OrthographicDrawingTechniquesinAutoCAD

Puttingyourskillstouse.
Sofarinthislevelyouhavebeenlearningthebasic2DAutoCADcommands.Whatyoulearnedinthislevelwillbeaverylargepartof
whatyouuseinyourdailydrafting.Thistutorialisn'tgoingtoteachcommands,butwillinsteadshowacommontechniquethatisused
alotin'Mechanical"drafting.Itwillalsoaskyoutothinkaboutwhatyouaredrawing,andhowitneedstoberepresented.
Mechanical drafting is a field within the drafting world. In simple terms, it is used to describe the methods for drafting and designing
machines, assemblies and in a nut shell, the 'parts' that used in everything from a fork to a Formula 1 race car. It doesn't include
anything that involves buildings and structures (Architectural & Structural drafting) or landscapes and roads (Civil drafting and
engineering).
NowjustbecauseyouaredreamingofbecominganArchitect,itdoesn'tmeanthatyoushouldskipthistutorial.Infact,youwilllikely
needtousetheseconceptsorreaddiagramsrelatedtothissubject.Soreadon!
WhatisOrthographicProjection?
Ifyoulookattheimagebelow,youwillseeadrawingforapart.Itshowstheobjectwithatopview,afrontviewandasideview.You'll
alsoseeanIsometricviewthatissometimesusedtogiveamorevisuallook.Thistutorialwon'tcoverIsometricdraftingasitisshown
inTutorial32.Saveyourdrawingsthatyoudointhisexerciseformorepracticeinthatlesson.

Thereasonthatthismethodisusedisthatyoucantakeadesignedpart,drawit,dimensionitandthengivealltheneededinformation
tothemanufacturer.
Insomecasesonly2viewsareneeded,butforanythingmorethanasimplepart,3ormoreviewsareneeded.Verycomplexpartswill
need6ormore.
Thereare2methodsofdecidingwhatviewsareusedandwheretheyareplacedinthedrawing.I'llborrowsomeinfofromWikipediato
showthis:
Firstangleprojection(EuropeanStandards)
Infirstangleprojection,theobjectisconceptuallylocatedinquadrantI,i.e.itfloatsaboveandbeforetheviewingplanes,
theplanesareopaque,andeachviewispushedthroughtheobjectontotheplanefurthestfromit.(Mnemonic:an"actorona
stage".)Extendingtothe6sidedbox,eachviewoftheobjectisprojectedinthedirection(sense)ofsightoftheobject,onto
the (opaque) interior walls of the box that is, each view of the object is drawn on the opposite side of the box. A two
dimensionalrepresentationoftheobjectisthencreatedby"unfolding"thebox,toviewalloftheinteriorwalls.Thisproduces
twoplansandfourelevations.Asimplerwaytovisualizethisistoplacetheobjectontopofanupsidedownbowl.Slidingthe
objectdowntherightedgeofthebowlrevealstherightsideview.

Imageofobjectinbox,withviewsofobjectprojectedinthedirectionof
sightontowallsusingfirstangleprojection.

Similarimageshowingtheboxunfolding
fromaroundtheobject.

Imageshowingorthographicviewslocatedrelativetoeachotherinaccordancewithfirstangleprojection.
Thirdangleprojection(USAStandards)
Inthirdangleprojection,theobjectisconceptuallylocatedinquadrantIII,i.e.itlurksbelowandbehindtheviewingplanes,
theplanesaretransparent,andeachviewispulledontotheplaneclosesttoit.(Mnemonic:a"sharkinatank",esp.thatis
sunkenintothefloor.)Usingthe6sidedviewingbox,eachviewoftheobjectisprojectedoppositetothedirection(sense)of
sight,ontothe(transparent)exteriorwallsoftheboxthatis,eachviewoftheobjectisdrawnonthesamesideofthebox.The
boxisthenunfoldedtoviewallofitsexteriorwalls.Asimplerwaytovisualizethisistoplacetheobjectinthebottomofa
bowl.Slidingtheobjectuptherightedgeofthebowlrevealstherightsideview.
Here is the construction of third angle projections of the same object as above. Note that the individual views are the same,
justarrangeddifferently.

Imageofobjectinbox,withviewsofobjectprojectedinthedirectionof
sightontowallsusingfirstangleprojection.

Similarimageshowingtheboxunfolding
fromaroundtheobject.

Imageshowingorthographicviewslocatedrelativetoeachotherinaccordancewiththirdangleprojection.

Okthatwassomefuntheorythankforreadingit.OnelastbitofinfobeforewegetbacktoCADstuff.Sincethereare2kindsof
standards,howdoyouknowwhichiswhichwhenyouhaveadrawinginfrontofyou?Thereisastandardsymbolthatisusedinthe
titleblocktoindicatewhichmethodwasused.

This symbol shows a simple cone and displays the projection. Think about which symbol represents which method, then move your
mouseovertheimagestoseeifyouwerecorrect.
BecauseIaminNorthAmericaandwastrainedtousethe"ThirdAngleProjection"method,thatiswhatIwillshowinthistutorial.The
techniquesfordrawingarethesame,it'sjustamatterofwhichdirectionyou'project'ordrawthelines.

Here'sashortvideoforyouthatexplainstheseconceptvisually.

