Creating Custom Sheet Metal Forming Tools in -...

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Creating Custom Sheet Metal Forming Tools in SolidWorks 2013

Forming tools are a great way to add specific geometry to a sheet metal design. This can range

from louvers, to lances, to dimples, but forming tools can also help add text or logos to a sheet

metal design. This document will help you create custom forming tools in SolidWorks 2013 and

apply them to a sheet metal model.

GEOMETRY CREATION

The first step is to create a part that represents the

shape of the form you wish to make. In this case, I

have chosen the GoEngineer logo.

Multi-Body parts are not supported for sheet metal

forming tools, so they will need to be bridged into a

single body. I have also added fillets to the outer

edges of the forming tool.

Once you have a single-bodied part

that represents our form tool shape,

select the Forming Tool option from

the Sheet Metal toolbar. This will

initiate Forming Tool feature creation.

It can also be accessed from Insert >

Sheet Metal > Forming Tool.


FORMING TOOL FEATURE

The first selection is the Stopping Face.

This face dictates the depth to which the

forming tool will be applied. Any faces in

front of the stopping face will create the

"form" in the sheet metal part.

You can also choose Faces to Remove.

The selected faces here will leave holes in

the sheet metal part when the form tool is

applied.

The next step is to choose the point by which we will place the tool on a sheet metal part. Click on

the Insertion Point tab in the PropertyManager.

Insertion Points

Before continuing with this process, I want to take some time to explain the concept of

insertion points. When placing a forming tool on a face of a sheet metal body, you are

essentially placing a sketch point. This sketch point is related, in some way, to the shape

of the forming tool and will dictate the location of that tool. This process is very similar

to the placement of Hole Wizard features or creating a sketch for a sketch driven

pattern.


After clicking on the tab, you will see that SolidWorks has converted the edges of your stopping

face to sketch geometry. It has also placed a point at the centroid of the form tool. This is your

insertion ioint and if we do nothing, this will be its default location.

There are many methods by which to

locate this insertion point, and I suggest

figuring out the best method for your

application. The main concept is that

the point’s location should be fully

defined if you do not want it to be the

centroid of your forming tool.

In this tutorial, however, I will show my preferred method, which is to relate the insertion point to

the sketch geometry of one of the previously created features. To do this, expand the

FeatureManager Design Tree and show the sketch of the feature of interest, as seen below. Once

the sketch has been shown, drag your insertion point onto a point of interest in the sketch.

Note: In this case, I had created extra sketch geometry to allow dimensioning from

the top-left corner of the forming tool during placement.

Insertion

Point

Showing Feature Sketch Dragging Placement Point


After clicking the green check mark to accept the selection, the appearance of the part will be

altered. The teal face represents the stopping face as selected during the form tool creation. The

yellow faces represent the form that will be applied to your sheet metal parts.

At this point, the form tool has been successfully

created. But how do we apply it to parts? Our

next step is to add it to our Design Library for

easy access when designing sheet metal parts.

ADDING TOOL TO DESIGN LIBRARY

The design library is an area to store

commonly used features, blocks, To add the

forming tool, right-click on your part at the

top of the feature tree and select Add to

Library.

The Add to Library PropertyManager will

appear on the left side of your screen, and you

will get to choose folder you want to place it

in. I’ve chosen below to place it in the

Embosses folder. It is important to put it

inside of the Forming Tools folder for it to

function correctly. You can also choose a File

Name if you would like its name in the Design

Library to be different than the name of the

part file.


After clicking the green check mark, you will be able

to find your newly created forming tool in the design

library. At this point, the forming tool can be

dragged onto any flat sheet metal face (of sufficient

size) and you will see your tool pressed into the

sheet metal body.

Rendered using PhotoView 360

Andrew Berwald

Technical Support

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