SheetMetal Forming

Description
The SheetMetal Forming command creates an embossed shape in a SheetMetal wall using a separate solid object.

The back side plane of the shapedefining solid is used to position and orient the embossed shape, i.e. their local coordinate systems will have the same origin and the same orientation by default. The angle around the z-axis and offsets in x, y, and z direction may be altered by changing the parameter values in the properties window.

Usage

 * 1) Select the wall of the SheetMetal object to be embossed
 * 2) Select the back side of the shape defining solid
 * 3) *Note: Don't forget the / key!
 * 4) Activate the [[Image:SheetMetal_Forming.svg|16px]] Make Forming in Wall command using:
 * 5) * button
 * 6) * drop down menu
 * 7) * keyboard shortcut: then

Data

 * : A custom class associated with this object. This only exists for the Python version. See Scripting.
 * : Base Feature. Link to the parent feature.
 * : A Part TopoShape class associated with this object.
 * : The position of the object in the 3D view. The placement is defined by a point (vector), and a  (axis and angle). See Placement.
 * : the angle of rotation around the . By default, it is (zero degrees).
 * : the unit vector that defines the axis of rotation for the placement. Each component is a floating point value between and . If any value is above, the vector is normalized so that the magnitude of the vector is . By default, it is the positive Z axis,.
 * : a vector with the 3D coordinates of the base point. By default, it is the origin.
 * : "User name of the object (UTF8)", default: (+ a sequential number for second and following items). The user editable name of this object, it may be an arbitrary UTF8 string.
 * : A longer, user editable description of this object, it is an arbitrary UTF8 string that may include newlines. By default, it is an empty string.
 * : A list of expressions. By default, it is empty.
 * : If it is, the object appears in the 3D view; otherwise it is invisible. By default this property can be toggled on and off by pressing the bar on the keyboard.
 * : If it is, the object appears in the 3D view; otherwise it is invisible. By default this property can be toggled on and off by pressing the bar on the keyboard.


 * : "Suppress Forming Feature". Default value is.
 * : "Tool Position Angle". Default angle:.
 * : "Base Object". Link to the planar face to be embossed.
 * : "Offset from Center of Face". Default:.
 * : "Thickness of Sheetmetal". Thickness of the :.
 * : "Forming Tool Object". Link to the planar face used to position the Forming Tool


 * : "Point Sketch on Sheetmetal".

View

 * : a custom viewprovider class associated with this object. This only exists for the Python version. See Scripting.


 * : If it is, the object will show the bounding box in the 3D view.
 * : (regular visualization),  (no edges),  (no faces),  (only vertices).
 * : It defaults to, in which case the object will appear in the tree view; otherwise, the object will be hidden in the tree view. Once an object in the tree is invisible, you can see it again by opening the context menu over the name of the document (right-click), and selecting . Then the hidden item can be chosen and can be switched back to.
 * : If it is, the object appears in the 3D view; otherwise it is invisible. By default this property can be toggled on and off by pressing the bar in the keyboard.


 * : It is a companion to . It is another way to specify how finely to generate the mesh for rendering on screen or when exporting. The default value is, or . This is the maximum value, the smaller the value the smoother the appearance will be in the 3D view, and the finer the mesh that will be exported.
 * : It is a companion to . It is another way to specify how finely to generate the mesh for rendering on screen or when exporting. The default value is . This is the maximum value, the smaller the value the smoother the appearance will be in the 3D view, and the finer the mesh that will be exported.
 * : It is a list of RGB tuples defining colors, similar to . It defaults to a list of one tuple.
 * : (default),, , ; defines the style of the edges in the 3D view.
 * : (default), ; the illumination comes from two sides or one side in the 3D view.
 * : a tuple of three floating point RGB values to define the color of the edges in the 3D view; by default it is, which is displayed as  on base 255, almost black.
 * : it is a list of RGB tuples defining colors, similar to . It defaults to a list of one.
 * : an App Material associated with the edges in this object. By default it is empty.
 * : a float that determines the width in pixels of the edges in the 3D view. It defaults to.
 * : similar to, defines the color of the vertices.
 * : it is a list of RGB tuples defining colors, similar to . It defaults to a list of one.
 * : an App Material associated with the vertices in this object. By default it is empty.
 * : similar to, defines the size of the vertices.
 * : similar to, defines the color of the faces. It defaults to , which is displayed as on base 255, a light gray.
 * : an App Material associated with this object. By default it is empty.
 * : An integer from to  (a percentage) that determines the level of transparency of the faces in the 3D view. A value of  indicates completely invisible faces; the faces are invisible but they can still be picked as long as  is.


 * : It controls the way in which the selection occurs in the 3D view if the object has a Shape, and there are many objects partially covered by others. It defaults to, meaning that no special highlighting will occur; means that the object will appear on top of any other object when selected;  means that the object will appear on top only if the entire object is selected in the tree view;  means that the object will appear on top only if a subelement (vertex, edge, face) is selected in the 3D view.
 * : If it is, the object can be picked with the pointer in the 3D view. Otherwise, the object cannot be selected until this option is set to.
 * : It controls the way the object is highlighted. If it is, the entire shape (vertices, edges, and faces) will be highlighted in the 3D view; if it is a bounding box will appear surrounding the object and will be highlighted.

Preparation
This bowl is made of a folded sheet metal object with a shape embossed, both have to be prepared in advance.

No need to work with coplanar sketches here.



Workflow

 * 1) Select the wall of the SheetMetal object to be embossed
 * 2) Select the back side of the shape defining solid [[Image:SheetMetal_Forming-04.png|240px]]
 * 3) Press the  button or use the keyboard shortcut:  then  [[Image:SheetMetal_Forming-05.png|240px]]  Done!
 * 4) Alter orientation and position
 * 5) Activate the [[Image:SheetMetal_Forming.svg|16px]] WallForming object in the Tree view
 * 6) Set the value of the parameter angle to e.g. 45° [[Image:SheetMetal_Forming-01.png|240px]]
 * 7) Set the value of the parameter offset, x to e.g. greater than 0 [[Image:SheetMetal_Forming-06.png|240px]] Here it is plain to see that it doesn't make sense to move the embossed geometry outside the selected wall.
 * 8) Setting the value of the parameter offset, z to e.g. greater than 0 isn't any better: [[Image:SheetMetal_Forming-07.png|240px]] At least the FreeCAD doesn't crash when a part has two bodies...
 * 9) Some hints
 * 10) The height of the defining solid determines the depth of the embossed shape. That means changing the parameter offset, z to alter the depth won't deliver expected results.
 * 11) The embossed geometry is made of a shell object i.e. it has a constant thickness. And so the defining solid has to be offsetable, otherwise the tool will fail to create the emboss.