[1683cadder]

My team has never really done anything major with sheet metal, but this year we are considering using a sheet metal frame. My question is when you are designing a sheet metal frame, should you design the component in a 3-D model first and then unfold or should you start the design from a piece of sheet metal and then fold it into shape? What is the best bend radius to use? How does bending effect the dimensions (doesn't a bend radius cause dimensions to have really long decimals due to pi? If I make sense) or does getting it laser cut solve the dimension issues caused by bending?