Inventor sheet metal flange offset

[nick.spiers]

When adding a flange to a sheetmetal face there should be a setting to offset the bend from the reference line so we can add a fillet. There is an option for bend position but it is limited to the extent of the bend. If it could be set further from the bend so it included a straight section prior to bend it would save me time and use less browser real estate. I’ve got into the habit of doing a short 0° flange greater than the fillet I want to add before my angled flange.

[jweiss1313]

This is currently no Inventor sheet metal offset command.  When we design offsets currently we have to either use two flanges or sketch the offset profile and use the contour flange command to get the desired geometry.  The problem with this is that the flat pattern shows this offset as two bends.  Offsets are created with a Z tool on a press brake and needs to have a single bend line for the center of the tool.  The Z bend needs to have it's own bend deduction values so that your flat pattern is accurate.  It alsp needs to have its own design rules that define the available offsets and their resultant bend radii

This is very important to us because our fabrication department spends a lot of time manually figuring out where the offset bend line needs to be on the flat pattern and our flat patterns are not accurate when a part has an offset.

See the attached screen capture for an example of a sheet metal offset.

Thanks!

John Weiss

CAD Administrator

Follett Corporation

[Curtis_Waguespack]

good idea!

[soctavio]

Negative numbers should do the opposite, bringing the flange inside the flat area!

[robA6NEB]

This is really simple to do in Solidworks, I have been able to get around the problem using Direct Edits.

[nick.spiers]

Why would these two ideas get merged - the only commonality is that they are sheetmetal?? I guess the other is that they are old and ignored by Autodesk .......

[dan_szymanski]

@nick.spiers,

Short answer...I merged the kudos from jweiss's (previously archived) idea to an active one  (Gathering Support) that shared the same title. 

Long answer...Yes, the image attached to the jweiss's request does not match the request for an offset bend (you caught me), however there is a chance someone kudo'd it based on the title alone.  As such, I didn't want to lose those votes within an archived idea.  Old and even archived ideas are not ignored by us.  This Idea forum has a wealth of info.  We simply don't have the resources and time to deliver all of them.  Hope this explains our actions some.

Regards,

[nick.spiers]

Hello Dan,
Thanks for your prompt response. I would imagine that if folk give kudos based on title only then the kudos is of no value. Or perhaps I'll make the subject of any future posts "Pretty girls" and my kudos will go through the roof!
I'm probably being precious but I think my idea is of use to many inventor users creating sheetmetal parts whereas the idea that Inventor should be able to deal with very specific manufacturing processes such as a joggle (which at the end of the day IS just two folds very close) is starting to expect a lot. Folk may agree with my idea but loose interest as they read on which is what I found myself doing. Therefore the original post loses value.
Regards,
Nick

[jweiss1313]

To Nick and Dan,

A sheet metal offset is different than a flange and is not a special process.  If Inventor can product a flat pattern it needs to have the capability to represent bends and offsets differently.  This is not "special" process, this is sheet metal 101.  Yes I can model an offset with two bends, but that creates to bend lines on my flat pattern that then takes at least 30 minutes to process in my fabrication department because the offset is not formed by two bends, it is formed in a single operation and requires a single bend line so the press brake stops can be located for the offset.  We make our own sheet metal here and I'm sure other's do to and we feel very strongly that this is missing from inventor and should be added.

With that said, a sheet metal offset and the flange offset mentioned in this idea station are totally different and do not belong on the same thread.

Just thought I would provide my feedback on these recent posts.

Regards,

John Weiss

[dan_szymanski]

Hi @nick.spiers & @jweiss1313,

Thanks for weighing in and I completely understand each of your takes here.  The request for joggles has been made before, however on both accounts it exists alongside additional sheet metal requests.

• Overdue Improvements to Inventor Sheet Metal: (#14)
• Sheet Metal - Enable Aviation Specific Features

John's previous Idea (that I merged with this one - my apologies) was perhaps the closest stand alone request.  To correct this I feel authoring a new Idea, containing Sheet Metal Joggle feature in the title, would be the best approach moving forward.  Unfortunately Autodesk employees logging Ideas can be perceived as "self serving" in the event they ever get implemented over other community authored ideas.  So may I humbly ask if one of you (or anyone reading this that desires a SM Joggle feature) would be willing to author a new Idea detailing this need?

I have learned from this experience and will attempt to do a better job of evaluating ideas before conducting admin tasks upon them.  I greatly appreciate your passion for sheet metal design and for your attention to this forum.  We greatly value the contributions and feedback of experienced designers & engineers like yourselves.

Thanks in advance for considering my request.

Regards,

Dan

[florescu.d95]

Hi @dan_szymanski,

It's been some time since this thread was active and I wonder what happened to the joggle/offset feature?

I use SM joggle pretty often in my work and this feature would save some time versus doing it the contour flange way.

Did anyone volunteered to author this as you kindly asked?

Best,

Daniel

[dan_szymanski]

Hello Daniel @florescu.d95,

Unfortunately no one ever took me up on the request.  😞

Regards,

Dan