Unfold solid body with Sheet Metal tools?

[TrademarkCreative]

How do I unfold a simple body (ie a cube) with the sheet metal tools?

Eventually I'd like to start unfolding more complicated geometry, so I can't build the part in the sheet metal space. I need to unfold the body geometry. 

I've tried 'Convert to Sheet Metal', and that does something, but I'm lost after that step.

When I try to unfold it throws me errors, "the selected stationary entity is not connected to any bends.."

Seems like this post from last year is looking for the same answer

https://forums.autodesk.com/t5/fusion-360-ideastation-archived/sheet-metal-convert-solid-to-sm/idi-p...

Thoughts?

[TheCADWhisperer]

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@TrademarkCreative wrote:

Thoughts?

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Have you honored the four rules of sheet metal?

Can you File>Export your *.f3d file to your local drive and then Attach it here to a Reply and end all doubt.

[TrademarkCreative]

Thanks for the reply. 

I'd like to start with the simplest possible scenario :

SETUP

- create a cube in the design space

- the cube is a solid body

TASK

Create an unfolded sheet metal pattern FROM the solid body.

Eventually, I'd like to start trying out much more complicated 3D solids like this one

https://a360.co/36A7DHi

But first I want to get the basics down.

[TheCADWhisperer]

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@TrademarkCreative wrote:

Thanks for the reply. 

I'd like to start with the simplest possible scenario :

SETUP

- create a cube in the design space

- the cube is a solid body

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Task 2 > File>Export and then Attach your *.f3d file here.

1. Sheet metal is uniform Thickness.

2. Must have bends (well, unless it is simply a flat sheet).

3. Bends must be cylindrical or conic.

4. Edges are perpendicular to the flat.

[TrademarkCreative]

attached a .f3d file of solid body cube

[g-andresen]

Hi,

1. you can only unfold something that has a sheet metal structure
2. a self-contained structure must first be separated in several places in order to be unfolded
3. this is what an unfolded cube looks like:

günther

[TheCADWhisperer]

Your cube violates several (if not all) of the logical rules of Sheet Metal.

This video was done before the Convert to Sheet Metal tool existed, so it would be slightly easier today, but the same logical rules apply.

Your cube does not have bends, rips or thickness.

There is no "Easy Button" solution for this in Fusion 360.

[TrademarkCreative]

Thanks for the replies. Sorry If I'm not explaining myself clearly.

I'm looking for something like the Solidworks Solution shown here

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vcc95Tf_kNA

Basically, picking a plane to begin with and creating faces and flanges that match the geometry.

Does Fusion have anything like this?

[TheCADWhisperer]

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@TrademarkCreative wrote:

I'm looking for something like the Solidworks Solution shown here

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vcc95Tf_kNA

See 4:06 in the video that you referenced.

You should follow the instruction in the video and then Attach your cube here when you run into trouble.

The Fusion 360 technique will be slightly different than the SolidWorks technique, but the same logical rules apply.

[TheCADWhisperer]

Q1. What do you want to use for the Inside or Outside bend radius?

Q2. What do you want to use for the sheet Thickness?

[TrademarkCreative]

Thanks for bearing with me.

I'll be using Alucobond which has a thickness of .153"

The inside radius can effectively be ID zero, as that is where the router cuts a groove

The outside radius is somewhere in the OD .05" realm

[TheCADWhisperer]

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@TrademarkCreative wrote:

The inside radius can effectively be ID zero, as that is where the router cuts a groove

The outside radius is somewhere in the OD .05" realm

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This will not work in Fusion 360.  (Or in SolidWorks, for that matter.)

[TrademarkCreative]

...

Bummer.

I can't Solidworks or Inventor on this work computer so that's out of the question. 

I guess one path forward is

• exporting .stp file of geometry built in Fusion
• Importing it into Sketchup and using the Flattery plugin to unfold it
• Exporting that as a DXF, or SVG
• Importing back into Fusion
• Designing custom parameters I can apply to sketch constraints to accommodate for the k value and thickness

Or if I wanted to stay in Fusion,

• I guess I could shell the geometry (if that works with the complex stuff I need to do) 
• Tediously cut the vertices and make custom fillets for the edges
• Cross my fingers it'll unfold in the sheet metal tool

Thoughts? 

[TheCADWhisperer]

If all you need is the flat pattern - then I would make as extremely thin (say the thickness of a sheet of paper) rather than actual thickness and forget the routed grooves (all you need is the machine paths as the bend lines).

However, for your complex goal geometry - I think there is better software for that.

This would be a real chore (the Climber) in Mechanical CAD software.

[TrademarkCreative]

Agreed.

I'll probably keep everything as 2D sheets after it gets into Sketchup and thru to the end. 

Super disappointed that sheet metal gets close to the solution, but just can't reverse engineer the geometry.

Attached is a what a 3D corner, with a tab and hole for a rivet, would look like in .153" thick Alucobond.

I just modeled it with brute force and no parameters etc. Not a sustainable way to do anything complex.

Wanted to include it just so see if it give anyone anymore ideas.

[TrademarkCreative]

Just wanted to give folks an update.

I am now exporting the fusion model, as an .OBJ, into Pepakura Designer 4

Pepakura allows for the specific unfolding of geometry that I was looking for.

I will then attempt to import the unfolded design back into fusion as a DXF. (probably into a sketch) and then see what I can do for refolding it with sheetmetal tools.

...I also went down the rabbit hole with sketchup, and the pluggin Flattery, which does some of this work. But Pepakura is by far the better program for unfolding. 

I'll update this thread when I've got more.

[cyprianJA4ZH]

Trying to do the same thing.  Have any updates from your project?

[subversivespeed]

I totally forgot about pepakura.. and yes, its probably the best 3d solid to flat pattern program ever.. Would be great if the Fusion team would drop the absolutely absurd sheet metal workflow they currently have and switch to Pepakura-style folding/unfolding. FYI Solidworks can do exactly what you asked.  I started with Solidworks and have had to keep it due to the severely lacking sheet metal engine in Fusion. I have been hoping they would fix it one day but apparently thats not important so I have to keep a 20gb Solidworks on my work laptop pretty much just for sheetmetal forms. Aggravating..