It's all in the dimensions…

       In this week's installment: I'm going to keep with drafting techniques for the beginner, since this blog is so new. So this post is about keeping to the basics, keeping it simple, and keeping it accurate.

       Construction drawings are intricate.  There are many parts and pieces to them.  A highly qualified builder will take your drawings and make something using them as an instruction book.  This is not an Ikea instruction booklet, you want to be detailed; though more importantly, you want to be accurate in your CAD drawings.  It's part of your job, like showing up every day & on time.  As a draftsman, you will be using a computer, it's good at counting to the "umpteenth" degree.  Take advantage of this tool.  Be accurate with your drawings.

Your reputation is on the line with every line you draw.

       Every line should be placed and set at a "good" dimension.  Just drawing a line to what "looks" good will not be good enough.  Use exact dimensions, have a reason why pieces in your drawing are a certain length.  We don't want any funny dimensions.  The same holds true for modifying your drawings once you've layer out a few lines.  Tools like the "move tool" or the "reshape" tool are powerful and important features.  We want to use them, but use them accurately.

       One drafting technique for moving objects & lines is the "click and drag" technique.  Whether your dragging a line to another location, or a point in a polygon, snap is your friend.  Use those quick keys (or set them up) End point, Center & intersection snaps will help your accuracy. Learn to use them.  The move tool is a great tool in helping your click and drag drawings, though not the most accurate.

       The next technique is the "move command" (depending on the CAD system & what it is called).  The move command is far more accurate than the select and drag style, even using the move tool.  Typically with move, you choose your object, key in the command to move the object in an X or Y coordinate. This is your best bet when you want accuracy. The reason this is more accurate has to deal with the way the CAD system thinks.  In snap and drag, the system is trying to guess at what you want, with the move tool, there is no guessing.  The computer adds up the numbers before your finger comes  off the "enter" key.

      Eventually you will work on enough drawings where you will use one component over several different jobs (say you draw a door, you may copy & paste that door from one job file to another).  Be accurate to start with, inaccuracies breed.  You should be able to measure anywhere on your project and have even decimals.  The jobs where you have a measurement of 1.235432443", is fouled.  It will radiate through the entire drawing set.  Take pride in your work, be an artisan, be a craftsman.  Let the office brag about you so you don't have to.

The image on the left shows a dimension that is fouled...


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