Use Inventor's sheet metal tools to avoid flat patterns with taper edges. The intersection of two sheet metal bodies will often challenge the best Inventor user. Your company may build complex ...

(Editor's Note: The 3-D CAD software referred to in this column has several sheet metal-specific modeling tools. Other software packages have similar capabilities, but have a different user interface.

Design Fusion's John Pearson spells out how to engrave text on sheet metal designs. Engraving or scribing with a laser machine can be achieved with the Solid Edge Etch command. The Etch command is ...