Sheet Metal Guy Blog

20 Mar 2008   12:01:08 pm
Miter Flange on 3 Sides
The Miter Flange is a great tool to quickly place the same flange geometry on several sides of your part. However, I often hear from users that they have trouble placing the sketch or getting the flanges on the sides they want. A recent note from one user says he can’t get it to place the flange on three sides of his part. It does all four sides with no problem. This is because the Miter Flange command is what I call unidirectional. Meaning it starts on the edge you select first and at the corner closest to where you selected that edge. It then works its way around the boundary going away from the starting corner. Confused? I was too, so let’s look at a picture. When you select the first edge to place the Miter Flange, SolidWorks creates an origin marker at one of the corners. The Miter Flange will be created on the selected edge, starting at the Origin marker. The next edge which I can select is then the bottom edge, not the top edge. The third edge would be the right side of the part. The only time I can select the top edge is when all the other edges are also selected. So the moral of the story is pay attention to which edge you select first to start the command. Don’t start your sketch on the middle of the three edges that you want.
		Category : SolidWorks | By : SheetMetalGuy | Comments [147] | Trackbacks [3727]
04 Mar 2008   12:59:29 pm
Lofted Bends
A lot of people have asked for examples of sheet metal lofted bends. Many do not realize that SolidWorks has some great lofted bend examples in the Design Library. The Design Library is located in the Task Pane on the right hand side of the SolidWorks screen. On the Design Library tab, expand the Design Library folder. Then, expand the parts folder, and then, the sheetmetal folder. When you click on the lofted bends folder, you will see eight different transition types: bulk materials chute, ellipse 2 round, hexagon 2 round, hood scoop, offset cone, rectangular to round, rectangular 2 square, and strut. Open up the ones that interest you. From the feature sketches you can see how the parts were created and even modify the dimensions to make your own lofted bends. Just remember to use Save As so that you don’t save over the original file.
		Category : SolidWorks | By : SheetMetalGuy | Comments [129] | Trackbacks [1855]
28 Feb 2008   11:51:56 am
Is there a chart of k-factors I can use?
Every now and then I get email asking, “Where can I get a K Factor Chart? Original chart, not someone's calculations.” This one came from Noel this week. So I thought it might be a good time to answer it publicly. To the best of my knowledge this chart does not exist. You can find several technical manuals offering their theoretical chart. Back in the 70's I was taught a rule of thumb: Radius < Thickness, K=.25 Radius < 2 * Thickness, K=.33 Radius > 2 * Thickness, K=.5 While this is just a rule of thumb, try the math on a couple of your material thicknesses. The difference in the answer if you use a k-factor of .25 vs .33, it's only a couple of thousandths. Here a quick formula for Bend Allowance (BA) of a 90 degree bend is 1.57 * (radius + thickness * k factor). So for .048 thickness with a .0625 inside radius, with k = .25 the BA = .117, and with k = .33 the BA = .123, a difference of 0.006. The real issue is that the k-factor varies not only with the hardness of the material, but also with the tooling and method you use on your press brake. The k-factor which works for one shop does not necessarily work for the next shop. You may want to talk with people you know in other shops to see what they are using. Or perhaps a tech support rep for a press brake manufacturer. They should have a chart to get you started. From there, it is a matter of experience and adjustment. You must find out what works for you. If you have a k-factor chart you would like to share with others, email to me and I will post it.
		Category : Sheet Metal | By : SheetMetalGuy | Comments [99] | Trackbacks [2536]
21 Feb 2008   03:56:27 pm
The Kitchen Sink - Can you model it?
Alright, this request came from a customer. We spent some time modeling it, we want to see if any else can come up with a better method. The dimensions are not as important as the concept of the part. It is a sink with large radius bends all around and yes they are equal in this case. The four sides go out at a 30 degree angle, or you could say the bends around the bottom of the part are 60 degrees. The sides then bent again to come up vertical. The ball corners will be made separately and welded in afterwards. The original from our customer was modeled as a thin wall shell, but would not convert to a sheet metal part. The images are to help you understand what we want to model. You can respond here or email your Solidworks file to us at books@SheetMetalGuy.com So the question is “how would you model this sheet metal part?”
		Category : SolidWorks | By : SheetMetalGuy | Comments [264] | Trackbacks [3551]
18 Dec 2007   03:56:20 pm
Sheet Metal Guy Announces New Industry Directory
Sheet Metal Guy, LLC just announced its new Industry Directory, a great new resource for the sheet metal industry! The most comprehensive resource for businesses in the metal forming, fabricating, and welding industries. We provide decision makers with a clear and informative list of companies whom supply new equipment, tooling, and consumables to the industry. “We get calls and email every day asking about CNC punch presses, lasers and other machinery. Some are looking for spare parts others want new equipment or supplies. The Industry Directory will help these people find what they need quicker,” said Joe Bucalo, president and Sheet Metal Guy, LLC. Next time you are looking for a new supplier, look here first. The directory is an invaluable resource to help find the contact information you are looking for and help others find you. A part of the Sheet Metal Guy website, you can find the directory online at: http://www.sheetmetalguy.com/directory The Industry Directory continues to expand as new resources are being added daily. Company listings are free for qualified suppliers.
		Category : AutoCAD | By : SheetMetalGuy | Comments [151] | Trackbacks [4006]
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