Controlling the order of your bends for sheet metal parts is imperative to getting an error free result. Using bend tables helps organize and manage the process.
Doesn’t it seem like a juggling act to develop documentation for the shop floor without confusion on how things are to be done efficiently? More specifically, when it comes to sheet metal, the order in which parts are bent plays a considerable role. Back to our juggling act – most of us could create a SOLIDWORKS drawing with multiple configurations depicting the bending process, but this may not facilitate a reduction in scrap. Bend Tables in SOLIDWORKS give us a good balance between time and quality, and allows us to be certain that parts are bent in the correct order.
1. First you must set the bend order by finding the bend in the feature tree, right-clicking, and selecting edit feature. From that dialog you can specify the order of the bend.
2. Once all the bends have a number that matches the order in which the part is bent, we can insert a Bend Table into the SOLIDWORKS drawing.
3. Hit the S-Key to access tables – Tables
4. Set Your Table properties –
The resulting table will list the bends in the order you specified in the previous step. Also, the bend lines in the view will be tagged to match the table for cross-referencing. This will reduce the need for the constant juggling act and make concise and precise direction for the shop floor.
