Tool · across the trades
The flat pattern library
Sheet-metal figures with dimensions in millimetres, unfolded into one continuous cutting outline — contour, bend lines, bend allowance, seams and holes. Every figure carries an honest mark for how true the flat pattern is, so you can tell «this fits on the machine» from «this is an illustration».
45 figures · 377 ready-made presets · 22 can be driven by litres · 56 programmes · 11 groups
Universal tools
The box unfolder
Unfold a box or tray onto one sheet — enter litres or dimensions and get a printable shop drawing with bend lines and bend deduction.
Open the box unfolder →3D-workshop
Turn every figure in space — including the ones that cannot be flattened. Good for understanding the shape before you cut.
Open the 3D workshop →Filters
8 of 45 figures · Tank & vessel
Tank & vessel
Tank and vessel
Exact flat pattern · Litre
Nozzle in a shell
Exact flat pattern
Dished end cap
Approximate flat pattern · Litre
Tank support — saddle, legs and skirt
Exact flat pattern
Two-part valve cover
Exact flat pattern
Flange box
Exact flat pattern
Cyclone and dust separator
Exact flat pattern · Litre
Orange-peel sphere
Approximate flat pattern · Litre
Used in these trades
The figures also appear under the programmes as calculators — the same tool, the same maths, just framed by the trade. The library's figures are the only place the numbers live: a figure cannot say one thing in the library and another under a trade.
What the marks mean
- Exact flat pattern
- The surface is developable and the pattern is solved in closed form. The whole uncertainty sits in the K-factor — it belongs to the material and the machine, not to the geometry.
- Approximate flat pattern
- The surface is faceted or triangulated. The error is known and printed as a number on the drawing — it is not hidden.
- Cannot be expanded
- Doubly curved surface. There is no cutting contour and no DXF — only a blank-diameter range for pressing, or a petal split. A pretty pattern that does not fit is the worst error, so it is not drawn.
- Litre-driven
- You can type a number of litres instead of the dimensions. If that figure cannot be reached with the dimensions you have locked, you get an honest range — not a rounded dimension dressed up as an answer.
The vocabulary of bending
The words and formulas the trade uses for a flat pattern. The symbols are the same throughout Discebo: α is the bend angle in degrees, R the inside bend radius, t the sheet thickness and K the K-factor — all in millimetres.
Flat pattern (development) · Flat length · Bend allowance · Bend deduction · Outside setback · Compensation value v to DIN 6935 · K-factor · Neutral fibre · Bend angle · Inside bend radius · Sheet thickness · Fold line · Test bend
DIN 6935 covers only cold bending of flat products in structural steel. Stainless, aluminium, copper, brass and titanium zinc are not included — there the formulas are an extrapolation, and a test bend in the actual material settles it.