheet metal industry, where it was so “not right” that it defies trying to put into…

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Parametric Flat Pattern of Bent Rod/Tube in SOLIDWORKS

tube flat pattern

SOLIDWORKS Sheet Metal tools provide the ability to obtain the flat shape from a bent part.  The flat length of each bend is based on defined parameters.  This can be defined with K-factors, Bend Allowance or Bend Deduction.  For more information on Sheet Metal calculations, check out the following articles: What Are Bend Allowance, Bend…

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SOLIDWORKS Sheet Metal Curvature Overlaps

Sheet Metal Part

Sometimes when you create a sheet metal design you must adhere to standard sheet metal sizes and what your company or outsourced company can cut on laser/plasma/water jet machines. Most companies will have tables large enough for a length of 120 inches but the lucky few might have lengthy tables doubling that to 240 in.,…

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How to Make and Flatten a Sheet Metal Cone in SOLIDWORKS

Sheet Metal Cone

Creating a Sheet metal cone in SOLIDWORKS can seem like a complex task, but I’m here to alleviate your worries and provide you with the correct workflow. I typically like to start my first sketch on the Top Plane. Using my sheet metal open sketch technique, we can draw an arc and its construction lines….

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How to Label SOLIDWORKS Sheet Metal Etch Marks

I previously showed you how to create etch marks using existing geometry from Hole Wizard holes. Having redundancies can prevent mistakes and help out manufacturing. This is sort of like the carpentry saying of “measure twice, cut once”. Having a callout of the Hole Wizards holes on the physical part and drawing will reduce the…

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Using the SOLIDWORKS Sheet Metal Bounding Box to create Flat Pattern Data

Several times in my career I’ve had rush jobs that need an estimate right away, or, the material might be a long lead request/special order coming from another city or in some cases a different country. Having the basic dimensions of a part can help make this happen. Previously I showed how to automate the…

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Using existing geometry to create Etch Marks in SOLIDWORKS Sheet Metal Parts

SOLIDWORKS Etch Marks

When designing sheet metal parts within SOLIDWORKS you may want to add in etch marks to be etched later by the laser or HD plasma machines. Adding etch marks helps communication for later options. My example here is a part that’s going to be laser cut and I want to notify the machinist what size…

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