Custom Tool Requests – Bringing Engineering Drawings Into The Mix

Creating an engineering drawing is a specialized skill that takes years of practice to perfect.

In this post, Cav Tool will walk you through the process of designing an engineering drawing. So whether you’re a budding engineer looking to improve your engineering drawing skills, read on for a beginner’s guide to creating an engineering drawing!

What Is Engineering Drawing?

Before we jump in, let’s first take a moment to define what engineering drawing is. In short, engineering drawing (or drafting) is the process of creating technical drawings or plans that show how something is supposed to be built.

This can include everything from detailed schematics and diagrams to assembly instructions and parts lists. Essentially, engineering drawing allows you to communicate your designs clearly and concisely so that others can replicate them.

Why Use Engineering Drawings?

Can we do without them? Let’s take a look at some of the reasons why engineering drawings may be necessary:

• To capture the design intent of a product or system
• To communicate that design to others (e.g., manufacturers, suppliers, etc.)
• To create a record of the plan for future reference
• To verify that the production version of a design meets the original intent

As you can see, there are quite a few reasons why you might want or need to use engineering drawings. In some cases, it’s simply not possible to create a product without them.

How Do I Prepare One?

There are two standard methods to generate an engineering drawing: hand-drawing and computer-aided design (CAD).

Hand-Drawing:

Suitable for university settings, this method uses pencil, paper, and a set of drafting tools. Drawing by hand promotes creativity and develops spatial imagination and awareness. However, it can be time-consuming and require a higher level of skill.

CAD:

More appropriate for the contemporary manufacturing industry, this method employs CNC machining to create the product. You input a design into the computer, which transfers it to the machine. The advantage of using CAD is that it’s more efficient and accurate than hand-drawing and retains the ability to be modified.

The Basic Components of Engineering Drawings

What goes into an engineering drawing? We’ll go over six main elements:

1. Title Block: provides information on the picture itself, who created it and when, as well as its revision history
2. Coordinates: serve as points of reference and are typically labeled in orthographic views
3. Lines: come in different types and serve different purposes
4. Dimensions: numerical values that indicate size, shape, and other physical properties of a feature on the drawing
5. Views: in types such as isometric and orthographic, these express the external or internal three-dimensional appearance of an object
6. Assembly Drawings: the goal of these is to help assemblers build the object represented in the engineering drawing, not to contain all the information that is in the engineering drawing

Conclusion

That was our brief but enlightening tour of the engineering drawing! We hope you now have a better understanding of how to read and design your own. And remember, for all your engineering tool needs, Cav Tool is in Atlanta, GA, to help.

Get your free custom quote now!

Posted in Cav Tool Blog | Comments Off on Custom Tool Requests – Bringing Engineering Drawings Into The Mix