New Users Question

I am retired and fool around with woodworking. When I want to build
something I usually make a pencil sketch of it and then proceed to
making the sawdust. I am from the 'machanical drawing' era, having
learned it in the 1940s. At present I probably should be working on my
estate planning or advanced medical directives but have decided to
teach myself AutoCad, hoping that will postpone the need to do the
others. Someone was kind enough to give me a copy of AutoCadLT98 and a
Getting Started manual.
The manual has an introductory excercise which made me draw some small
part with a front view and a top view. The front view showed the length
and height of the piece and the top view showed the length and width of
the piece. The top view was drawn and then the front view was drawn by
'extending' the top view down and completing it.
Nowhere in the excercise or in the manual is a 'side' view mentioned.
So fially to my question. How do I create a side view showing widdth
and height. I figure I can extend either the front view to get the
height for the side view but how would I then extend the top view to
get the height as a 90 degree turn is necessary and I can't figure that
out.

Thanks for any and all help.

 

In a previous post mike says...

One way to do this is extend "work" lines just like you would if you are
using pencil and paper. Then draw the section and erase any lines you
don't want. This is similar to what you might do with pencil and paper.

Remember, cad drafting is simply another tool in the toolbox. There's
nothing particularly "magical" about it. As you get familiar with the
tool, you will find faster ways to do certain tasks. The basic drafting
skills you learned in the 1940's will always stand you in good stead.

 

Maybe Imy thinking is wrong. I remember drawing the top view above the
front view and then the side view to the right of the front view. I can
extend the front view lines to the side view, assuming it is on the
same 'height' as the front view. But how would I extend the top view
lines? They would have to go to the right and then down. I am unable to
see my clear on this .
Thanks.

 

Just like you would with pencil and paper: draw a line at 45 deg to one side
of the front view; project the lines to the 45, then from the 45 deg line to
the view you wish to construct.
___

 

In a previous post mike says...

Mike:

The traditional method of orthogonal projection requires drawing a 45°
line from the upper right corner of the front view. The top view
"horizontal" lines are extended to the right until they intersect the
45° line. You then draw verticals downward until they intersect with
horizontally projected lines from the front view. If the method seems
unclear try to find a drafting textbook in the library or an used
bookstore.

 

Or ... you could also use COPY and ROTATE to produce temporary rotated
copies of any view ... but that might be considered "cheating" by drafting
purists.
___

 

As you would with paper, draw a 45deg 'working' line from top right of front
view, then translate
other working lines with it.

 

The original grid was sized to do just the top and front view. One over
the other. I drew my side view to the right of the front view and when
I did a 'print preview' the side view was not shown. Is this because
the side view is outside the grid? Is it possible to extend the grid to
include the side view? Or is there really some other problem that I am
not aware of.
Life is good. I am upstairs learning from you people and at the same
time I have a grandson down in the garage that is learning to do scroll
sawing. He is too anxious though and keeps breaking the blades. Oh well
I was there at one time also.
Thanks

 

In a previous post mike says...

Mike:

Ah, now you are getting into one of the things I personally dislike
about Autocad -- the printer dialog interface. By way of full
disclosure I should say that I am not a daily user of Autocad. My
program of choice is called Visualcadd, but that's a discussion for
another day.

Perhaps one of the other posters here can guide you through the vagaries
of getting something printed to proper scale and including all the items
you want to see on the paper.

 

It sounds like you really need to find a book on AutoCAD basics. A Google
search should give you a good selection to choose from.

That said, the size of the grid is set by the LIMITS command. When you plot
or print, LIMITS is only *one* of the options available. If you study the
Print/Plot dialogs a bit, you'll find that there are a number of things you
can change to get your plot looking like you want it. For starters, instead
of plotting LIMITS, try plotting EXTENTS (in this case the LIMITS / grid
settings aren't important). Then try various SCALE settings, and experiment
a bit. Most beginning books on AutoCAD cover these features, as well as does
the built-in HELP system.
___

 

This is the way I would do it, use 0 and 90 degree lines and draw the
elevation off to one side of the plan. It will appear at 90 degrees to the
plan. When you've finished drawing elevation, use the COPY & ROTATE commands
to turn to elevation around to the correct position.

Also take a look at the MIRROR command, with which you could draw the
elevation back to front, (if you're drawing it under the plan, or projection
lines give a reversed view) and then flip it over.

As Paul has already said, some might consider above cheating. But using CAD
should be about speeding things up and making drawing easier - at least
that's the theory

Printing the drawing is a whole another ball game. Let's take it one stage
at a time. Would suggest you look at the "Dummies" series of books for
learning Autocad.

Good luck

Chris