ENGINEERING DRAWING I

BE I/I

Sheet 1
Lettering & Dimensioning
1. Introduction
Drawing is the representation of any object into a two –dimensional
sheet.
The object may be the real existing object or may be the result of
creative idea of an engineer, a technician or a designer.

Drawing can be broadly classified into two groups: artistic drawing

and engineering drawing.

Drawings prepared by an artist such as paintings, slides etc as a

result of his/her imagination are called artistic drawing. An artist can
make an artistic drawing depending upon his/her mood and is not
bounded by any rules. Therefore different people may perceive
artistic drawing in different ways.

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The drawing of engineering objects such as buildings, roads,
machines etc. prepared by an engineer or a technician is called
engineering drawing. The engineering drawing is prepared by
following the standard rules and guidelines, so it gives unique
information to all readers. In this regard engineering drawing is also
called a universal graphic language.

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The basic information that any engineering drawing can provide are
shape, size and location of the object.

Despite these information complete engineering drawings also

provide information about material, surface finish, allowable
tolerances, etc.
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The importance of engineering drawing can be highlighted by the
fact that a simple sketch can give information about any object more
clearly than that a paragraphs of word language can give.

Engineering drawing can also be further classified into three groups

as: freehand sketch, instrumental drawing and computer aided
drawing.

In freehand sketch, the lines are sketched without using instruments

other than pencils and erasers. In instrumental drawing, instruments
are used to draw straight lines, circles, and curves concisely and
accurately. Thus, the drawings are usually made to scale. In case of
computer aided drawing, the drawings are usually made by
commercial software such as AutoCAD, solid works etc.

This course focuses on the instrumental drawing which is the

backbone of the computer aided drawing
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2. Drawing Instruments
For the better presentation as well as quick and efficient preparation
of engineering drawing, the proper use of drawing instruments is
very essential.

Drawing Board

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T-Square

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Set-Squares (Triangles)

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Protractor Drafting Machine

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Instrument Box Scales

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French Curves

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Pencils

Sharpener

Eraser

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Erasing Shield Templates

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Drawing Paper
S. No. Sheet Standard Size (mm  mm) Area (m2)
Designation
1 A0 1189  841 1
2 A1 841  594 0.5
3 A2 594  420 0.25
4 A3 420  297 0.125
5 A4 297  210 0.0625
6 A5 210  148 0.03125

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Tracing Paper
Drawing Pins, Tapes or Clips
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3. Preparation for Drawing
3.1 Fixing the Drawing Sheet

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3.2 Sheet Layout

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3.3 Title Block

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4. Scales
It is not always possible to represent the actual object in real size
into a drawing sheet. For example, if we have to draw a building on
a sheet, we should divide its real size by a suitable factor to make it
fit into the sheet. But if we have to draw a part of a watch into a
sheet, we have to multiply its real size by a suitable factor.
The proportion by which we reduce or increase the actual size of the
object on the drawing is known as scale.
The following are the scales used in engineering drawings: full-size
scale, reducing scale and enlarging scale.
4.1 Full Size Scale
If a drawing is made with the size equal to that of the real size, then
it is called a full size scale. It is specified by 1:1. It means 1 unit of
the drawing is equal to 1 unit of the real size.
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4.2 Reducing Scale
If the real size of the object is divide by a certain factor and drawn
on the drawing sheet, it is called a reducing scale. The commonly
used reducing scales are 1:2, 1:5, 1:10, 1:20, 1:50, 1:100, etc. The
scale specified by 1:2 means 1 unit of drawing is equal to 2 units of
the real size.

4.3 Enlarging Scale

If the real size of the object is multiplied by a certain factor and
drawn on the drawing sheet, it is called an enlarging scale. The
commonly used enlarging scales are 2:1, 5:1, 10:1 etc. The scale
specified by 2:1 means 2 units of drawing is equal to 1 unit of the
real size.

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5. Line Types
As explained earlier, shape of any object is explained by the
combination of lines. To give complete information about all features
of the object different types of lines are used. The following are the
description of various types of lines used in engineering.

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6. Technical Lettering
As explained earlier, combination of straight lines and curves
describe the shape of the object while information about size,
location and other features of the object are described with words
(combination of alphabets and numerals).
The appearance of the drawing depends largely upon the letters and
words placed on the drawing. Therefore, texts should be placed on
the drawing skillfully by following standards.
The technique of inserting texts on the drawing by following some
standard guidelines is called technical lettering.
Special lettering templates are also available. But the use of such
devices takes considerable time and is usually avoided.
Lettering on engineering drawing is usually made freehand.

