INTRODUCTION TO ENGINEERING DRAWING

Engineering drawing is a graphical universal language applied by artisans, technicians and

engineers as a tool of communication, necessary to provide information in construction and
manufacturing activities.
➢ A skill of engineering drawing is important to success in many different occupations. Many
of these occupations require the ability to read and interpret drawings.
➢ People involved in engineering jobs must communicate effectively with minimum use of
words.
➢ From the design phase to the construction phase, engineering drawings are used to
communicate ideas, concepts and instructions from the drafter to the reader.
A Drafter/Draftsperson/Draughtsman;
A Drafter is a person who makes a drawing.
Drafting;
Drafting is a graphic form of communication that allows people to share their ideas with others
regardless of language barriers.
 Drafting cont’d……..
➢Every line and symbol used in engineering drawing has a specific meaning throughout the
world. All occupations require the ability to interpret graphic forms of communications.
THE DRAWING INSTRUMENTS;
The drawing instruments are all materials used for drawing process. A draftsperson needs some
basic tools to draw. The drawing kit includes the following instruments;
i. Pencil
Good pencils of reasonable length are essential for producing neat accurate constructions,
sketches and drawings.
Grades of pencils used in Engineering Drawing:
The grades of pencil which should be used depends to a large extend on the quality of the
drawing paper available. Wooden pencils are graded and designed by numbers and letters.
➢Soft grade pencils: B,2B,3B,4B………..are soft pencils and are becoming softer as the number
prefix ascends.
➢Medium grade pencils: These are HB and F pencils which are suitable for sketching and
outlining.
➢ Hard grade pencils: These are H and 2H pencils which are suitable for producing geometrical
construction and machine drawings.
▪ H,2H,3H,4H,5H,6H,7H…………
Increasing order of hardness (Becoming harder as the number prefix ascends)
Note: HB pencils are to be practiced in this course
Mechanical clutch pencils-allowed!
 ii. Drawing papers/Drawing sheets
Drawing paper is a white paper on which an object is drawn which is available in various sizes.
➢The sheet used for engineering drawing should be of good quality. It should be white in color
with uniform thickness. The surface of the sheet must be smooth.
Sizes of Drawing papers;
Drawing papers are sized according to ISO “A” series, there prefixed from the largest to the
smallest. It is essential that drawing paper size is observed before using it so adhere to the
standards.
DESCRIPTION LENGTH(mm) WIDTH(mm)

A0 1189 841
A1 841 594
A2 594 420
A3 420 297
A4 297 210
A5 210 148
iii. Compass
A compass is a drawing instrument used when drawing arcs and circles with known dimensions
on technical drawing.
➢It is generally made of steel and consists two legs. One leg contains needle at the bottom and
other leg contain a ring in which a pencil is placed.
➢The needle point is placed at the respective point and pencil tip is adjusted to the height at
least 1mm just above the tip of the needle. The gap is nothing but the paper thickness.
Using the compass:
▪ Start circle; Apply enough pressure to the needle, holding the compass handle between
thumb and index fingers
▪ Complete circle; Revolve handle clockwise.
iv. Divider
This divider looks like a compass, but the difference is the two legs of divider are provided with
needles. It is used to divide a line or curve into equal parts. It is also used to check the
measurements.
v. Set of squares(Set Squares)
Set squares are used to construct lines inclined at standard angles ( 300 ,450 and 600)
Types of Set Squares
Generally, set squares are of two types;
▪ 450 Set square.
▪ 300 -600 Set square.
Adjustable set square
There is an adjustable set square, this is more useful for drawing lines parallel to each other and
also for drawing angles.

Use and care of Set Square;

▪ A set square should be used only while in good condition. They should be discarded
immediately as they become bowed, cracked or broken.
▪ If in use, the base of the triangle must rest on the blade of the T-Square. Drawing a line
always starts from the point near the base going upwards.
vi. Ruler
A ruler should be at least 300mm long and clearly marked in mm and multiple of mm (cm). It
must be kept clean and in good condition.
vii. Drawing board
A drawing board can be plastic, wood, or any other hard material made accurately flat and to the
dimensions.
➢It is a rectangular in shape and it is used to support drawing sheet, so, the size of the board is
made according to the size of the drawing sheet.
➢Different types of drawing boards and their sizes according to IS classification are listed below;
TYPE OF DRAWING BOARD LENGTH X WIDTH X THICKNESS (mm)

D0 1500 x 1000 x 25

D1 1000 x 700 x 25

D2 700 x 500 x 15

D3 500 x 350 x 15
viii. Tee Square ( T-Square )
A Tee Square used together with drawing board ;
➢For drawing horizontal lines and vertical lines on a drawing sheet.
➢To support set squares and other related instruments when used on a drawing board.
▪ T-Square is made of wood or plastic and it is in T-shape.
▪ The vertical part of T is called as Blade and the 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
ix. Drawing table
A drafting/drawing table provides a large top to suit various projects, such as sketching , crafting
and writing.
➢The large surface area can accommodate oversized paper and tools, making it a great option
for blue prints and other large formats documents and images.
x. 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 can not be drawn
using compass. In that case French curves are suitable. e.g. drawing of Ellipses, hyperbolas and
parabolas
➢Generally French curves are more suitable for small curves and for long curves, splines are used
xi. Eraser
Eraser is used to remove the lines or spots which drawn by mistake or with wrong
measurements.
➢ The eraser should be of good quality and soft.
➢It should not damage the paper while erasing.
➢A soft eraser is advantageous in removing smudges and pencil marks, where as a hard eraser is
useful for making changes and correcting errors in the drawing.
xii. Protractor
It is a semi-circular instrument divided into 180 equal parts, each of which is called a degree. It is
used to determine gradations of the degrees when measuring arcs, angles and circles.
➢High quality protractor is usually made of plastic and transparent.
➢The bottom line joins the 00 to the 1800. The Centre of this bottom line is marked as “O” or “C”
from which the angles are measured.
xiii. Drawing Template
Templates are nothing but plastic or wooden boards which contains spaces of several shapes or
letters.
➢Non dimensional shapes or variety font letters are drawn by using templates which makes
drawing easier and perfect.
xv. Mini Drafter
Mini drafter is an instrument which can be used for multiple functions in drawing. It contains two
arms which is adjustable to required angle and at the end of the lower arm a scale set is
attached.
➢The scale set contains two scales connected perpendicular to each which can not be separated.
This instrument is fixed to the drawing board at one edge with the help of screw provided for
the drafter.
➢Mini drafter is used for drawing horizontal lines, vertical lines, inclined lines, angles, parallel
lines, perpendicular lines etc.
xvi. Clinograph
Clinograph is an instrument used to draw parallel lines to the inclined lines. It contains one
adjustable wing or strip which can be adjusted to required angle. So it can be termed as
adjustable set square.
xvi. Paper Holders
When the drawing sheet is placed on the board, it may not be in fixed position. To fix the drawing
sheet to the board, paper holders are used.
➢Generally used paper holders are thumb pins, spring clips, stick tapes etc.
➢Care should be taken while removing the clips or tapes otherwise the sheet may tore.
 IMPORTANCE OF ENGINEERING DRAWING
i. Drawing plays vital role in engineering and construction works.
ii. The drawing requires no language, anyone can read it. So, drawings of other
countries structures can also be studied easily.
iii. The drawing improves the imagination and new inventions can be developed.
The estimate for project can be done using the details provided in the drawing.
iv. The structure can be analyzed completely before construction by using. So,
every engineering construction department requires drawing to start a project.