Potential workflow for my most complex project yet

[pokwas]

Hi, this will be my most complex project by far, and before committing dozens of hours to it I was hoping to get some feedback on my proposed workflow.

I will be modelling and machining hundreds of plywood sheets to essentially make a flatpack bouldering gym. Not the gym in question, but here is a picture of something similar. I currently have an Inventor model of the front surface of the wall, and my job is to break this down into individual plywood sheets, mark where to cut them, and drill the holes to mount the climbing holds and pilot holes for attaching to framing.

The inventor model (apologies, I don't wish to show the whole model)

My proposed workflow:

1. Give each flat section depth, as a body

2. Fill in any gaps from open corners (push/pull rather than extrude, to keep the same 'plane')

3. Pattern holes across each of these bodies

4. Manually lay out plywood sheet sizes across each body

5. Extrude a new body from each of these sketches

6. Offset a construction line and mark sketch points to pattern a hole for pilot holes to screw to frame. (is there a quick way to do this?)

7. Extend these bodies to allow room to make a shallow hole to indicate where these pieces should be cut

And finally, use the nest feature to calculate all my machining (obviously a big one, but want to make sure I'm starting with a good base for this before I spring for the extra credits.)

Does this sound workable? What are some best practices I should keep an eye on? Labelling everything is a must, of course, and I'll have to figure out when to use bodies and when to use components.

Any input would be appreciated- How would you go about this?

[barry9UDQ6]

I think you will have to model your plywood panels up as sheet metal, in order to use the flat patterns for nesting.

If this is the case, when using the sheet metal tools, only 1 flat pattern can exist per component. And once a body has been defined as a sheet metal body it cannot be moved to a new component. So 1 body/component from the beginning.

Maybe it's just me, but I can't figure this one out:

7. Extend these bodies to allow room to make a shallow hole to indicate where these pieces should be cut

I am guessing that you want each plywood sheet to be dressed around it's perimeter, so rather work with a slightly smaller size than the full sheet.

Your pic above shows 6 sheets butted up against each other. Maybe I am getting too picky for the scope of this job, but when it comes to installation, a 1mm gap/panel would result in the last panel not fitting in. Maybe something to consider when it comes to the installation procedure?

[pokwas]

I probably didn't explain 7 very well- trying to not overwhelm with information!

The CNC is a 3axis, and cannot cut at all the angles we require. So, we will be using a tracksaw to do these cuts. The intent on step 7 is to give the people constructing markers for where to cut each piece. Essentially they'll consult a spreadsheet with the joins (panel 1A needs to be under cut at 60degrees), then place tracksaw on marks made by the CNC with that angle. As these marks will be cut off, I'll have to enlarge the body to give the toolpath somewhere to go.

I've not used the sheet metal workspace- is this the only area where nesting works? At what point should I move into that workspace?

[barry9UDQ6]

So you want to kind of scarf the edges afterwards. Tricky, and I would think unnecessary but that's up to you!

If you generate a flat pattern you have the option to edit it independently , so you could add 'green' to the flat pattern afterwards, and you only need to design the sheets to their finished state in the 3d model. Compare the 3d and flat pattern of my attached example.

You need to lay all your sheets flat before nesting, the only way I know is to use the flat patterns. I think extrude each sheet as normal, trying to keep 1 body/component, and then convert to sheet metal at the end and generate flat patterns.

[davebYYPCU]

You are likely to get as many opinions and suggestions as those of us responding.

I am not arguing with Barry.  Not reviewed his file.

It is the method of export from Fusion that should drive your input, along with contractor requirements.  Not compatible with them is a waste of time.

Sheet metal is not what I would do, because it has to have normal / perpendicular edges, and you are not unfolding your pieces for a flat pattern.  You have other ways to obtain your panels for production, and you not knowing Sheet Metal, comes into play.

Model / build your project with 3d bodies, building up, the cut edges in place where they fit, I will call it positive and negative scarf angles, dictate that you model the finished parts in place for these scarf cuts, will keep track of things.  I am favouring, Components from bodies at the end of the Modelling stage.

Sounds like you were not going to Fusion CAM.  I don’t understand the mechanical marking out statements, and some more clarification on the modelling of the scarfing, like All Edges are Mitred (half the angle / Bisecting) or not for the Outwards / Inwards apex handling.  Whilst concentrating on face panels, your framework got no mention, so incorporating fixing / pre drilling, will follow the frame.

I can not help with Fusion Drawing output.  

I have not investigated the new Fusion Nesting, either.

My 2 cents.

[barry9UDQ6]

Using sheet metal flat patterns allows you to choose which side of your sheet is the 'up' side for nesting. Which I think will be useful for you.

And while we know that SM has perpendicular sides, Fusion doesn't! So you can work with your scarfed edges and still use flat pattern.

[pokwas · Accepted solution]

Thanks for all of your input. For the sake of completeness, I'll let you know what I've ended up doing.

Essentially the same points, but to make the shallow alignment holes for manual cutting, I am not extending the bodies, rather just adding a sketch with points to be selected later- you can set toolpaths outside of the body you are machining by using sketch points.

So essentially I no longer need to do my scarfing, as the cut angles can be calculated from the front sheets.

Patterning the holes across the sheets has been interesting. I've been doing that by inserting a template component of a full sheet with the holes, and using the intersect option in the combine tool to copy the holes into my part. Then I have been 'healing' the holes I don't want, and adding new pilot holes.

[RacerWynn]

you do not need to use sheet metal because nesting works fine with solid bodies, ONE body per component.  you can use nest preparation to pick what side of the solid is up.  only use sheet metal if, well, you are designing sheet metal parts.