Surface Roughness Symbol? AutoCAD 2016

[Anonymous]

I have AutoCAD 2016 and can't find the surface roughness symbol anywhere!? Every search online returns AutoCAD Mechanical>Annotate>Symbols, but I don't have that option in basic AutoCAD 2016. At this point, I would be ok with reverting back to the triangle designation for surface roughness, but I can't find that either. I drew a 3D model and I'm working in paperspace, so drawing the symbol manually isn't much of an option. Any help is appreciated.

[Anonymous]

Can someone move my post to an AutoCAD 2016 Forum? This website gives me limited choices for boards, all of which, or not my language (English)

[GrantsPirate]

It would take a trivial amount of time for you to draw that, add an attribute, make that a block, done.

[inund8]

I'm having this issue too... Is the surface finish symbol not included by in annotate as it was in previous editions? Or is it just hidden somewhere else?

[Anonymous]

I know it would take a trivial amount of time to draw the symbol and create an object (that's what I ended up doing). However, you have a very expensive, high-end design software that doesn't include a surface roughness symbol?! I mean, really? Asinine...

[jggerth]

AutoCAD (vanilla) is high end, expensive, general purpose design and drafting software.  Verticals (like mechanical or architecture) are more completely tailored to specific areas.  In 30+ years of using AutoCAD and other drafting/design software applications, I have never had a need for a surface roughness symbol.  

Now that's a factor of the arenas I do work in, but my point is that not everything will ever be in the base package.  Heck, there's more profit in selling verticals than adding any and every potential feature into a base, when the large majority of users will find them useless.  Does a widgets designer need spot elevation labels or depression contours?  

[inund8]

Well it was a feature on previous versions, was it removed? While I would personally love to have a discussion on software design philosophy and business models inherent in it, I really just want to know if I have to draw it and add it to my blocks everytime I sit at a new workstation, or if it's included with the program 😢

[GrantsPirate]

It is not included.

Make the block once, put it on the internet with your library of other blocks and insert as needed.

[Anonymous]

I know this is an old topic... but i think its neccesary to react.

30Years experience all good and well, but it depends on work area...

For example, imagine designing a piston and cilinder for whatever purpose ( Air compressor / car ... )
Could you imagine not defining roughness?

I work as a Motorsport engineer and I design Composite water vessels as well..... 
And with both of the job's I use roughness annotations on a weekly basis.

And to be honest? Such annotations should be standard included in the program... 
Solidworks, Fusion 360, Inventor include this... so why not Autocad? 

This program is already enough manual labor as it is.

Btw, I mean no disrespect or want to undermine your opinion. It is just the way I see this.

[inund8 · Accepted solution]

Totally agree. This is probably why people are abandoning autocad especially for mechanical. I'm just glad I'll never have use it for school again.

[gotphish001]

Every where I've ever worked doesn't use any of the symbols included with autocad anyway. They make their own so they can have their own standards. Which is dumb IMO since they are built in most of the time anyway. It's like moving up to Revit from autocad and then changing all the Revit symbols to look like the autocad ones. It's just extra work for nothing. I understand standards but no one is pulling out a drawing you did on autocad 10 years ago and saying these symbols don't match this revit drawing that was done last week. 

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the reply.  I am glad others have found it as frustrating as I did!  

[greg.youngCXLLN]

100% BS, apologizing for being ordinary