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6.1 Proportions for Letters and Numerals
Letters used in drawing may be capital letters or small letters.
Further the style of writing letters and numerals may be vertical or
inclined. Inclined lettering is usually done at an inclination of 750.
Parameters of letters used in drawings are usually expressed in terms
of height of the letter. The ratio of height to width of a letter is
known as aspect ratio. Most of the alphabets have aspect ratio of 7:5
except I, J, L, M and W and all numerals have aspect ratio of 7:4
except I as shown in Figure .

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6.2 Uniformity in Lettering
Uniformity in lettering means uniformity in its thickness, height,
inclination and spacing.

Uniform Thickness
All letters used in drawing should have uniform thickness. Uniform
thickness can be maintained by using single stroke of the pencil.
Thickness of the letters is usually 0.1 times the height of the letter.

Uniform Height
Uniformity in height can be maintained by using the horizontal
guidelines. Guidelines for finished pencil lettering should be drawn
very lightly such that they need not be erased, as it is not possible to
do so, after the lettering has been completed.

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Two horizontal guidelines are used for capital letters and numerals
and the distance between the two horizontal guidelines is equal to the
height of the letter.

Four guidelines are used for small letters.

Similarly guidelines required for fraction are shown below.

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Uniform Inclination
Uniformity in inclination can be maintained by using the inclined
guidelines.

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Spacing between Letters
Space between the letters depends on the contour of the letters at an
adjacent side. Good spacing creates approximately equal background
area between letters.

Spacing between Words

While writing sentences, the space between words is usually equal to
the space required for writing a letter “O” as shown in Figure.

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6.3 Size of Letters
Different sizes of letters and numerals are used for different
purposes. Following are the recommended sizes for different
purposes.
• Main Title and Drawing No.: 8, 10, 12 mm
• Title of Drawing: 6, 8 mm
• Sub-titles Headings: 3, 4, 5 or 6 mm
• Notes such as Legends: 3, 4 or 5 mm
• Alternation entries and Tolerances: 2, 3 mm

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7. Dimensioning
The information about the size and location of any object is specified
by the dimensions. Dimensions should provide all information
required for the construction or manufacture of any object.
Dimensions in engineering drawing are usually given in millimeters
without adding the abbreviation mm.

L:W = 3:1

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7.1 Theory of Dimensioning
Dimensions placed on any drawing should provide information
about the size of the objects as well as relative locations of different
objects with each respect to each other.
For this, the following two types of dimensioning are used in
engineering drawing: size dimensioning and location dimensioning.

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7.2 System of Dimensioning
The following two systems of dimensioning are usually used in
drawings: aligned system of dimensioning and unidirectional system
of dimensioning.
Aligned System of Dimensioning
In the aligned system of dimensioning, dimension figure is aligned
with the visible outline of the object for which dimension is placed.
Therefore, dimensions figures are placed either above or left to the
dimension lines such that they are readable from the bottom or right
hand side of the drawing sheet.
Unidirectional System of Dimensioning
In the unidirectional system of dimensioning, dimension lines are
broken at the middle and dimension figures are inserted such that
they are readable from the bottom of the sheet.

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7.3 General Rules of Dimensioning
a) Dimensions should be complete for the description of the
finished work such that no further calculation or assumption of
any dimensions is required.
b) Dimensions should be placed outside the views unless there is
sufficient blank space within the views .

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c) Intersection of the dimension lines should be avoided as far as
possible. For this smaller measurements are placed nearer to the
object and larger measurements are placed far from the objects.

d) Dimensions should be
placed on a view which
represents the object
more clearly. Visible
outline should be
preferred than hidden
edges to place the
dimensions. ENGINEERING DRAWING I 40
e) Visible Outlines should not be used as dimensions lines or
extension lines. However, center lines can be used as extension
lines, but they also should not be used as dimension lines.

f) Dimensions should be placed

on a visible outlines rather than
on hidden lines.

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g) Dimensions placed on one view should not be repeated in other
views.

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h) Dimensions should be placed in systematic manner. Commonly
dimensioning can be done either by chain dimensioning, parallel
dimensioning or combined dimensioning.

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i) While dimensioning smaller measurements, if there is no
sufficient space for the arrowheads, the following methods can
be used.

j) Dimensioning of the circles is done by specifying their diameters

with a symbol .

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 While drawing diameter as
dimension line zone within 300 from
the vertical center line should be
avoided.

When there are number of circles with

the same size, dimensions can be given
as shown below.

When single view for a cylindrical

object is drawn it can be
dimensioned as shown below.
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k) Dimensioning of circular arcs is done
by specifying their radii with the
symbol R.

l) Dimensioning of angular measurements is given with the help of

extension lines drawn from the ends of angle and dimension line
in the form of circular arc.

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