Engineering Drawing Tools and Equipment

T-Square
T square is used to draw horizontal and vertical lines on drawing sheet. It made
of wood or plastic and in T shape. The vertical part of T is called as blade and
horizontal part of T is called as head.

The edge of head is uniform level and attached to the edge of the board. The
working edge is used to draw lines anywhere on the sheet by moving the
instrument top to bottom.

Set Squares
Set squares are made of transparent plastic and are available in the shape of
triangles, having a French curve or simply a gap cut in the body. These are used
for drawing short straight lines, measuring and drawing certain angles.

Set squares are used to draw lines with an angle between them. In most of the
structures, 30, 45, 60 and 90-degree lines are most common. So, set squares make
the work easier for this type of drawings.

Generally, set squares are of two types. One is 45 degree set square and another
one is called as 30 – 60 degree set square. Both are required in the drawing. 45 set
square has a side of 25 cm while 30-60 set square has 25 cm length on one side.

Protractor
Protractor is used to draw and measure the angles of lines in the drawing. It is
transparent and made of plastic. It is in the shape of semi-circle, and the edge of
semi-circle part consists reading with one-degree accuracy.

The bottom line joins the 0o to the 180o. The center of this bottom line is marked as
“O” or “C” from which the angles are measured.
Compass
A compass is a technical drawing instrument that can be used
for drawing circles or arcs. As dividers, they can also be used as
tools to measure distances, in particular on maps. Compasses
can be used for mathematics, drafting, navigation, and other
purposes.
Compasses are usually made of metal and consist of two parts
connected by a hinge. One part has a spike at its end which
stops it from sliding on the paper when drawing a circle or arc,
and the other part a pencil. The distance between the legs can
be adjusted to allow the changing of the radius of the circle
drawn.
Eraser Shield
The eraser shield is a simple metal or plastic plate, with
openings of different sizes and shapes. These openings allow
precise masking of small areas which allows you to erase
without smearing or the accidental erasure of surrounding areas.
An eraser shield is useful when correcting and editing a drawing.
Mechanical Pencil
A Mechanical pencil (sometimes known as a clutch pencil or
refillable pencil) are used in drawings such as Orthogonal or
Isometric drawings as they provide a very constant line
thickness. The pencils come in a number of line thicknesses with
the more common being 0.35, 0.5, and 0.7. These pencils can be
very expensive as are the refills. 
Ruler
A ruler is one of the most important pieces of drawing equipment.
An opaque-type ruler should only to use to measure distances
with lines being drawn with T-Squares and Set Squares. But it
must be remembered that the edge of a ruler is not guaranteed to
have a perfectly straight edge unlike a good T-Square or Set
Square. Rulers used in technical drawing are usually made of
polystyrene. Rulers come in two types according to the design of
their edge. Straight edge can be used with lead and felt pens,
whereas when technical pen is used the edge must be grooved to
prevent the spread of the ink.

Eraser
Eraser is used to remove the lines or spots which drawn by mistake or with
wrong measurements. The eraser used should be of good quality and soft. It
should not damage the paper while erasing.

Divider
The divider looks like a compass, but the difference is the two legs of divider are
provided with needles. This is used to divide a line or curve into equal parts. It is
also used to check the measurements.

French Curves
French curves are made of plastic and they are in irregular shapes. Sometimes
the drawing requires irregular curves or shapes or arcs which cannot be drawn
using compass. In that case French curves are suitable.

Generally French curves are more suitable for small curves and for long curves
splines are used.

Triangular Scale

A triangular scale is a ruler that has a 3-lobed cross-section with 6 different types of
scales on the edges (2 on each face) used for measuring and preparing scale
drawings such as blueprints and maps. It is also called an architect’s scale.