"bending" parts?

Are you still working on this?

You should have started a new thread rather than attaching to a different problem.

It is not entirely clear what you are trying to do.

I assume you want to bend the plate with the slot to match the profile of the surfaces?

Why not model "as bent" for that simple part?

i was able to get a drawing that looks close, but its not perfectly accurate. The oval should be centered in relation to the round hole in the bucket sides. i'm trying to learn how to do this right as i'm sure i'll have to do it again in the future.

i am also not sure what you mean by 'modeling "as bent"'

3D Assembly.dwg

AutoCAD does not have a Bend Part tool like Inventor - so you will need to model the part in the finished form.

Fortunately this is a simple part (except that this won't include Bend Allowance). (material stretches on the outside of a bend and compresses on the inside - Inventor will calculate for this. In your application it might not be that critical)

you will need to model the part in the finished form.

im not entirely sure what this means.

you're definitely right about material stretching, it especially comes into play when the bends are much tighter (90 degrees and smaller), and its really fun when bending pipe for handrails and plumbing. i'm ignoring that entirely for this project, and in general, our shop assumes that the inside measurements stay constant and only the outside stretches. it's close enough for what we do.