Mechanical Drafting

[Anonymous]

I have recently started working as a draftsman for a company in which most of my drawings are mechanical.  I hadn't worked as a draftsman for about 3 years and when I was it was mostly architectural.  While it isn't anything difficult, I am looking for any type of material to help explain how to draw that type of drawing.  Thanks in advance.

[pendean]

Lean on other drafters at the firm and examples of previous projects to help yourself out: you have a learning curve to address in mechanical systems that's not easily found in a book or webpage.

[Curtis_W]

Hi mgarcia658,

You can find an older version of this book pretty cheap, and all of the info is about the same as the newer versions:

https://www.amazon.com/Engineering-Drawing-Design-Delmar-Drafting/dp/0766816346/ref=pd_sim_14_3?_enc...

Also, I've detailed a great many things that I was not all that familiar with by looking off of existing drawings that the company has already. Just be sure you're using a good example to go by, when doing so.

I hope this helps.
Best of luck to you in all of your Inventor pursuits,
Curtis
http://inventortrenches.blogspot.com

[Anonymous]

I couldn't agree more with you that it is something best learned from others, however I am the only drafter here.  The previous drafters were trained on the job by their predecessors (who were the same) and so while I find many errors on past drawings, I fear that relying on them for guidance, may not be the best way.  Also, all my training (both through school and previous employment) were in the states, so working in a different country, I am wanting guidance on the standards here. 

[pendean]

Your company probably has standards and required details: you're not going to get that from a generic book written by some academic somewhere.

Look for content already created in your firm, review with your supervisor/bosses, ensure what you draft is what they need and expect.

IMHO you get nothing from generic books when it comes to learning drafting in a new industry. But hey that's just me, a hiring manager with drafting staff under my supervision 🙂

[Curtis_W]

Hi mgarcia658,

The thing about the term "Mechanical Drafting" is that it can mean a great many things:

• Weldments
• Frames  with welded connections such as skid and industrial machinery platforms
• Frames with bolted connections) such as structural design
• Plastics
• Castings
• CNC machined parts
• 3D printed parts
• Sheet Metal
• HVAC
• Electro/Mechanical design
• Tube and Pipe design
• other

In a smaller company you're likely to be focused mostly on just one of those, but might do a bit of a many others, depending on the company. Each can have it's own specific ways of detailing and design parts. You typically wouldn't detail sheet metal components the way you do plastics for example. Even the same part 3D printed might be documented and often the features designed a bit differently than if it were machined. 

Do you have an idea of the types of work you'll be doing?

Without resources to mentor you, you'll need to find some resources on your own. I have no affiliation with the book I linked to, but do have an old copy on the shelf, and it does give an overview of many different mechanical drafting types. I've loaned it out to several people over the years, when they came by asking about "why" or "how" we do it this way, vs. what they were accustomed to in their past job/industry, or vs. what we do on a different type of component or assembly drawing.

Another resource I've used in the past are the folks that are manufacturing the actual parts. They typically know what they expect to see on a print, and they can often be the best resource for letting you know what's needed/expected. So a walk out to the shop floor from time to time (if applicable) can be quite helpful. Likewise a phone call to the supplier or vendor, when the components are "farmed out".

Which standard will you be working with? A European standard such as DIN, ISO, other? Or some other region?

Which software will you be using? AutoCAD, Inventor, other?

Hope that helps,

Curtis

[Anonymous]

We use AutoCAD LT 2007 and adhere to ISO standards.  As far as company standards the person before me had just started putting them into affect before leaving.  It's been put on me to finish what he started.