Sheet Metal - Holes for laser or turret punch

[Anonymous]

Hi 

When working in sheet metal, and specifically dealing with the flat pattern that will be CAM'ed for laser or turret punch. 

When placing / sketching a hole (round) that will be cut as part of the flat pattern cut, do you model these holes with the "hole" tool, or is that meant for milling and drilling only? 

The concern is with an add-on export of sheet metal parts to CAM software (3rd party) where drafted holes, using the hole tool is not included in the export of the 2d flat-pattern. 

Thanks in advance 

Willie 

[Xun.Zhang]

Hello Willie,

Try Export face as command...

Hope it helps!

[blair · Accepted solution]

I would use the "Hole" function as much as possible. The holes that are produced will always be to a Standard. This takes the guess work out of any threaded holes where you require the minor diameter. Many of the stock punches will match the size. For the laser, it's not really a problem what the size is.

The other great benefit, is producing drawings. You will get proper data from the hole into your drawing as to size and depth.

A round cut extrusion is just a round cut extrusion.