Sketched Bend Tool

I haven't fooled with sheet metal for quite a long time, and even when
I did I used it very little. Will someone help me out and tell me why
I cannot get the option to use the "Sketched Bend" tool. What mode do
I need to be in to have the option? I have a very thin model of a
button cover that I extruded and it has several tabs on it that I must
bend up 90 degrees, and no matter what I do I the icon remains greyed
out to me I am using the planar face of the extruded part to sketch my
bend line, and I exit the sketch, and still no option. No option
either before I enter the sketch mode or after.
Exasperated,
David

 

you must first insert sheetmetal feature even if no bends exist.

 

Thanks for your reply but I really don't understand what you mean. E-
mail me and I will send you a screen capture of the sketch and what I
am trying to do, and you will see that even though the planar face is
selected (green), and ready to accept my bend line sketch, the
Sketched Bend icon is greyed out. The help files tell you that you
can select the sketch bend tool as long as u select a plane first, but
that does not work either. It would seem that I am missing something
real rudimentary here.
David

 

does part have sheetmetal feature?
if not, insert>sheetmetal>bends

after this, the remaining sheetmetal tools should activate.

 

Thank you, works fine!