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OLD DRAFTSMAN 4

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Brandy7

Automotive
Apr 27, 2007
33
You know you are an old Draftsman when...

1. You know how to control line weights by rolling your pencil.

2. You know that a French curve isn't a grade change on a language
exam.

3. You've erased sepias with chemicals.

4. You've had a roll of toilet paper on your drafting board.

5. You remember when templates were plastic and not a type of
electronic file.

6. You know what sandpaper on a stick is for.

7. You know that a compass draws circles and not used to find the North
Pole.

8. You remember the head rush from the smell of ammonia.

9. You own a roll of masking tape so dried out, it will never be tape
again.

10. You've done cut and paste with scissors and sticky back.

11. You've etched your initials into your tools.

12. You have had a brush tied to your drafting board.

13. You've come home with black sleeves.

14. You've made hooks out of paper clips to attach to your lamp.

15. You know an eraser shield isn't a Norton program.

16. You've used "fixative" spray.

17. You've had a middle-finger callous harder than bone.

18. You have a permanent spine curvature from bending over your table.

19. You could smoke in the office

20. You could put the 'page 3' calendar up in a prime location with no
one complaining

21. There were a lot of 'cowboys' but now it's all Indians

22. You'd change jobs for an extra 25 cents

23. You'd be able to speak to the engineers in English

24. They'd be more than one way to sneak back into the office after
lunch

25. You learned to fold a drawing to get the title on the front

26. You also were accurate from 100 paces with an rubber band.

27. You got your check on Friday before lunch and didn't come back ?til
Monday!

28. There used to be contract work whenever you wanted it

29. The work week was 56 hours and you had to work 6 on Saturday to get
it.

30. You have draftsman elbow.

31. You extended your brush with a used cardboard tube.

32. You knew you were working on the original because it was Mylar.

33. The Boss would call from the Bar to lay people off.

34. Linen sheets were stolen to use as pillow cases....

35. You actually drew something without a computer.

36. A detailer wasn't waxing your car for $50 he was filling the tank
and getting it washed for you on the clock.

37. You know what onion skin is.

38. The runners worked at Tycoons on Eight Mile Rd. at night.

39. You moved to a new shop because it had Board-co.

40. You didn't need a resume.

41. You were interview at a bar, got a raise all at the bar at 2:00 in
the afternoon.

42. A Douche bag was not the guy in the next cube.

43. On Holiday weekends you wouldn't get paid on Friday until after
lunch.

44. You know that a scale isn't something in your bathroom to weigh
yourself....

45. You know that body rings aren't for piercing....

46. You've actually stayed at work all night to get a job done....

47. You know how to cut a section without a computer....

48. You actually know how to apply trigonometry....

49. You know that electric erasers actually do exist....

50. At one time you owned a mertz-o-matic....

51. You've been hired over the phone....

52. Tel-Way was a Saturday ritual (like white castle)

53. Papercuts didn't hurt

54 You could read someone's printing and knew who it was....

55. Programs you worked on in the past are now part of the Henry Ford
Museum !

56. GD&T was not used except at the Best Company's.
 
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You are an old draftsman if you have printed something off from SolidWorks, pulled out your old squares, sharpened your 5H pencil, and sketched on the printout.

Critter.gif
JHG
 
How about that! All you have to do is wish, and someone like MadMango comes through
 
Thanks Mango!
Unfortunately, they don't let you know haw much shipping is until you give them your cc info. In my past experience, it has always been more than the total cost of the triangles alone. Interesting site though. Maybe I can find a few more items to make it worthwhile.

"The ambassador and the general were briefing me on the - the vast majority of Iraqis want to live in a peaceful, free world. And we will find these people and we will bring them to justice." - [small]George Bush, Washington DC, 27 October, 2003[/small]
 
You know you are an old draughtsman when you still need a pencil to spin around in your fingers or chew on in order to be able to think.
 
Just found this thread by accident and it's really made my day.
There are one or two I don't understand but I relate to most of them (so the kids are right, I am old)
When I started work (sound like my dad now) I had to change the ammonia bottles in the printer, and do most of the printing. When we moved office I found an old WW2 gas-mask that I took to wearing to do the job.
Also...
Spending your first week learning to print (write) correctly.

The number 8 had to be written as two 'ovals'.

Sharpening your REAL pencils to a chisel point.

Wearing a white lab-coat.

Some in the office wore those bands to hold their sleeves up.

