Real-Life Communication
Being able to communicate with the clients is an important part of
being a technical illustrator.
"You need to be on the right track with
the company," says Chris Ceccarelli. "If they are describing something brand
new to me, there has to be a strong link so that I can visualize the object."
You
work at a large sheet metal fabrication shop. It's your job to draft the illustrations
that workers use to assemble materials. Your company has hired a student assistant
this summer. She works sweeping and cleaning in the back shop, but has shown
a great deal of interest in the work you're doing.
She tells you one
day that she is thinking of taking courses to become a technical illustrator.
"Would you be able to show me a few things?" she asks.
"Come around
at lunchtime and I'll help get you started," you say.
You sit at the
coffee table munching your sandwich. Sarah comes into the room after she has
finished stacking metal sheets onto the back of a truck.
"First I'll
tell you a bit about the illustrating, and then I'll give you a diagram to
work with."
She nods her head.
"A technical drawing gives design
details: dimensions for producing, machining and other specifications. The
drawings can be produced with the aid of drafting instruments or automated
drafting machines. Prints of the drawings are called blueprints, regardless
of their color or how they were reproduced. By reading a blueprint, a person
can visualize what a part looks like, can relate each feature to a production
or assembly process and can make other complementary drawings.
"Technical
drawings are usually represented and dimensioned according to the American
National Standards Institute, international SI metric, the Canadian Standards
Association and British standards.
"Drawings contain major elements,
such as: lines of varying shapes and thickness; views, which can give full
descriptions of external or internal features of a part; dimensions for position,
size and surface measurements; or sections, which show internal or complicated
details."
Now here is a diagram for you to look at to understand some
of these principles:
Sarah
nods her head again. Lunch break is over, but you tell Sarah that you'll ask
her questions tomorrow to make sure she understands the concepts. These are
the questions you ask the following day:
- What information is a person able to obtain by reading a blueprint?
- What are the four standards for representing and dimensioning a part on
a technical drawing?
- What are some of the major elements of a drawing?
Now, if you can read the blueprint, answer these questions:
- Give the part name on the drawing and the part number.
- What kind of material is required for this part, and how many are needed?
- List the lettered lines that show the shape of the part in View 1, View
2 and View 3.
Want to learn more? Check out this URL:
Technical
Illustrations
Internet: https://technicalillustrators.org/