Convert to sheet metal
Make a part with flat faces, such as a box modelled as a solid, into sheet metal with its bends and flat pattern.
- Convert to sheet metal AdvancedPart Studio toolbar
| SchoolCAD | Onshape | Fusion | SOLIDWORKS |
|---|---|---|---|
| Convert to sheet metal | Sheet metal model (convert) | Convert to Sheet Metal | Convert to Sheet Metal |
Convert makes a part with flat faces into sheet metal. Model the outside of a box or an enclosure as a solid (an Extrude is enough), then convert it: its faces become sheet metal walls, bent where they meet, with the corners closed. It works like Convert to Sheet Metal in SOLIDWORKS and Fusion, and making a Sheet metal model from a part in Onshape.
How to use it#
- Model the part as a solid, such as a 120 × 80 × 40 block for a box.
- Click Convert.
- Click each face to leave open, such as the top of a box. Click a face again to close it.
- Set the Thickness, and whether the sheet is Inside the faces (the part keeps its outside size) or Outside them (it keeps its inside size).
- Click ✓. Look at it flat with Flat.
The biggest face stays where it is. Every face beside it folds up from it, faces beside those fold up from them, and where two folded faces meet (the upright corners of a box) the corner is closed, one running over the other's end with the corner gap between.
Options#
| Option | What it does |
|---|---|
| Left open | The faces that are not made into sheet. Clear starts again. |
| Thickness and Thickness on | How thick the sheet is, and whether it is inside or outside the part's faces. |
| Bend radius | The inside radius of every bend (the thickness, unless you change it). |
| K-factor | Where the metal neither stretches nor squashes in a bend. Leave it at 0.45 unless your teacher gives you a number. |
| Corner gap | The gap left where two walls meet at a corner. |
Tips#
- Holes that go right through the part stay in the walls, and show in the flat pattern.
- Convert works on flat faces that meet at sharp edges. Round the corners after converting (with Fillet on the upright edges), not before.
- After converting, add flanges and hems as for any sheet metal part.
If it does not work#
- Every face is left open: click only the faces to leave open.
- Some flat faces do not meet the others at a sharp edge: a rounded edge separates them. Convert before rounding.
- A face of the part is too small for its bend: make the bend radius smaller, or the part bigger.