Drafting machine advice

[Erik France]

If you're talking about the drawing surface you might take a look at the white bathroom wallboard. We used that on all of our mayline tables in college. It's harder than the table mats, but a whole lot cheaper. It's the stuff that looks like a dry erase board.

[Jon McElwain]

Congratulations on going old school! I am also dependent on AutoCAD for my living, and while it is certainly a much faster tool than drafting by hand, the old pen and paper definitely has its appeal. I still have an old Vemco drafting arm, but I like my made in the USA Vemco Track system the best.

As far as scales go, I would start with some scales in standard inches first. Architectural scales will translate to your shop much more fluidly than engineering, unless you plan to buy a tape measure in tenths of an inch (usually used in heavy construction - roads etc.). The engineering scales are easier to work with for the math, (no fractions) but at some point you will have to translate them into standard inches for constructing your project in the shop.

You will need some accessories as well. Get a quality drafting compass, with articulated legs and quick release - I use a Staedtler Mars 552 should be around $30 online. Next, use a decent mechanical pencil - get a 5mm and 7mm to start so that you can make different line weights. Remember to ALWAYS roll your pencil while you are drawing a line to make sure you maintain consistent line thickness. A draftsman will have several pencils/pens set with different lead hardnesses for light lines used to lay out your drawing, and heavy lines to make the final drawings. I use HB for my final drawing/dark lines, and 4h for lighter construction lines or layout lines. As far as type of mechanical pencil goes - I have used every high end drafting pencil out there, but now I pretty much only use my pentel side click advance pencils. They work well, they are comfortable, and they hole lead without slipping. Avoid the super cheap ones. Yo can use regular wood pencils, but you have to sharpen them about every 6-10 inches of line that you draw to maintain a consistent line thickness. Mechanical is much better.

Get an Alvin eraser shield as well. This is a very thin stainless steel sheet with precision cut holes through which you can erase. Lay the shield with one of the hole shapes over the portion of the line you want to erase and erase precisely. Should be less than a buck - way worth it. A good T-square will help you precisely set up your drafting arm. I respectfully disagree with a previous poster who recommended only using a horizontal scale. Having the vertical scale set up accurately is far faster. You would have never seen a professional draftsman without the vertical scale - he would have been fired for going too slow.

These are the basics, but you should be able to do most of what you want to with them. After all that, a French curve, various templates with ovals, repeated shapes like hexagons etc. are useful. A can of Alvin drafting powder applied to your drawing will minimize the otherwise inevitable smudging. A good articulated light is highly recommended as well. Mount it so that it can be positioned over the hand opposite of your drafting hand for the best lighting. If you want some really cool old school drafting stuff, google "Leroy lettering machine." This was a device that attached to your drafting arm and actually drew your letters for you. I am guessing they are not made any more, but I am sure they are available on e-bay. One last thing, for your drawing surface, use a 3/4" melamine board, edge it, and use a vinyl drafting board cover. The vinyl cover will take a compass point securely, and is a semi-soft surface for nice crisp lines. It can be cleaned with sponge using Bon Ami powder cleaner (like Comet) and a little water.

Hope that is helpful. Let me know if you have any other questions!

Jon

[Steve Rozmiarek]

Jon, Erik, thanks for the advice. Jon, I'm going to read that a couple more times, and I will be taking you up on that offer for more info!

[Paul M Miller]

[QUOTE=Jon McElwain;1621292] I respectfully disagree with a previous poster who recommended only using a horizontal scale. Having the vertical scale set up accurately is far faster. You would have never seen a professional draftsman without the vertical scale - he would have been fired for going too slow.

As with most things, there are usually several ways to accomplish the end goal. It's a matter of getting used to a particular method and doing what works best for you. In over 30 years as a "professional draftsman" I was never slowed down to the point of getting fired by using triangles in place of a vertical scale. I worked next to a guy who had done engine cavity layout for Buick for many years. He didn't use a machine of any kind; just two triangles. He was one of the fastest drafters I've ever seen. It worked for him.


Paul

[Jon McElwain]

In over 30 years as a "professional draftsman" I was never slowed down to the point of getting fired by using triangles in place of a vertical scale. I worked next to a guy who had done engine cavity layout for Buick for many years. He didn't use a machine of any kind; just two triangles. He was one of the fastest drafters I've ever seen. It worked for him.
Paul

Wow, I would have liked to have seen that! Obviously I stand corrected. In our civil engineering office, that draftsmen largely left their triangles on the shelf near their workstations. I suppose there will be some significant differences between civil and mechanical drafting. More parallel lines in mechanical? Anyway, the owner at our office hated the triangles, so they were not used often.

Regards,

Jon

[Gregory Lyons]

Wow, triangle hate? With all due respect, that just sounds silly. Honestly, drafting machine, parallel bar or T-square, it all comes down to personal preference, but I have a hard time picturing anyone being a productive drafter without using triangles.

I worked in civil engineering also (still do); back in the good ol' days we had a drafting room (the bullpen) with 25-30 drafters and maybe 2 or 3 used drafting machines. While the track type are better than the elbow, there's just too much flex in any of the machines I worked with. There were a bunch of them downstairs in the print shop storage area.

[Ron Jones near Indy]

A lost of good info in Jon's post. As a retired drafting teacher I liked either the T-square or the parallel straight edge. Why, easily used by left handers and right handers alike.

[Marty Paulus]

25 years ago (wow am I getting old!) I learned to draw using several different tools. Depending on what I was working on would dictate which method I would use. For product design work I would use triangles. I felt they were more accurate. For tool design I used an machine with an elbow. It was much faster as the scales were the arms and speed was the name of the game in that area. Today I have been trained on a very high end CAD system for work but rarely use it. I actually like using sketch up for most of my personal work. Quick and easy and I have cut list to help lay out the work on the lumber.

[Mike Schuch]

For a big table and big drawing I would definitely go for the bar type. Much easier to maintain straightness over a long line.

For a smaller table and smaller drawing the bar type tend to get in the way and the arm type is more maneuverable. On a small drawing the scales are going to be pretty much the width of the velum so you don't have to worry about trying to maintain a straight line from one end of the velum to the other.

I have never had rubbing problems with either.

The elbow of the arm type will hang over the edge of the table most of the time so that may be of concern if there is something directly next to your table.

I prefer the clear scales as opposed to anything opaque. It is much easier to measure when you can see the tick mark over the reference line rather than just next to the line.