SOLIDWORKS Sheet Metal
SOLIDWORKS Sheet Metal Tips and Tricks from Javelin’s Certified Experts
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…
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…
How to automatically create a SOLIDWORKS Sheet Metal Flat Pattern Configuration
If a job can be automated in SOLIDWORKS and reduces the amount of time it takes to create I say do it, especially if it works every time. The flat pattern can be created automatically while making a drawing and since most parts require a drawing why not make your life a little easier with…
Common Sheet Metal Issues When I visit clients, I am surprised that SOLIDWORKS users are not aware of the sheet metal bend tables included with the software and quite often I find there is a disconnect between design/engineering and manufacturing departments. Typically this means: Engineering/design may not be providing the right information to manufacturing. The…
Today we are going to decide which is the better tool to use when adding flanges to a sheet metal part: Sketch Bend vs Edge Flange. Sketch Bend and Edge Flange are two very different tools that produce similar results. Why do they exist if they do the same thing? They exist because although the…
In this article I am going to make a very basic sheet metal box with two different creation techniques to determine which is more efficient, delivers more accurate results, and looks better. Before you jump to conclusions thinking which method is better, you might be surprised by the outcome. Stay tuned for the results. The…
In part 4 of my making a Sheet Metal Duct guide, I showed how to get the best material yield. Today I’m going to show you how to add etch marks so that all parts can be rolled together as one, zip cut, reordered and then welded together. With the parts already placed together, copy…
Today we are going to decide which feature is the better choice in a particular design situation – in this example should I use a Base Flange (Edge Flange/Sketch Bend) method or a Thin Feature? If you have been creating SOLIDWORKS sheet metal parts for a while and haven’t been using the Thin Feature, you…
Making a sheet metal duct can be time consuming but hopefully these few tips can reduce the time it takes. In my previous articles I took you through the process of making a 24 inch diameter, 90 degree HVAC duct. For the second step of the process I showed you how to apply a 0.0005″…
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