Common Workflows

Each workflow ends in a Sheet. Check every Sheet with Display Sheet and Sheet Info before you unroll it. Inputs and defaults are listed on the component pages linked below.

1. Closed solid to Sheet#

Use this when you already have the part as a solid with thickness, for example from a STEP file.

1. Wire the solid into Manifold To Sheet (MTS).
2. Set Root Face (RF). It has no default: give a face index, or -1 for the largest face. The root face stays put when the part is unrolled.
3. Turn on Merge Coplanar Faces only if the solid has flat faces split into pieces.

2. Surface model to Sheet#

Use this when you model the part as thin surfaces with sharp edges. Each sharp edge becomes a bend. This is the most flexible route.

1. Build the surfaces. Non-Manifold Flange (NMF) and Non-Manifold Hem (NMH) add a flange or a hem to an edge by index.
2. Wire the joined surfaces into Non-Manifold To Sheet (NMTS). Set Thickness and Bend Radius.
3. Hems: give the Hem Gap of each hem in Hem Detection Widths (HDW). Without it, hems are not found.
4. Bend reliefs: slots at the ends of bend lines are cut by default. Wire in Edge Relief Options (ERO) to change their shape or size, or to turn them off.
5. Corner reliefs: wire in Corner Relief Options (CRO) to cut a relief at every corner where bends meet. A closed corner, such as a box corner, must be cut open along a seam. Auto Seams (on by default) picks one, or draw your own lines into Seams.
6. If the thickness goes to the wrong side, toggle Flip Offset. If bends fold the wrong way, toggle **Flip Bend Direction**.

3. Profile to Sheet#

Use this for parts with one straight fold profile, such as brackets, channels and Z profiles.

1. Draw the cross-section as a polyline.
2. Wire it into Polyline To Sheet (PTS) with Thickness, Bend Radius and Depth.
3. Offset Type puts the thickness Outside, Centered (default) or Inside the polyline.

4. Unroll with a K-factor#

1. Wire the Sheet into Unroller (U).
2. Wire a K-factor (0 to 1) into Compensation Strategy (CS). Empty uses K = 0.45.
3. Take the flat pattern from Unrolled, fold lines from Bend Axes, bend zones from Bend Regions.
4. Set Orient to Bend Axes so parts of the same shape always land the same way round.

5. Unroll with a bend table#

Use this when your shop has measured data. Build one of these and wire it into the Unroller's Compensation Strategy instead of a number:

• K-Factor Table (By Angle) (KFT): K-factor per bend angle.
• K-Factor Table (By Angle + Direction) (DSKF): K-factor per angle and fold direction.
• Bend Correction Table (BCT): press-brake correction per thickness, radius and angle.
• Hem Allowance (HA): wraps any of the above to set how much a flattened hem adds.

6. Bend data for production#

1. Wire the Unroller's Unroll Result (UR) output into Bend Info (UBI).
2. It lists angle, fold direction, bend allowance, radius, centre point and label for each bend. Use the centre points to place text in Rhino.
3. Sheet Info (SI) gives the same per-bend data from the 3D Sheet, plus feature counts and thickness.
4. Unroll Mapper (UMap) moves 3D points and curves onto the flat. Reroll maps flat curves back onto the 3D part and can cut them through it.

7. Nesting#

1. Set Material, Quantity and Grain on each Sheet with Sheet Properties (SProp, see Utilities) before unrolling. Parts of different material or thickness never share a stock sheet.
2. Describe each stock sheet with Sheet Stock (Stock).
3. Wire the Unroll Results and the stock into Nest Parts (Nest).

Other tools#

• Explode Sheet (ES) splits a Sheet into its faces by type. See Utilities.
• Rebuild Sheet (RBS) rebuilds a Sheet with a new thickness and bend radius. See Modifier Components.