Is Traditional Drawing Still Relevant for Engineers?

[Jones1987]

Is manual drawing with pencil and paper a good quality an engineer should have at his power? I'm still an undergrad and I understand all drawing is done with CAD packages, but I still enjoy drawing free hand before I put it onto software (I guess because I'm not so good at using CAD)

Or am I wasting my time drawing back to the basics?

 

[Claws]

You are not wasting your time - nothing is faster for presenting or explaining an initial idea than pen and paper.

 

[brewnog]

Good skill, if you ever need anything knocking up then you won't have the time or equipment to do it on CAD. 'Proper' technical drawing also shows you how to actually detail drawings properly!

 

[Q_Goest]

I put all my pencil and ink tools in a box years ago. I even have an electric eraser!

[PLAIN]http://t3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:BpSbY3Z_9Wgf4M:http://www.stpeteblue.com/Catalog/images/c-3395.JPG&t=1

They'll get donated to a museum in a hundred years by my grand daughter...

I only use CAD now, but it's a neat thing to learn I think. Learning 3D packages would be more marketable though.

 

[mender]

I'm old school, learned drafting a long time ago, well before CAD but I took an evening course in CAD as soon as I knew it was around (AutoCAD 10). Loved it and have been using CAD ever since.

Knowing how to draw and sketch is very useful, as is knowing how to use a lathe and a mill (I'm also a machinist). I feel that it really speeds up my CAD drawing. Once the serious drafting begins though, the paper and pencil get left behind very quickly! You'll soon learn a bunch of shortcuts that help you draw quickly with CAD, just keep practicing and trying out the tools.

 

[nvn]

Pardon my ignorance, but what does knocking up mean in post 3?

Jones1987: If you mean taking a semester course in freehand sketching, I would say, no. I think they do not even have a course on freehand sketching. If you mean taking a semester course in manual drafting, I would probably say, no, don't spend quite that much time on it. Maybe I am wrong. Instead, if you want to spend some money, perhaps buy a textbook like Engineering drawing and graphic technology (?); and then you could look up subjects whenever you are interested. Also get a copy of the engineering drawing standard in your country, which shows you the correct way to draw and call out things. I forget the ISO or EN document number.

For freehand sketching, we were told this tip: Look at where you want the line to go, not at the tip of your pencil. It is rather hard to do. There is a tendency to look at your pencil tip, instead of the target; and then the line meanders. (There is a similar rule in driving a car: Look ahead, and then you will drive straight.)

A mechanical pencil having 0.5 mm HB lead is recommended. Get a good eraser. The best eraser worldwide is Staedtler Mars Rasor 527 30, made in Germany. The eraser inside it is Staedtler Mars Rasor 527 35. They are hard to find (if still existent); perhaps try major university book stores.

I might be interested in investigating a Staedtler digital pencil (or something similar), but I do not know much about it yet.

The best diagramming software, ever, is (was) MacDraw II. Nothing has ever even come close. It is almost perfect. I do not know if there is any good way to make it run on Macintosh OS X.

 

[Jones1987]

Thanks for the replies, I only ask as its something I've always enjoyed before I begin to use CAD systems.

I just wondered if it would be a good skill to have in future in the real working world

 

[nathanlee52]

Drafting, in the traditional way, isn't really that useful. Letter spacing, height, blah blah blah, I would punt on the majority of the nitpicky drafting skills which were required of ages gone past.

HOWEVER, good sketching and dimensioning are really powerful. They are quick, they don't require a drafter to muck about, whine, question, and finally deliver a drawing. You can get a good sketch to the shop and be off and running way before a cad program.

In practice, i find that the above situation really plays out on standalong parts or simple to medium complexity fixturing.

Try out some of the learn-to-draw stuff for anime machines and guns.

Drawing mechanical things is very impressive and can easily be the difference that gets you that job.

And learn the dimensioning symbols and such. Know them cold.

my.02$

 

[Jones1987]

Drafting, in the traditional way, isn't really that useful. Letter spacing, height, blah blah blah, I would punt on the majority of the nitpicky drafting skills which were required of ages gone past.

HOWEVER, good sketching and dimensioning are really powerful. They are quick, they don't require a drafter to muck about, whine, question, and finally deliver a drawing. You can get a good sketch to the shop and be off and running way before a cad program.

In practice, i find that the above situation really plays out on standalong parts or simple to medium complexity fixturing.

Try out some of the learn-to-draw stuff for anime machines and guns.

Drawing mechanical things is very impressive and can easily be the difference that gets you that job.

And learn the dimensioning symbols and such. Know them cold.

my.02$

Thats for your input, where could I find these "learn-to-draw" exercises you are talking about? Also do you know of any good links for dimensioning symbols? I can only find basics with little or not explanation.

Also another question, 'Professional Engineering Drawings' can these be done by hand or does industry / universities purely expect these to be done by CAD packages?

 

[gojrracing]

Is manual drawing with pencil and paper a good quality an engineer should have at his power? I'm still an undergrad and I understand all drawing is done with CAD packages, but I still enjoy drawing free hand before I put it onto software (I guess because I'm not so good at using CAD)

Or am I wasting my time drawing back to the basics?

I think that manual sketch is a good one. But you should try to use the CAD so that your drawings will be more efficient and more sophisticated. If you are a future engineering, you should know how to use it. :D

 

[nathanlee52]

Jones1987,

Industry will expect drawings to be in computerized aka CAD aka not hand sketches. You can get people moving on prints that are sketches and markups of pc generated prints, but in time, they will be expecting a computer output drawing. Simple as that. Unless the drawing is amazingly elegant, and in that case, they'll think you have too much free time on your hands.

University tool shops and homeworks and professor/student collaborations, hand sketches are more accepted. If there is going to be significant revision to the print, go computerized from the start and you'll be thanking yourself later.

I have extensively used both Solidworks and ProE and AutoCad. If you are brand spanking new, I suggest Solidworks Student edition. Get your hands on the PHYSICAL copy of the tuturials, and follow them. In a few hours you will learn tons about this and be on your way.

Fine tuning assemblies is easier in cad.

Handling many revisions is easier in cad.

Clear, professional results are found with cad.

Sketches are perfect for one-offs and simple fixtures.

Hope this helps.

 

[nathanlee52]

Jones1987,

missed your other question, about books for mechanical drawing.. and to that, well, there are many.

1) I would avoid the ancient texts on drawing mechanical things. Purely on the grounds that the presentation is boring. /flame suit activated

2) I would take a look at manga / anime drawing on robots. It's more useful than you think. Trace their art. You'll develop the feel that way.

3) tracing in general is awesome. Trace a cad print of something complicated. Use Rulers. Take your time and have some beers while you do it. I bet you have some fun. Well, not fun like strip calculus, but I'm getting off topic..

4) Learn isometric DOT graph paper. Go print one off on one of the many sites. Then, find a copier, max it out to WICKED dark. This is now your master. You can put regular copier paper over that and draw. (Vellum works best tho). Now, you have regular plotting elements and can incorporate perspective really simply. The best part is you peel it off your Master and voila, no lines other than your drawing.

http://illuminations.nctm.org/LessonDetail.aspx?ID=L607

See how easy it'd be to slap on a few dimensions to that scrabble like looking thing. And way more flashy than orthoganol representation. Don't go for flash over function though., unless it's supposed to be art and not an engineering drawing.

Maybe this gives you some ideas.