Lesson 1 Z-Bracket

Z-Bracket
The purpose of this tutorial is to create a simple Z-Bracket based on three key dimensions. Changes to the
material thickness or the bend radius will not affect the three key dimensions. Also, these three
dimensions may be altered to create a family of parts from the Z-Bracket.

At first glance, you may want to create the end cross-section of the part. However the Jog sheet metal tool
is a much better choice.

This tutorial uses the “Sheet Metal” toolbar and the “Sketch” toolbar. You may display these toolbars by
pulling down the “Tools” menu and selecting Customize. In the Customize dialog box, check the Sheet
Metal and Sketch check box from the list of available toolbars. Without displaying these toolbars, you
can also access all of these commands through the CommandManager.

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Lesson 1 Z-Bracket

Creating a New Part Document

To begin this lesson, open a new part document.

Select the New icon from the “Standard” toolbar, or pull down the “File” menu and select New.

The New SolidWorks Document dialog box appears.

Select Part and then select OK. A new part window appears.

Creating the Base Flange

The first feature that you will create in this part is a base flange created from a sketched rectangular
profile. Begin by sketching a rectangle.

To do this, select the Base-Flange/Tab icon from the “Sheet Metal” toolbar or pull down the “Insert”
menu and select Sheet Metal – Base Flange.

The Front, Top, and Right planes appear, and

the cursor changes to .

You are prompted in the PropertyManager, on

the left hand side of the screen, to select a plane
on which to sketch the feature cross-section.
Note: As you move the cursor over a plane, the
border of the plane is highlighted.

Select the Top plane with the cursor.

The display changes so that the Top plane is

facing you and SolidWorks opens a new sketch
on this plane.

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Lesson 1 Z-Bracket

Select the Rectangle icon on the “Sketch” toolbar, or pull down the “Tools” menu and select Sketch
Entities – Rectangle.

Move the cursor to the origin.

A large red dot appears when you are there.

Pick the origin by pressing the left mouse button.

Note: the cursor is on the origin when the cursor changes to from

Move the cursor up and to the right to create a rectangle. Note: As you move the cursor, it displays the X
and Y size of the rectangle.

To complete the rectangle, press the left mouse button. The size of the rectangle does not matter. You will
use the Smart Dimension tool to dimension the sketch to the correct size.

Adding Dimensions
In this section, the size of the sketched rectangle will be specified by adding dimensions. The SolidWorks
software does not require that sketches are dimensioned before they are used to create features. However,
for this lesson, dimensions will be added to fully define the sketch.

Select the Smart Dimension icon on the “Sketch” toolbar, or pull down the “Tools” menu and select
Dimensions – Smart.

The cursor changes to from .

Select the top edge line of the rectangle, and then move the cursor up and click where you want to place
the dimension.

The Modify dialog box appears and the current dimension is highlighted.

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Lesson 1 Z-Bracket

Type the number ‘12’ and then select or press the ‘Enter’ key on the keyboard.

The sketch changes size to reflect the new dimension. The dimension value is now 12 inches.

Select the Zoom to Fit icon on the “View” toolbar, or pull down the “View” menu and select Modify –
Zoom to Fit, so you can see the entire rectangle and to center it in the graphics area.

Select the right edge line of the rectangle, and then move the cursor right and click to place its dimension.

The Modify dialog box appears again.

Type the number ‘4’ and then select or press the ‘Enter’ key on the keyboard.

Note: The top segment and the remaining vertices turn black. The status bar in the lower-right corner of
the window indicates that the sketch is now fully defined.

Select the Exit Sketch icon on the “Sketch” toolbar or in the upper right corner of the drawing screen.

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Lesson 1 Z-Bracket

Completing the Base Flange

The Base Flange PropertyManager appears in the FeatureManager
design tree (left panel), the graphics area changes to the standard
Trimetric view, and a preview of the base flange appears.

In the PropertyManager under Sheet Metal Gauges, check the Use

gauge table check box.

Two default sheet metal gauge tables are included in the SolidWorks
application.

Select SAMPLE TABLE – STEEL – ENGLISH UNITS from the

‘Select Table’ pull down.

Under Sheet Metal Parameters, set the thickness to 16 Gauge.

Check the Reverse direction check box to make sure that the preview
of the extrusion is in the Y-positive direction (The yellow rectangle will
be above the green rectangle).

Select the green check mark button at the top of the PropertyManager to
accept the settings and create the feature.

To see what you have created so far, in the FeatureManager design tree click the plus sign beside Base-
Flange1. Listed under Base-Flange1 is Sketch1, which you used to create the feature.

