1. Architectural Drafting Equipment
Chapter 3
Architectural Drafting Equipment

2. Introduction Manual drafting
Term used to describe traditional pencil or ink drafting
Tools and equipment
Available from a number of vendors
Always purchase high-quality equipment for accuracy and durability

3. Drafting Supplies Purchased by kit or individually
Minimum needed for manual drafting:
Mechanical leader
With 4H, 2H, H, and F grade leads
0.3 mm automatic drafting pencil
With 4H, 2H, and H leads
One 0.5 mm automatic drafting pencil
With 4H, 2H, and F leads

4. Drafting Supplies (cont’d.)
Minimum needed for manual drafting (cont’d.):
0.7 mm automatic drafting pencil
With 2H, H, and F leads
0.9 mm automatic drafting pencil
With H, F, and HB leads
Lead sharpener
6" bow compass
Dividers

5. Drafting Supplies (cont’d.)
Minimum needed for manual drafting (cont’d.):
Eraser
Erasing shield
30°− 60° triangle
45° triangle
Irregular curve
Adjustable triangle (optional)

6. Drafting Supplies (cont’d.)
Minimum needed for manual drafting (cont’d.):
Scales
Drafting tape
Architectural floor plan template for residential plans, with 1/4" = 1'−0" scale
Circle template with small holes
Lettering guide

7. Drafting Supplies (cont’d.)
Minimum needed for manual drafting (cont’d.):
Sandpaper sharpening pad
Dusting brush
Additional equipment:
Technical pen set and drafting ink
Lettering and drafting templates
Drafting furniture

8. Drafting Pencils and Leads
Mechanical pencils
Requires lead to be manually inserted
Automatic pencils
Has a lead chamber that, at the push of a button or tab, advances the lead
Lead grades
Several available
Selection depends on pressure amount and technique factors

9. Drafting Pencils and Leads (cont’d.)
Polyester leads
Used to draw on polyester film
Colored leads
Have special uses
Technical pens
Provide excellent inked lines

10. Drafting Pencils and Leads (cont’d.)
Basic pencil motions
Mechanical pencils
Kept sharp with a slightly rounded point
Keep aligned with drafting instrument, tilted about 45°
Always pull the pencil
Keep lines uniform in width (rotation and pressure)
Automatic pencils
Keep straight from side to side, tilted about 40°

11. Erasers and Accessories
Erasers used for drafting
White pencil eraser
Pink pencil eraser
Soft-green or soft-pink pencil eraser
Kneaded eraser
Vinyl eraser
India ink refill eraser

12. Erasers and Accessories (cont’d.)
Erasing tips
Erase only hard enough to remove unwanted feature
Ghost lines result from hard pressure
Work slowly
Do not apply too much pressure or erase in one spot too long
On polyester film, use a vinyl eraser and/or a moist cotton swab

13. Erasers and Accessories (cont’d.)
Electrical erasers
Erase quickly at high speed
Erasing shields
Thin sheets with slots and holes
Cleaning agents
Special eraser particles
Dusting brushes
Removes eraser particles

14. Drafting Instruments Compasses Dividers Used to draw circles and arcs
Drop-bow
Center-wheel
Beam
Dividers
Used to transfer dimensions or to divide a distance into a number of equal parts
Proportional dividers

17. Drafting Instruments (cont’d.)
Parallel bar
Used to draw horizontal lines
Triangles
Used to draw angled lines
Architectural templates
Used for tracing
Irregular curves (i.e., French curves)
Used to draw arcs with no constant radii

19. Drafting Machines Used in place of triangles and parallel bars
Arm drafting machine
Track drafting machine
Drafting machine head
Contains controls for horizontal, vertical, and angular movement

20. Drafting Machines (cont’d.)

21. Scales Used for: Scale notation: Making measurements
Establishing dimensions
Drawing features at reduced size
Scale notation:
Usually noted on title block or below the view differing in scale

22. Scales (cont’d.) Types: Metric scale Architects scale
Millimeter is commonly used
Architects scale
Contains 11 different scales
Civil engineer’s scale
Commonly used to draw site plans, maps, or subdivision plats or to read existing land documents

26. Protractors Used when: A drafting machine is not used
Combining triangles does not provide enough flexibility for drawing angles
Measuring angles within ½°