Drafting Machine Components 1

[RPMG]

Hey all, this should be a fun one. I have a drafting machine that I intend to repair. Some components work, and some don't:

[ol 1]
[li]Probably a horizontal slide stop. Does not work[/li]
[li]Embedded metal plate that slides. I believe that 2 locking screws are missing.[/li]
[li]Working vertical slide stop.[/li]
[li]Dial lettered V at current location, lettered H at 270 degrees.[/li]
[li]Working rotation lock.[/li]
[li]Some sort of lock.[/li]
[li]Some sort of lock.[/li]
[li]Toggle switch on the handle.[/li]
[li]Dial 5'-5 degrees. I assume this is a memory device.[/li]
[li]I can't count. Call this a placeholder.[/li]
[li]At the top, there is a working switch to calibrate the vertical angle.[/li]
[li]There are strings below, which are probably related to 1 and 2, but are too loose to be effective.[/li]
[/ol]

This is an open ended topic. The goal is for better definition and to repair it, but I don't think that should limit the discussion.

I also have acquired an electric eraser, which is awesome.

 

[jerry1423]

I still have all my drafting stuff, after working as a draftsman starting 42 years ago. Since then I got my BS degree, but still enjoy drafting
I have been working on NX (Unigraphics) the last 33 years, and I hope to go at least another 10 years.
Check craigslist for the drafting machines, they are still around.

Jerry J.
UGV5-NX1884

 

[JohnRBaker]

I made it 38 years on UG/NX (when I started in 1977 they didn't have version numbers, just a date on the tape, and when I retired, I was using NX 11.0).

John R. Baker, P.E. (ret)
EX-Product 'Evangelist'
Irvine, CA
Siemens PLM:
UG/NX Museum:

The secret of life is not finding someone to live with
It's finding someone you can't live without

 

[RPMG]

In my industry, the pencil has not fallen to UniGraphics or CAD. Contractors, actually, want it hand drawn. Of all the people, contractors are the most dismissive of computer generated details and calculations. They want someone to look at it and think about it, instead of filling inputs into a program. I could do everything that I do in CAD, myself, just as quick, but we get the response "No CAD" or "We're not paying for CAD." And I understand that. I deal a lot with existing structures, and the existing detailing is much better than today's standard. CAD, by some, is seen as low quality and added expense. I don't personally subscribe to that thought, but I like using a pencil.

Also, the thumb toggle (8) sets the angle to 30 and 45 when you loosen the rotation (6). During the COVID pandemic, my table is seeing a lot more use, both as a drafting table and an art studio by my 4 and 6 year old girls.

 

[JohnRBaker]

If all you were talking about was a replacement for hand-drawn drawings, I might agree with you, however, in today's world, CAD is so much more than that. Granted, my views are based on the 38 years (and the four years since I've retired) that I've personally seen as CAD's impact on what we called discreet manufacturing, which covers virtually everything from industrial machinery (my background) to automotive & aerospace, medical equipment & consumer products and dozens of other industry segments which have been completely transformed by CAD and it's ancillary technologies of CAE and CAM. In the industry segments that I mentioned above, the pure CAD, as in Computer Aided DRAFTING, is rarely the intended 'output', and for many industries, Drawings themselves have long been moved OFF the critical-path from inception to production to the delivery of the final product to the end-user. So please, don't sell 'CAD' short, at least not when it comes to the rest of the world.

John R. Baker, P.E. (ret)
EX-Product 'Evangelist'
Irvine, CA
Siemens PLM:
UG/NX Museum:

The secret of life is not finding someone to live with
It's finding someone you can't live without