Creating a base flange defines the following features in the FeatureManager design tree: Sheet-Metal1,
Base-Flange1, Flat-Pattern1.

Sheet-Metal1
Contains the default bend parameters including the material thickness, bend radius, bend
allowance, and relief type. To edit any of these, right-click Sheet-Metal1 and select Edit Feature
from the menu.

Base-Flange1
Designates the first solid feature of the sheet metal part. To edit the Base-Flange parameters,
right-click Base-Flange1 and select Edit Feature.

Flat-Pattern1
This represents the unfolded part. The flat pattern is suppressed by default because the part is
being created in its bent state. Also, at this time this part has no bends and is flat.
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Lesson 1 Z-Bracket

To unfold the part, right-click Flat-Pattern1 and select Unsuppress. When the Flat-Pattern
feature is suppressed (your view is of the folded part), new features are automatically inserted
above the Flat-Pattern feature in the FeatureManager design tree. When the Flat-Pattern feature is
unsuppressed (your view is of the unfolded part), new features go below it in the FeatureManager
design tree and are not shown in the folded part. It is best to add features to the folded 3D part
because of this.

If you need to add tooling holes or embosses to your part for manufacturing purposes, you may
want to add them to the unfolded part (below the Flat-Pattern feature). This makes them available
when the part is flat and sent to your CNC programmer, yet they are not visible in the folded 3D
model.

Creating the Bends

The Jog tool creates an offset with equal bends in the part, one up and one down, from a sketched line.
This will be used to create the rest of the Z-Bracket.

Select the Jog icon from the “Sheet Metal” toolbar, or pull down the “Insert” menu and select Sheet
Metal – Jog.

When prompted in the PropertyManager to select a planer face on which to sketch bend lines, pick the top
of the part.

SolidWorks starts a new sketch to define this feature.

The new sketch opens on the top plane of the part.

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Lesson 1 Z-Bracket

Select the Line icon on the “Sketch” toolbar, or pull down the “Tools” menu and select Sketch Entities –
Line.

In the Insert Line PropertyManager, set the Orientation to Horizontal

to add a horizontal relation to the line. Note: For a Jog feature, the line
does not need to be horizontal or vertical but must contain only one line.
This line does not need to be the full length of the flange, but is best not
to exceed the edges of the part.

The cursor changes to .

Click in the graphics area on the top of the part to begin creating a line.

Move the cursor to create a line. As you move the cursor, it displays the length of the line.

Click again to complete the line.

Select the Smart Dimension icon on the “Sketch” toolbar, or pull down the “Tools” menu and select
Dimensions – Smart.

The cursor changes to .

Select the left end of the line you created and the upper left corner of the part.

Move the cursor to the left and place the dimension to the left of the part.
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Lesson 1 Z-Bracket

The Modify dialog box appears with the current dimension highlighted.

Type the number ‘2’ and then select or press the ‘Enter’ key on the keyboard.

The sketched line moves to reflect the new dimension. The dimension value is now 2.00 inches.

Select the Exit Sketch icon on the “Sketch” toolbar or in the upper right corner of the drawing screen.

You are returned to the Jog command. At the top of the Jog PropertyManager, you need to specify a
fixed face.

In the graphics area, pick the top face of the part below the horizontal line. A black bullet appears where
you selected indicating the fixed face.

Pick here

You should now see a preview of the Jog feature in the graphics area.

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Lesson 1 Z-Bracket

In the Jog PropertyManager on the left, under Jog Offset, make sure
that the End Condition is set to Blind.

Enter ‘3.00’ for the Offset Distance.

Set the Dimension position to Overall Dimension, the third icon from
the left.

Set the Jog Position to Material Outside, the third icon from the left.

Select the green check mark button to accept the settings and create the
feature.

Adding Holes
In adding holes to the Z-Bracket, you want to make certain that you dimension them so that the holes will
be correct even if the other part dimensions are changed.

To do this, create a hole by selecting the Simple Hole icon from the “Sheet Metal” toolbar or pull down
the “Insert” menu and select Features – Hole – Simple.

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Lesson 1 Z-Bracket

When prompted in the PropertyManager to select a location on a planer face for the center of the hole,
pick the top surface of the lower flange of the Z-Bracket.

Pick here

In the Hole PropertyManager, enter ‘0.50’ for the diameter.

Check the Link to thickness check box. This option ensures that the
hole is through the thickness of the sheet metal, no matter what gauge
or thickness is specified. If you were creating a part out of plate, you
would use this value to create a drilled hole which does not go all the
way though the material. Then the Direction 1 distance option is used
to specify the depth of the hole.

