EZ Bend
At a glance
- Cut bend reliefs along each fold line, then bend the part by hand — no press brake needed
- Perforation style: a dashed pattern of short slits on the fold line, with settable cut length and tab size
- Slot style: real openings centered on the fold — length, width (defaults to sheet thickness), rounded or square ends
- Every pattern keeps a solid tab of metal at both ends — no settings combination can cut through the sheet edge
- Reliefs land on their own EZ Bend layer as cuttable geometry, picked up by Plasma / Laser import
- Weld-fill the reliefs after bending where strength matters
No press brake or finger brake in the shop? EZ Bend turns each fold of a flat pattern into cuttable bend reliefs: cut them together with the part outline on your plasma or laser table, and the metal folds along the weakened line by hand. Where strength matters, fill the reliefs back in with weld after bending — often recovering strength close to a full seam bend.
Pick the style in the Flat Pattern dialog's Bend lines selector: Centerlines only (the classic fold markers), EZ Bend — perforations, or EZ Bend — slots.
Perforations
A dashed pattern of short open cuts directly on the fold line. You set the cut length and the tab size — the solid metal left between cuts. Each slit is a single kerf-width pass, so it costs almost nothing to cut.
Slots
Real openings centered on the fold line, for thicker material or easier folding. You set the slot length, width (defaults to your sheet thickness), and the end style — rounded ends that cut as smooth continuous loops, or square rectangles. Slot length must be greater than the width.
All dimension fields take unit-aware expressions (10mm, 1/2, (5+3)in), and your last-used
settings are remembered for the next unfold.
The part always stays connected
Every pattern is centered on its fold with an equal, solid tab at both ends — at least the tab size you asked for. No combination of settings can ever cut through the edge of the sheet. A fold too short to fit even one cut between two tabs simply keeps its plain marker line.
Fold markers, when you want them
The Bend construction lines switch controls whether the blue fold markers are drawn alongside the reliefs. With slots it's your choice (on by default — a handy folding reference between the openings). With perforations it switches off automatically, since the cuts themselves trace the fold line.
Cutting the reliefs
Reliefs are emitted on a dedicated EZ Bend layer as normal, cuttable geometry — "+ From Drafting" import in Plasma and Laser picks them up along with the part outline. The construction fold markers stay out of the toolpath, as always.