FreeCAD SheetMetal Workbench

A simple sheet metal workbench for FreeCAD

Developers:

• Folding tools:

  @shaise Shai Seger
  @jaisekjames
  @ceremcem Cerem Cem ASLAN
  (@JMG1) Based and inspired by Javier Martínez's code

• Unfolding tool:

  Copyright 2014 by Ulrich Brammer <ulrich1a[at]users.sourceforge.net> AKA @ulrich1a

Terminology

Test case

As a simple test case, consider the following example:

• Inputs:
  • Thickness: 2mm
  • K-factor: 0.38 (ANSI)
  • Leg length: 48.12mm
  • Inner effective radius: 1.64mm
  • Flange length: 51.76mm
• Output:
  • End to mold-line distance: 50mm

You can find a simple calculator in tools/calc-unfold.py.

Material Definition Sheet

You can use a Spreadsheet object to declare K-factor values inside the project file permanently. This will allow:

• Different K-factor values to be used for each bend in your model
• Sharing the same material definition for multiple objects

To use the Material Definition Sheet, follow the steps:

1. Determine your material name (eg. foo)

2. Create a spreadsheet with the name of material_foo

3. Create a table layout in material_foo, like the following (see this table):

   Radius / Thickness	K-factor		Options
   1	0.38		K-factor standard	ANSI
   3	0.43
   99	0.5

   Notes:

   1. The cell names are case/space sensitive.
   2. Possible values for K-factor standard is ANSI or DIN.
   3. Radius / Thickness means Radius over Thickness. Eg. if inner radius is 1.64mm and material thickness is 2mm then Radius / Thickness == 1.64/2 = 0.82 so 0.38 will be used as the K-factor. See lookup.py for more examples.

4. Use "Unfold Task Panel" to assign the material sheet.

5. Unfold as usual.

Screencast

Installation

For installation and how to use, please visit:
http://theseger.com/projects/2015/06/sheet-metal-addon-for-freecad/
Starting from FreeCAD 0.17 it can be installed via the Addon Manager (from Tools menu)

References

• Development repo: https://github.com/shaise/FreeCAD_SheetMetal
• FreeCAD wiki page: https://www.freecadweb.org/wiki/SheetMetal_Workbench
• Authors webpage: http://theseger.com/projects/2015/06/sheet-metal-addon-for-freecad/
• FreeCAD Forum announcement/discussion thread

Release notes:

• V0.2.32 02 Jan 2020: Python 3.8 update by [@looooo][lorenz]. Thank you!
• V0.2.31 24 Apr 2019: Added better K factor control by @ceremcem. Thank you!
• V0.2.30 30 Mar 2019: Added Fold-on-sketch-line tool by @jaisejames. Thank you!
• V0.2.22 24 Jan 2019: Fix some typos, Issue #54
• V0.2.21 20 Jan 2019: Fix some typos, Issue #52
• V0.2.20 10 Jan 2019: Added sheetmetal generation from base wire by @jaisejames. Thank you!
• V0.2.10 01 Nov 2018: Merge new features by @jaisejames. Thank you!
  • Added Edge based selection
  • Added Auto-mitering
  • Added Sketch based Wall
  • Added Sketch based Guided wall
  • Added Relief factor
  • Added Material Inside, thk inside, Offset options
• V0.2.04 21 Sep 2018: Fix K-Factor bug
• V0.2.03 20 Sep 2018: Merge @easyw PR: Add separate color for inner sketch lines. (issue #46). Change Gui layout
• V0.2.02 15 Sep 2018: Add color selection for unfold sketches (issue #41)
• V0.2.01 15 Sep 2018:
  • Fix bug when not generating sketch (issue #42)
  • Support separate color for bend lines (issue #41)
• V0.2.00 04 Sep 2018: Make SheetMetal compatible with Python 3 and QT 5
• V0.1.40 20 Aug 2018: Merge Ulrich's V20 unfolder script - supports many more sheet metal cases and more robust
• V0.1.32 25 Jun 2018: New feature: Option to separately unfold bends. Thank you @jaisejames!
• V0.1.31 25 Jun 2018: Support ellipses and parabolas, Try standard sketch conversion first
• V0.1.30 25 Jun 2018:
  • New feature: Generate unfold sketch with folding marks. Issue #33. Thank you @easyw!
  • New feature: K-Factor foe unfolding is now editable. Issue #30
• V0.1.21 19 Jun 2018: Fixed back negative bend angles, restrict miter to +/- 80 degrees
• V0.1.20 19 Jun 2018: (Thank you @jaisejames for all these new features!!)
  • Add bend extension to make the bended wall wider
  • Add relief shape selection (rounded or flat)
  • Double clicking on a bent in the tree view, brings a dialog to select different faces (good when editing the base object breaks the bend, and new faces need to be selected)
  • Setting miter angle now works with unfold command
• V0.1.13 10 May 2018: Change unbending method so shape refinement can work.
• V0.1.12 25 Mar 2018: Allow negative bend angles. Change XPM icons to SVG
• V0.1.11 01 Feb 2018: Fix Issue #23: when there is a gap only on one side, an extra face is added to the other
• V0.1.10 11 Nov 2017: Add miter option to bends. By @jaisejames
• V0.1.02 22 Jun 2017: Fix nesting bug, when saving and loading file
• V0.1.01 03 Mar 2017: Support version 0.17 (starting from build 10423)
• V0.0.13 07 Sep 2015: Add negative gaps for extrude function. (per deveee request)
• V0.012 07 Sep 2015: Fix issue submitted by deveee
• V0.010 13 Jun 2015: Add Ulrich's great unfolding tool. Thanks!!!
• V0.002 12 Jun 2015: Fix Save/Load issues
• V0.001 11 Jun 2015: Initial version

License

GPLv3 (see LICENSE)