Sheet 11 of 12

Flat Pattern, Bend Table and DXF for the Shop

Q: Which file does the laser cutter need?

The DXF of the flat pattern. The laser cuts the flat blank, so it needs the DXF: the outline, the holes and the bend lines.

Q: In the DXF, which layers hold the bend lines?

BEND_UP and BEND_DOWN. Bend lines are dashed lines on BEND_UP and BEND_DOWN, so the shop can mark them or switch them off; OUTLINE and CUT are cut.

Q: What does the press brake operator read from the bend table?

Each bend's angle, direction and radius. The bend table lists every bend with its angle, up or down, radius, allowance and where its line is on the flat blank.

In 5 minutes you'll read a part's flat pattern, export the DXF the laser cuts from and the bend table the press brake works from, and know what every line in them means.

Part: Flat Pattern, Bend Table, DXF
Rule: Steel 2mm
Sheet: t 2 · R 2 · K 0.4
Time: 5 min
Status: Open

OP 10Watch
OP 20Turn the part
OP 30Build
OP 40Inspect
OP 50Quiz

OP 10Watch

Video in productionBuild along with the steps in OP 30 meanwhile.

Chapters

00:00From model to shop
00:30The Z bracket
01:10Read the Flat Pattern
02:00Export the DXF: its layers
02:50Export the Bend Table
03:40Common mistake
04:20Your exercise

OP 20Turn the part

Drag to turn, scroll or pinch to zoom. Flat shows the blank before it is bent: the same sheet, the same frame.

OP 30Build it in SolidCraft

Your task

Make this Z bracket in SolidCraft 0.21 and export it for the shop:

Make the rule Steel 2mm: thickness 2 mm, bend radius 2 mm, K-factor 0.4, active.
Sketch an 80 × 50 mm rectangle on XY, corner at the origin, with two circles of 6 mm diameter at (20, 25) and (60, 25). Finish the sketch.
Flange on the sketch: click the sheet area between the circles, not inside them, so the circles stay holes.
Flange on the long front edge: height 40 mm, angle 90°.
Flange on the long back edge: height 15 mm, angle 90°, Flip ticked so it goes down.
Open Flat Pattern (Sheet Metal tab › Flat) and write down the flat size and the number of bends.
Press Export DXF… and save the file.
Press Export Bend Table…, save the CSV and open it in any spreadsheet.

What to write down

The flat length across the two bends (the Flat size row; the other side is 80 mm).
The number of bends (the Bends row).
The allowance of bend 1: the allowance_mm column of the bend table.

Type them below and press Check. In the Flat Pattern, bend 1 says Up and bend 2 says Down: that's the Flip on the back flange.

OP 40Inspect

Enter what SolidCraft shows you. Each value is checked against SolidCraft's own result, within the tolerance shown. Nothing you type leaves this page.

Flat length across the two bends ± 0.05 mm mm

Number of bends exact

Bend 1 allowance (from the bend table) ± 0.01 mm mm

Show the drawing and bend table

exercise · Steel 2mm · t 2 · R 2 · K 0.4

Flat blank 80.000 × 97.796 mm · 2 bends

Bend	Angle	Dir.	R mm	Length mm	Allowance mm
1	90°	up	2	80	4.398
2	90°	down	2	80	4.398

exercise.solidcraft exercise.json

OP 50Quiz

Q1Which file does the laser cutter need?

Q2In the DXF, which layers hold the bend lines?

Q3What does the press brake operator read from the bend table?