No pre-printed drawing sheets - you had to cut your sheet
off a roll, draw the border and use a rubber stamp for the title-block.

Drawing board clips or masking tape to hold the paper on.

You couldn't use I, O or Q for callouts or revisions.

Pushing 3 desks together to play table-tennis at lunchtime.

Sticking a drawing to a window to draw an opposite hand.

And I still have all my drawing equipment because 'it might come in handy one day'.

bc.
2.4GHz Core2 Quad, 4GB RAM,
Quadro FX4600.
 
The "two-oval" 8, I still write them that way, along with an oval 9 looking like an upside-down 6. This sparked a memory for me.

My first "real" job was with an architectural office at 16yrs of age. I was the blue printer, plan set folder, gofer, etc, etc. When I wasn't doing these things, I had to practice my lettering. It was not your average block lettering, I suppose due to the style of lettering being almost like brand identity of today. Our letters were made with a triangle as a guide for the vertical components of the letters, and we had a lined guide to keep us horizontal. My "practice" was copying a D-sized print full of standard notes. I did this for months, and was on the verge of quitting.

My boss asked me to write my resignation letter, but to do it in the offices style of lettering. I did, and probably put a little bit of extra effort into it to make "my point". My boss looked at the letter, and compared it to some lettering he had on a print. He asked me, "Why do you want to quite when you have a stack of plot plans and elevations to do?" I wish I had kept that resignation letter. I worked there for 3 great years, great place.

"Art without engineering is dreaming; Engineering without art is calculating."

Have you read faq731-376 to make the best use of these Forums?
 
OK Beachcomber, sounds like your as old as us.

Incidentally, the no I,O,Q,is still in effect per Y14.5 for datums and also S,X,Z for sections per Y14.3-2003.

Also taking your Post mechanical pencils apart and making a lead shooting cannon out of it by scraping match heads into the push button top, taping it to an ash tray, and heating the top with a match. We could blow holes in paper window shades from 20 feet away.
 
We used to make darts out of #2 pencils.
Remove the eraser with the metal ferrell. Stick a pin through the eraser from the inside. Remove a 'clean' filter from a cigarette, fluff it a little on one end and stick the other end into the metal ferrell, then pinch it into place.
Blow through a tube for a accurate and dangerous dart!

Redline drawings on walls make perfect targets!
hehehe

Chris
SolidWorks/PDMWorks 08 3.1
AutoCAD 08; CATIA V5
ctopher's home (updated Aug 5, 2008)
ctopher's blog
SolidWorks Legion
 
I can remember when we used whale bones in the drawing folding process. Also using green covering paper which had to be wet and stapled in place on the board for covering.

 
Madmango - "plastic leads...."
They came later !!!
I remember when we got our first board with a drafting head on it - one of the guys did a GA drawing and never noticed that the vertical ruler had slipped, so it was all leaning over about 2 deg.
Now I sound like Cyril, the Chief Draftsman -
"You're late Bernard"
"No I'm not, I'm on time"
"Ok, but you're only just on time"
Those were the days.
(By the way I'm not Bernard!!)

bc.
2.4GHz Core2 Quad, 4GB RAM,
Quadro FX4600.
 
I remember when we had the "new guy" change the ammonia out on the blue print machine for the first time, we always had someone standing behind him as a "catcher" when he started to pass out from the fumes.

Ah, those were the days.... Burning acetates and using ink on mylar. Anybody still have a Leroy Lettering kit?

Later,

Steve
 
You knew the difference the between HB, F, H, 2H, & 4h leads.

Your hand ached if you spent the entire day lettering.

It was really cool when they came out with those triangles with the flourescent edges.

You got really pissed off if your drawing got smudged.

You could draw a special sized ellipse using a compass and several arcs.

 
A few more ...

You remember when you got your first powered drafting table to control the height, damn that was cool.

You remember when there actually were drafting standards.

There actually was a department called "Blueprint Room"

 
another from the memory vault:

Those cardboard drawing tubes, slamming the tube-tops down caused enough compression to launch said top across the room with satisfying POP sound. Guys experimented with aero-fins to get an extra foot or two of distance.
 
Speaking of old---I still have and use my original drafting brush (circa 1959) for brushing eraser shavings, food particles, and other junk off my desk.
 
CheckerRon,

My drafting brush still hangs by my desk. It only dates to 1973 though.

Critter.gif
JHG
 
Mine's still new! Dates from '78.

"Good to know you got shoes to wear when you find the floor." - [small]Robert Hunter[/small]
 
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