Mounting Bracket Planning Skill

When to use

The request describes a mounting bracket, L bracket, U bracket, T bracket, support bracket, clamp bracket, lugged bracket, or machined support with holes.
The part has a load-bearing base plus one or more raised webs, tabs, arms, bosses, lugs, pockets, slots, or cutouts.
The model is a single machined bracket component, not an assembly with screws or attached hardware.

The part is only a flat plate with holes and no bracket-like 3D support structure.
The part is mainly a shaft, flange, bearing housing, complete hinge assembly, or sheet-metal bent bracket.
The prompt asks for a decorative stand or enclosure rather than a functional machined support.

Build the main load path first: base, web/tab/lug, and boss geometry before small holes.
Keep bracket features as one coherent body unless the prompt explicitly asks for assembled parts.
Place holes from functional datums, not visual guesses.
Use standard hole features for threaded, counterbored, countersunk, and clearance holes.
Add cutouts/slots for clearance or adjustment only where they make functional sense.
Apply fillets/chamfers late, especially at web-to-base transitions and exposed edges.

base_length, base_width, and base_thickness define the mounting base.
web_height, web_thickness, tab_width, lug_radius, and boss_diameter define support geometry.
hole_diameter, thread_size, counterbore_diameter, and slot_length define fastening and adjustment.
edge_margin, hole_pitch, symmetry_plane, and boss_offset define layout.
fillet_radius controls stress relief at transitions.

Create the base extrusion or main bracket profile.
Add vertical webs, tabs, lugs, bosses, or arms as secondary extrusions from clear datum faces.
Cut clearance pockets, U/L/T-shaped openings, slots, or lightening cutouts.
Add standard holes using HoleWzd or cut features, positioned from datums and symmetry references.
Pattern or mirror repeated holes/features when the design is symmetric.
Add structural fillets at web/base intersections, then finish with small chamfers on exposed edges.

Collapsing a bracket into a simple flat plate and losing the vertical/web structure.
Creating an assembly of screws, pins, or attached parts when only the bracket is requested.
Adding holes before the base/web geometry and producing floating or misaligned holes.
Mixing several unrelated bracket variants into one overloaded model.
Using decorative cutouts that weaken the load path or overlap holes.

Latest run evidence: 247 accepted planning insights matched bracket-like descriptions and operations.
Strong repeated names include plan_l_bracket_with_holes, bracket_with_holes_and_cutouts, bracket_with_holes_planning, mounting_bracket_with_holes, and plan_bracket_with_holes.
Frequent operations in the latest run: Extrusion, Cut, HoleWzd, LinearPattern, MirrorPattern, Chamfer, Fillet, Boss.
Source model examples: 000780, 001607, 002620, 004421, 009414, 028735, 032081, 036242, 041396, 047048, 054507, 079425, 096301, 134801, 187546, 195869, 207737, 225658.
Source: CAD-SkillX offline review of SCAD58 descriptions, STEP summaries, and SolidWorks feature evidence.

Triggers:

Secondary triggers:

Operation triggers:

Exclusions: