CaldereriaOnLine.com

Online Sheet Metal Flat Pattern Generator for Fabricators

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September 5, 2026 I’m building a sheet-metal pattern generator for fabricators

I’m building CaldereriaOnLine.com for a pretty specific customer: the guy in the sheet-metal workshop who needs to make a cone, transition, branch, elbow, hopper, etc. and needs the flat pattern now.

The usual options are doing the geometry manually or opening a CAD program and spending time drawing something that should be relatively straightforward.

So I’m trying to make that part simpler:

Enter dimensions → generate the development → download DXF → cut the sheet.

It’s a small niche, but that’s what makes it interesting. There are a lot of real-world shapes and fabrication problems that still need better, simpler tools.

I’m building it one pattern at a time, based on the problems fabricators actually run into.

3 Comments

  1. 1
    The niche makes sense because the output maps directly to a physical job. I’d be curious whether fabricators are actually using the generated DXFs on real cuts yet, and what makes them trust the output enough to replace their usual CAD workflow.
    1. 1
      I have actual workshop experience in sheet-metal fabrication, and I’ve been developing CAD add-ons for this industry for years. Those products have paying customers, including recurring customers and subscribers, so I’m not starting from a purely theoretical idea. The DXFs from CaldereriaOnLine are meant to be used for real fabrication. Standard CAD programs often don’t handle these developments; you need more advanced CAD tools or add-ons, which can be very expensive. I offer the same kind of specialized output in a much simpler and more affordable way.
      1. 1
        That’s much stronger validation than a purely new idea — especially with paying customers already using your other CAD products. I’d be interested in digging into how fabricators actually adopt the generated DXFs in their workflow. If you’re open to it, what’s the best email to reach you on?

About

Fabricators often need a sheet-metal development, but creating one can mean too much manual calculation and CAD work. I made this simpler: enter the dimensions, get the development, download a DXF ready for fabrication.