Adding and removing material using Tabs, Cuts, and Holes

In Chapter 1, Sheet Metal Basics—Exploring Sheet Metal Properties and Material Selection, and Chapter 2, Adding Bends Using Edge Flanges, we learned how to make Base Flanges and Edge Flanges by adding material. However, removing material is also an important aspect of sheet metal, and we will explore multiple ways to do this in this section. We will also learn how to add new material to existing flanges by using Tabs.

Creating basic Extruded Cuts

There are many reasons why you might want to remove material from your models. These could include to creating screw holes, adding openings for ports or ventilation, or even making aesthetic features such as logos.

The simplest way to remove material is to create Extruded Cuts, as follows:

1. Open your Base Flange part from the previous chapter, or start a new part document and create a Base Flange 200x300mm in size and 1mm thick. We will use this to demonstrate...