Drawing3ViewOrthographicProjection
Fortheseexercises,we'llstartbylookingatanIsometricdrawingofanobjectandthendrawtheFront,SideandTopviewsusingthe
dimensionswe'regiven.Intheworkplace,youmightfindthatyouaregivenaparttomeasureandthendraw,oryoumightbedesigning
thepartyourself.
Here'sthepartthatwe'lldrawinthistutorial:

Thisisaverysimpleexampletogetyouusedtotheconcepts.You'llhavemorepracticeexercisesatthebottom.
Ok,thefirstquestionthatyou'llaskyourself,is"WheredoIstart?".Irecommendthatyoustartwhereyouhavethemostinformation.
Thiswillsometimesbethefrontorthetopitdependsuponeachdrawing.Inthiscase,Iwillstartwiththefrontanddrawit.

Youdon'tneedtoworryaboutdimensioningitatthispointwaituntilyouhaveallofyourviewsdrawn.Ok,thisshouldhavebeeneasy
enough,sonowyoucanstartdrawingthetopview.
To draw the top, you need to 'project' the lines up. Draw lines up from the main points in your front view. Make sure you have your
Osnapson(include"Quadrant").

Nowthatyouhavetheverticallines,drawthehorizontallines.Makesureyouleaveenoughroomtodrawthewidth(viaOFFSET)and
spacebetweentheviews.

Nowyoualmosthave2viewsdrawn.Trimthelinessothatyouareleftwithjustthelinesyouneed.

Stopandchecktomakesurethatyoudidn'tforgetanylines.It'sveryeasytomisssome.
Nowit'stimetojumpaheadalittleandtakeasidetrip.ReadTutorials43tolearnaboutLinetypes,becauseyouwillneedthemhere.
Afterreadingthetutorial,returntoyourdrawingandloadtheHiddenandCenterlinetypes.Theseareneededtoaddmoreinformationin
yourdrawing.
Ifallwentwell,youshouldbeabletoloadthelinetypesandscalethem(LTSwithavalueof10or12)tofitwithyourdrawing.

WhatyouseeaboveisthecompletedTopandFrontviews.Doyouunderstandwhythereare"Hidden"lines?Theyaretheretoindicate
thatthehole(circle)isdrilledrightthroughtheblock.Wherewouldthelinesbeintheholewasonlydrilledhalfwaythrough?Thecenter
linesareusedtoshowthetheholeandthearchavethesamecenterpoint.ThesearebothcommonandstandardCADmethodsand
youneedtounderstandthem.

Onemoreviewtodraw.Thiswillbetheside/rightview.Canyoupictureityet?
Togetstartedonthesideview,youhavetoestablishwhereitwillbeplacedinthedrawing.Inthisexampleandusingthe3rdAngle
projection,itwillbeshowntotherightofthefrontview.Forexactplacement,youneedtodrawmoreprojectionlines.

What you see in the image above is that I established the top right corner of my front view by projecting 2 lines. Then I drew a 45
degreelineupfromthecorner.
NowIcanstartprojectinglinesfrommytopviewtocreatethesideview.Thelinethatisindicatedbythe'ProjectDown'leaderwillbe
theleftsideofmyRightSideView.Iwouldprojectanotherfromtheothersideofthetopviewandthatwouldestablishthewidthofthe
rightside.Alsonotethatbyusingthistechniquethetopandsideviewsarethesamedistancefromthefrontview.
FromthereIjustneedtoprojecttotherightfrommyfrontview.

Almostthere.Nowyoujustneedtotrimupsomelinesandchangethelinetypeforthehiddenlines.Finalgoalistodrawthis:

Onceyouhaveallofyourlines,yourcenterlinesandyourhiddenlines,youarereadytodimensionandaddanynotesthatareneeded.
Thinkaboutwhatcommandsyouusedinthistutorial.YouusedLINE,CIRCLE,OFFSET&TRIM.YoualsouseLayersandthen
learned about Linetypes. What this shows is that you don't need to use a lot of commands, but it's your knowledge of how those
commandsworksthatmakesyourreputationasaCADuser.
ExtraPractice:DrawthemissingRightSideViewandtheotherviews(exceptIsometric)forthisdrawing.
ExtraPractice:Hereisascanfromanold(1919)draftingbookthatIfoundonGoogleBooks.Thisimagehas4separateexerciseto
keepyoubusy.Drawwhatyouaregiven,andthendrawthemissingview.
ExtraPractice:Drawthe3viewsneededforeachoftheseblocks.Extra1Extra2
Just one more thing I should mention. This method of drafting can be
usedinotherwaysaswell.
To the right is a simple piece of duct work drawn in AutoCAD. It's a
straightpiecethathasbeencutatananglesothatitcanbeconnected
toanotherpiecetoformabend.
Drawing in 3D isn't very hard when you know how. But if I sent this to
the manufacturer, he wouldn't really know where to start. So I would
havetosendhimadrawingofthetuberolledout.
This would give him a template to cut the shape and manufacture the
part.
Thinkaboutwhatthisshapewouldlooklikeifitwasflat.Howwouldyou
drawit?Howwouldgetthecurvecorrect?Doyouthinkthatthissounds
likeajobforOrthographicProjection?
Yesitdoes.
Thedrawingbelowshowshowthiscouldbedrawntoshowallaspects
ofthispart.Ihavethediameterofthepipeandthelengthtothetopand
the length to the bottom. Since I have the diameter, I also have the
circumference.Thecircumferencetellsmethelengthofmaterialthatwill
beneededtomakethepiece.
ThepartisdrawninMagenta,andtheprojectionlinesareinBlue.WhatI
neededtodowasusetheDIVIDEcommandtodivideboththecircleand
the line that represents the circumference. Then it was a matter of
projecting down and to the right from the circle, and up from the
circumference line. This gave me a grid to use for the SPLINE to
create the curve. The Auxiliary view was drawn with a few projection

linesandanELLIPSE.
Try this if you like and follow the command line for the commands you
don'tknow.Thismightbetough,buttakeyourtime.