odd plan scale 2

[tumbleleaves]

Most of the plans I see now are on 11x17 sized paper, occasionally, but more and more, I am seeing plans at nonstandard "engineering" scales.

It seems like it would be convenient if I had a ruler that had 1:8 and 1:16. Does such a scale exist?...If so where can I purchase it?

1) I know an architect's rule works for the 1:8 case.
2) A standard ruler or architect's scale does not work well for the 1:16 case, because the major divisions (and count) occur every sixteenth rather than every tenth.

Just an odd observation...

 

[MiketheEngineer]

Engineers scale is often used in Civil - such as 1:10, 1:20 and on up.

Most CAD programs allow you to draw in "real" life dimensions and then scale when you print.

My beef are those drawings that have few if any dimensions on them. When I complain, the arch or designer just says scale them.

Well after you PDF them, copy them and someone else makes a PDF of the copy, and THEN e-mails it - guess what happens - the scale is out the window.

Too many drafters are just TOO lazy to include proper dimensioning. I have seen drawings from the 1880's and 1890's that were works of art and could still be easily constructed today!!

 

[Erdbau]

You should be able to use the normal 16 scale on the architect's scale. One inch = 16 feet, so you just need to multiply the whole number inches by 16. i.e. 2-3/16" = 2*12+3 = 27 feet. Not convenient, but doable.

And I agree with you, I am seeing this more and more. Many civil engineering curriculums do not include a technical drafting/drawing class anymore. Instead, students learn how to use CAD, but they don't learn how to draft. Next thing you know, the drawing won't fit if it's 1"=10' and it's too small if it's 1":20', so, tada! 1:16.

I love looking at old drawings. Drafting was an art back then. Now it seems like an afterthought.

 

[BigH]

MiketheEngineer has made an interesting comment. Years ago I leafted through many Canadian Engineering Journals from the 1910s and they included pull-out drawings to A-1 size (approx). The drawings were works of art - had soul and were well dimensioned.

EVERY drawing, in my view, should have both a reasonable (engineering or architect (less so)) scale noted - both horizontal and vertical not uniform, dimensions must be given so no one has to "guess" what a dimension is and should have a bar scale included (in case of going from A-1 to A-3 or A-4 or just the errors introduced with photocopying, etc).

 

[Debaser]

Aaahhh...but you've never lived until you've seen a drawing at 1:333 (presumably 1:200 was too big and 1:500 too small, whereas this was 'just right'), and indeed 1:625, which is at least proportional to a recognised scale, being half (or should that be double 1:1250).

Both drawings were, surprisingly, produced by (different) architects...

 

[dik]

I photographed the original linen and ink drawings for the St. Boniface Basilica about 40 years ago and they were a work of art... The trusses for the dome, were a filigree iron (I don't know if they were cast or wrought) The individual curved trusses and hundreds of 'curlicus' sp? were all hand drawn.

I often include a 'scale bar' with drawings and if these are reduced, the scale bar is reduced also... I also include a note to the effect that drawings should not be scaled...

Dik

 

[fattdad]

1/16th in = 1 ft is the same thing as 1 in = 16 ft.

1:16 is the same thing as 1 in = 16 in.

For the former, use the 40 scale and multiply by 4 (strip a zero) or carry the drawing over to the copy machine and reduce by 16/20ths (80 percent) and you'll have the 20 scale.

f-d

p.s., I know nothing about CADD other than I know you can set the scale to whatever you need.

¡papá gordo ain’t no madre flaca!

 

[chicopee]

If all drawings had bar scales with the proper notations, then regardless of how many copies one makes on copying machines, the barscale can be used to,albeit, approximate dimensions when small size papers are used.

 

[emmgjld]

I have used 1:8 (and 1:16 prior to 1990) for rather simple foundation designs for years, and 11"x 17" sheets (for filing/archiving reasons). I was able to purchase scales by PICKETT, #340 for the 1:8 scale (an Architects group but only 4 scales and lays flat & easier to lose in the drawings). I'm afraid I have no good suggestions for the 1:16 scale. I have a couple of ancient scale groups I brought for Geology Classes back in the very early '70s, because of reproduction resizing of Plane Table Mapping. Includes scales that I cannot imagine who would produce something using such scales.

 

[brandonbw]

That's just sad to not use a bar scale under the scale callout. Our main surveyors we use like to use 1:8, and have been around for over 50 years. Very old school guys. But its pretty obvious how to double check that the scale is at 1:8 when plotting something they have done.

We mostly work in 1:10 and 1:20. But in the past at other jobs I have worked in 1:500 on pretty large subdivisions. 10 sheet drawings at 48"x60" at some decent to see scale.

In the end 1:16 doesn't make sense to me. Anything not on a standard scale seems a bit off. I guess I am old enough to know how to hand draft, but young enough to watch CAD go from r14 to the current icon setup.

B+W Engineering and Design
Los Angeles Civil and Structural Engineering

http://bwengr.com

 

[TGLG]

Scaling drawings is not really a great option.
If possible, get the drawing in CAD and work from the .dwg file.

In addition to the problem of working from copies of copies, there is something else to be watchful of:
When a drawing is faxed, some fax machines will add a narrow strip at the top or bottom of the page which shows the transmission details. In order to make room for this strip, it compresses the image top-to-bottom.
This distorts the faxed drawing. Squares become rectangles, circles become ovals, and angles can change.

 

[cvg]

what's a fax? does anybody actually use fax anymore?

 

[TGLG]

The faxes I see usually come from real estate brokers and property management companies.
Apparently they haven't caught on to the new millennium yet.

 

[beej67]

I pay ten bucks a month to an online fax company just so I can say I have a fax number on my website. I never use it.

Hydrology, Drainage Analysis, Flood Studies, and Complex Stormwater Litigation for Atlanta and the South East -

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