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888.688.3234 | GOENGINEER.COM
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.
888.688.3234 | GOENGINEER.COM
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.
888.688.3234 | GOENGINEER.COM
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
888.688.3234 | GOENGINEER.COM
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.
888.688.3234 | GOENGINEER.COM
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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