Sheet metal has its own rulebook — bend radii, grain direction, hole-to-edge distances, minimum flange lengths. I design parts that actually bend and weld the way the CAD says they will, and source production when you're ready.
Overview
Sheet metal parts live and die by rules that don't apply to machined or molded parts: bend radius has to match material thickness, K-factor determines how much material stretches at each bend, grain direction affects whether a bend cracks, and there are hard minimums on hole-to-edge and hole-to-bend distances that a generic solid model won't respect on its own.
A part modeled as a plain solid — even if it looks right — doesn't generate an accurate flat pattern, which means whatever gets sent to the laser or press brake is wrong from the start. This service designs (or fixes) sheet metal parts using native sheet-metal CAD features, so the flat pattern and the formed part actually match.
How It Works
Choose material and thickness based on strength requirements, cost, and the bending or forming process you'll use.
Model using real sheet metal features — bends, flanges, hems — with the correct K-factor, not a solid shaped to look right.
Generate an accurate flat pattern and plan the bend order to avoid tooling collisions during forming.
Deliver the flat pattern DXF plus formed-state drawings with weld and fastener callouts.
What You Get
Native sheet metal feature tree, fully associative between flat and formed states — not a dumb solid.
Laser or punch-ready flat pattern file with correct bend allowances baked in.
Order of operations to avoid tooling and clearance conflicts during forming.
Callouts for welds, PEM inserts, and fastener locations ready for a fabricator to quote.
FAQ
Yes, in practice — a solid modeled to look like sheet metal doesn't generate an accurate flat pattern, which means the fabricator's laser or press brake gets the wrong geometry. It needs to be rebuilt with real sheet metal features to bend correctly.
It's the value used to calculate how much material stretches at a bend, which determines how big the flat pattern needs to be so the formed part comes out the right size. Getting it wrong means parts that don't fit after bending.
Yes — including weld symbol callouts, weld access clearance, and distortion considerations for multi-piece welded sheet metal assemblies.
Both — design and drawings on their own, or paired with sourcing and QC through the China Production & Sourcing service if you also need production managed.
Pricing depends on the part count, bend and feature complexity, and whether welded assemblies are involved. Send a sketch or a solid model and you'll get a flat quote upfront before any work begins.