Turn Swept face into sheet metal part, or a get a flat pattern. 2

[Dingo0z]

Through help from this community I have created a swept face that represents a face on a piece of aluminum crown moulding we are to build. I now need to "flatten it" so I can get a pattern to cut it out. I'm having difficulty converting it to sheet metal to do this.
Any help is greatly appreciated. We were supposed to have already started this thing, but this part is holding us up.... or I guess it's me thats holding us up

Using SW 2009

Thanks,
-Dan

 

[Dingo0z]

O.k. your hired
&
Very well put.


Which of the 3 software you are familiar with has been the most helpful for you in dealing with sheet metal? Before I put everything into Solidworks, I want to know if in your opinion it is going to best meet our needs? We are a large scale custom sign company that does just about anything you can with sheet metal. However we only rely on 3d software for things like complex curved faces and cornice work. I'm especially interested in your opinion because you teach Inventor. I've had that in my mind for awhile since I'm a long time Autocad user.

Thanks,
-Dan

 

[Dingo0z]

**For anyone looking at this thread in the future,
I found the solution to be creating this same shape through "lofting" instead of "sweeping". The sheet metal tools allow you to make a lofted bend this way. It didn't make a whole lot of sense to me why it wouldn't work the other way too, but alas....some things just have to be done the way this programs likes it. And I'm finding much more success in accepting that. You can see an example of working lofted sheet metal shape if you look at the post earlier in this thread where I uploaded a file pulled up by a co-worker & in the exemplary images uploaded by Rollupswx.

-Dan