Symmetrically Opposite Sheet Metal Part - Bend Other Direction

[Dale_Rosema]

I have two sheet metal parts that are symetrically opposite that come from the same blank. Currently the bent part has a unbend and a bend back feature. I am converting an old drawing to cad where it said other part (right hand part) is symmetrically opposite, but now I would like a model.

With the bend back feature, can you change it to bend one way for one part and bend the other for the other part. I am fairly familiar with family tables, but not as familiar with sheet metal.

Thanks, Dale

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[JamesBurcham]

You can't change the feature to just bend the other way. What you could do is remove the "bend back" feature you have and instead add a "bend' feature. Then suppress that "bend" feature and add another "bend" but the opposite direction. You can then use programing to turn on which bend you want based on the part being a right or left.

[Dale_Rosema]

Forgive my ingnorance, for the little icons, there are only unbend and bend back. Should I just create a 90 degree flange instead?

Thanks, Dale

[JamesBurcham]

What version of Creo/Proe are you running? There is no reason to change the base model you have, by adding a flange. You should have a "bend" command. This allows you to select a surface to bend, along with a direction and bend angle. The main thing is that you don't want to be using "bend back" that will only allow you to "undo" the unbend.

[Dale_Rosema]

Creo/Pro 5.0

Thanks, Dale

[Dale_Rosema]

I just noticed the icon above it. I thought that one was for punch. Let me try that.

[Dale_Rosema]

Getting stuck on angle vs roll? Like I've said not very experienced at sheetmetal.

[JamesBurcham]

I'm sure what you mean by "roll". After you select the surface to bend and the bend line, you should be able to specify a bend angle and bend radius. Can you post a screen shot of what you are seeing?

[Dale_Rosema]

The first thing that pops up in the menu shown. I have to choose angle or roll.

Also, you can seen the surface from when the part was unbent.

[JamesBurcham]

When that menu pops up you should be able to select done, then define the bend location and angle. I haven't worked with Wildfire in a while so I'm not sure how exactly to perform a bend. Have you tried using the Wildfire help for directions on how to before the bend operation?

[Dale_Rosema]

Part bend table or feature bend table? (Thanks for your time)

[JamesBurcham]

It will probably be easiest to create using the "part bend table".

[Dale_Rosema]

I then picked inside radius.

Now setting up the planes for the sketch, I picked the small plane on the closest edge, but it says invalid selection.

Is that related to the fact that it was unbent?

[JamesBurcham]

This is the part where you will probably have to consult the Wildfire help. These are all options that are not in Creo anymore, they simplified the process I'm not sure how the bend feature works in Wildfire, its just been to long I don't remember. You should be able to google it and find a video showing you how to create the bend feature. Once you have that feature created you should be able to change the bend direction by simplying change the bend angle dimention from 90 to -90. Sorry I can't help with that, good luck.

[Dale_Rosema]

It will only let me pick the large flat surface.

[TomD.inPDX]

I think I would make the bend by making a wall. While the part maybe a mirror, it might not require a geometric mirror about the bend. What I am getting at is that maybe only a few features need to be mirrored rather than the bend. Sure, it will sit in space differently, but the assembly will take care of that.

Just a thought. But I thought you can give a direction to the wall even in WF. Then you place all your features, and then you can unfold. problem being, of course, is that when you reverse the bend, you might loose all your features, or at least have to redefine them anyway.

Saving it as a mirror part is not an option?

[dgschaefer]

I wouldn't try to make the second from the blank of the first, I'd simple save the folded part as a mirror (Save As -> Mirror). Make sure it's geometry dependant and you're fine. If the mirrored part is 100% symmetric from the original, then their flat patters would by definition be the same.

[TomD.inPDX]

I did a quick video from a test that worked better than expected. I know you don't have Creo 2.0 but your version should work the same way. Easy enough to test, anyway.

In this case, I used a flat from the 1st wall. Flattened it and placed a hole and extrude cut using a "preserved edge" rather than the datum plane. Then used the bend back feature. I then edited the edge the Flat was built from by selecting the the opposite edge. All the subsequent features followed correctly. Just be careful on how they are defined.

Video Link : 4183