I am struggling to design sheet metal ramps with a tab & slot design (tab might be shaped sort of like a J so you can slide into the slot, move the part forward, and “lock” the tab). Here’s my basic design. The ramps are sloped, may curve left or right, etc. The sides should be removable. Ultimatel…

I‘d recommend using the sweep tool, although I‘m not sure if the profile of the ramp changes over the course of the path. If not, the sweep tool might be a lot better than guided lofting.

I can use sweep vs loft to design the ramp as you see in the picture (although designing with sweep when I make a curve that spirals down to another level doesn’t work great). The problem I’m having is, how to design this ramp as 3 different pieces with tab & slots to hold the pieces together? If I …

Now I understand your difficulty. Are these going to be 3d printed or manufactured from metal? In 3d printing, you can use constraint tabs, I’ll link a video below which explains the different types quite well. If you need help modeling the tab of your choice, I’d be happy to help! [Joining…

And here’s a more complicated ramp I’ve designed that I will have to do this to [Screenshot 2025-04-07 at 3.14.00 PM]

Well, on second thought, I’d use a clamp, like the one in the image. I don’t know if this is an option for you, but it seems like the most secure solution. You‘d have to place them,with some specific spacing, but that would be it. If this is for e g transporting something or flow liquids /which mean…

You keep suggesting alternatives but I really just need the solution I suggested. Not sure if that’s impossible. I suppose your clamp idea might work (although I can’t have the indent on the surface of the floor that you have shown). These are going to be metal ramps in a pinball machine. They don’…

I think this is the method your are looking for. I would separate the floor and the side rails and create the hook. The hook can be projected down to make the hole and adjust the hole tolerance to fit. Also I think Marks suggestion is create a prebuilt connector that you can join or add on to. […

Yes this exactly. I just don’t know how to do what you did.

Because it’s a curved in every direction. I would duplicate the wall so I can extend to make a cut out. You can duplicate upwards into some memorable offset like 5mm so you can move it back down to the correct location easily. Duped it and extended it 1mm, the hook will be 1mm in height, also I pr…

Sheet metal tab and slot design - struggle

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boslaw April 7, 2025, 7:16pm 5

I watched that video before I posted here but still struggling. Here’s a rough sketch of what I’m trying to do:

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Sheet metal tab and slot design - struggle

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