How to draw a plan

Re: How to draw a plan

Dan Donaldson

>I would suggest going to your local library and getting some books on mechanical drafting. You might want to get several and look them over to see which ones have the best info. After you look at them, you might want to buy whichever seems the best for you. Also, there are several that post here that are experts at this kind of stuff, and could answer specific questions. The subject is kind of broad unless you get enough info to ask specifically. Kinda like "how do I rebuild a car from the ground up" (firmly tongue in cheek;-)

Re: How to draw a plan

Moses Yoder in White Pigeon, MI

>Yep, it's a pretty broad question. I kind of take it for granted that I was taught how to draw plans in high school shop class, and just kind of assume everyone knows the basics.

I draw a front view first, starting witha rough outline of the overall size, then adding in as much detail as I want. Sometimes if you draw every hidden line in an object the drawing can get confusing, so I just draw until I think I'm done. Then I draw an end view and top view the same way. Basic drafting says the front view goes in the bottom left hand corner, end view is bottom right corner, top view is top left corner, dimensions are in between the views. Detail any joints you want to.

Re: How to draw a plan

Peter Ulmanis

>In addition to Dan's suggestion, you may want to check magazines that have project plans. Three that I like are Shopnotes, Woodsmith and Fine Woodworking.

I would take their format and adapt to your project.

To my mind, a plan should convey the roadmap to the finished product. In other words, how do I get from a pile of boards to a lapdesk (I think that is what you are planning). What cuts do I need to make to have it come out right.

Another thing you might try www.deltacad.com , a low level cad software which costs under $50 but gives you a 45 day free trial. I is relatively easy to learn (no CAD program is simple) and if it doesn't work for you, just uninstall it.

Hope this helped.

Peter

Re: How to draw a plan

Ed Mulligan, Cape Cod

>John -

Phil Lowe has a very basic article on drafting in FWW # 161. He also did a video on measuring and drawing a Queen Anne chair that would be somewhat useful but IIRC it doesn't address your specific questions about showing hidden parts.

There is a brief overview of drafting in Joyce, Encyclopedia of Furniture Making.

FWW 38 has an article on constructing a secretary by V Taylor. Also FWW # 45 has an article by L Patterson on constructing a bombe chest. Both of these articles include scale drawings (front, side, plan) and show techniques for depicting hidden parts. They also have exploded perspective drawings which are excellent for conveying information but are difficult for a beginner to master.

Usually hidden parts are drawn with dashed lines, as if you are seeing into the piece with x-ray vision. For complex pieces drawings are made of sections through the piece like a slice of bread from a loaf. Rarely, colored leads are used to make sense of a forest of dashed lines.

If the drawing is for your own use I don't think it is important to rigorously follow drafting conventions but if you intend to publish or share the drawing it should follow those conventions.

Ed

Draw full scale on MDF *LINK*

Andrew F in Australia

>Basically take a bit of offcut MDF that's big enough to show the width.

Draw a full-scale view of the box looking from the front.

Turn the MDF over, draw a full scale view of the side (showing depth and height)

Use a combination square to draw lines at 90 degrees to the edge of the board.

Adjust the position of the ruler to draw lines parallel to the edge of the board. To draw a parallel line, hold the pencil at the end of the ruler and then slide the stock/ruler/combo square down the edge of the board (kind of like turning the combo square into an expensive pencil gauge)

Hope that this makes sense - it's the cheapest way and, being a full scale drawing, you can measure and mark your components straight off the drawing - it's also what's known as a 'rod' when it's drawn like this.

Cheers,

Andrew

Links:

http://www4.district125.k12.il.us/Faculty/djohanns/TechEdHomePage/TDTopics.html

http://www.finefurnituremaker.com/site_map.htm

Hopefully these will get you started


Website that gives the basics of drawing