Bend
Fold a flat sheet along a line, like acrylic on a strip heater or a sheet-metal bracket. The laser file keeps the flat shape.
- Bend AdvancedPart Studio toolbar
| SchoolCAD | Onshape | Fusion | SOLIDWORKS |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bend | Sheet metal Bend | Flange | Sketched Bend |
Bend folds a flat sheet along a line you draw across it. Use it for acrylic bent on a strip heater (phone stands, clock faces, book ends) or a folded sheet-metal bracket.
The best part: SchoolCAD still knows the flat shape. The laser cut file of a bent part is the flat sheet, with the bend lines drawn in blue (not cut) and labelled with the angle and direction, ready to cut and then bend.
Bend is in the Advanced tool set. In Standard, find it with Search tools (` or Alt+C), or switch to Advanced at the end of the toolbar.
How to use it#
- Make the flat sheet first: a sketch extruded to the sheet thickness, such as 3 mm acrylic.
- Start a sketch on the sheet's big flat face and draw a line right across it where it should bend. Click ✓ Finish sketch.
- Click Bend. Choose the Sketch with the line. The sheet under the line is found for you (or click the part).
- Type the Angle and choose the Direction: Up bends towards the side the sketch faces, Down towards the other side.
- Check the preview, then click ✓.
Options#
| Option | What it does |
|---|---|
| Sketch | The sketch with the bend line (or lines). Construction lines are not used. |
| Sheet | The flat part to bend. |
| Angle and Direction | How far it bends (up to 180°), and which way. With several lines, each line has its own row: tick it to bend there, and give it its own angle and direction. |
| Inside radius | The radius on the inside of the bend. It is the sheet thickness unless you type another size. |
| Stays still | Which side does not move: Auto (the bigger side), One end or Other end. |
| K-factor | Where the sheet neither stretches nor squashes, as a share of its thickness from the inside (0.33 to 0.5). SchoolCAD uses 0.45, like Onshape. Leave it unless your teacher gives you a number. |
Tips#
- On a sheet metal part, Bend adds the bend to its flat pattern and bend table, and uses the part's bend radius and K-factor unless you set your own.
- Each bend is centred on its line, and the flat sheet is made long enough for the bend, so the size you cut is right.
- You can bend a flap that is already bent: add another Bend with a line drawn on that flap.
- The parts list costs a bent part from its flat sheet.
If it does not work#
- Draw a line across the sheet where it should bend: the sketch has no line, or only construction lines.
- The part is too thick to bend at line 1: Bend is for flat sheets up to 25 mm thick.
- Line 1 is not on the sheet: draw the line on the sheet's big flat face, or on a plane just above or below it.
- Line 1 is too near the edge of the sheet: move the line in, or make the angle or the inside radius smaller.
- The sheet is joined round line 1, so it cannot bend there: the sheet is joined on both sides of the line (like the walls of a box). Cut it free first, or move the line.