Select the green check mark button to accept the settings and create the
hole.

Since the hole is placed at the cursor location, you need to dimension
the sketch for more accuracy.

In the FeatureManager design tree, right click on Hole1 and select Edit
Sketch.

Select the Centerline icon from the “Sketch” toolbar, or pull down the “Tools” menu and select Sketch
Entities – Centerline.

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Lesson 1 Z-Bracket

Move the cursor along the lower edge of the part until the icon changes to indicate you are at the
midpoint. The line will un-highlight and the cursor will change as shown. Click the left mouse button to
select this position.

Pick here

Move the cursor to the other side of the face, again placing the cursor at the midpoint, and click to create
a center line on this flange.

If you should create a line you do not want, press the Escape key. Then, pick the line you do not want and
press the Delete key.

Select the Smart Dimension icon on the “Sketch” toolbar, or pull down the “Tools” menu and select
Dimensions – Smart.

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Lesson 1 Z-Bracket

The cursor changes to .

Select the center point of the circle (a large red dot appears) and the centerline you just created. Move the
cursor below the part and click to create the dimension from the centerline to the center of the hole. Enter
the value ‘2.00’ for this dimension.

Next, add another dimension from the circle to the vertical flange by selecting the center of the circle and
the top fillet line at the bottom of the vertical flange. Move the cursor to the right of the part and place the
dimension. Type in ‘1.00’ for the value of the dimension.

Select the Mirror Entities icon from the “Sketch” toolbar or pull down the “Tools” menu and select
Sketch Tools - Mirror.

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Lesson 1 Z-Bracket

For the Entities to mirror, select the circle (not the center point).

In the PropertyManager, click in the Mirror about box to highlight it

and then select the centerline you created on the part.

Select the green check mark button or press the right mouse button to
copy the hole.

Select the Exit Sketch icon on the “Sketch” toolbar in the upper right corner of the drawing screen.

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Lesson 1 Z-Bracket

Repeat the above steps to add holes to the top flange. These holes are ‘0.625’ diameter, ‘5.00’ inches from
the centerline, and ‘1.25’ inches from the lower fillet line at the top of the vertical flange.

Showing the Annotations

Now that you have created the part, let’s display the dimensions.

In the FeatureManager design tree, right click on Annotations and select Show Feature Dimensions.
You may drag and drop dimensions with the mouse to reposition them and make them easier to see.

If the part is off the screen select the Zoom to Fit icon on the “View” toolbar, or pull down the “View”
menu and select Modify – Zoom to Fit, so you can see the entire part and to center it in the graphics area.

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Lesson 1 Z-Bracket

Saving the Part

Select the Save icon on the “Standard” toolbar, or select Save from the “File” pull down menu.

The Save As dialog box appears.

In the File name box, type ‘z-bracket’ and select Save.

The extension .sldprt is added to the filename, and the file is saved. Note: File names are not case
sensitive. That is, files named Z-BRACKET.sldprt, Z-Bracket.sldprt, and z-bracket.sldprt are all the
same file.

Changing the Material Thickness

Going back to the introduction, the purpose of this exercise was to create a Z-Bracket with three key
dimensions that will remain constant.

To verify that this is true, change the material thickness by right clicking on Sheet-Metal1 in the
FeatureManager design tree and select Edit Feature.

Change the Sheet Metal Parameters from 16 Gauge to 18 Gauge and then select the green check mark
button.

Notice that the material thickness changed, but the key dimensions stayed the same.

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Lesson 1 Z-Bracket

Changing the Bend Radius

Now, let’s try changing the bend radius. In the FeatureManager design tree, right click on Sheet-Metal1
and select Edit Feature.

Change the Sheet Metal Parameters from 0.05 to 0.125 and then select the green check mark button.

Notice that the bend radius changed, but the key dimensions stayed constant.

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Lesson 1 Z-Bracket

Changing the Width

Another scenario is if the overall width of the part would need to be changed.

Double click on the ‘4.00’ dimension at the end of the part and change the value to ‘4.5.’

Select the Rebuild icon on the “Standard” toolbar.

The Rebuild feature rebuilds the model with any changes that you made.

Notice that the overall width was changed to 4.5, but the other dimensions were held as desired.

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Lesson 1 Z-Bracket

Changing the Length

How about changing the length of the part?

Double click on the ‘12.00’ dimension and change the value to ‘14.00.’

Select the Rebuild icon on the “Standard” toolbar.

The overall length was changed to 14.00, but the other dimensions remained. Even the holes held their
dimension from the centerline.

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