The Next Class - 3D Modeling

My senior years off to a start with the third course in the Drafting series: 3D Modeling.  It has been a while, as last year I decided to change it up by taking Applications of Engineering, that was definitely a different experience and I am excited to get back to the heart of engineering: drafting. 

I jumped right into the curriculum this year with threads!  I started by calculating the tolerances and allowances of the hole and shaft and then finding the maximum and minimum clearance/interference.  Though this is not hard, it is very tedious because the numbers are to thousands of an inch and easily mixed up.  After working with this some I moved on to threads, learning about the different kinds and their uses, along with other thread properties.  Ever heard of "lefty losie, righty tighty"? I am sure you have. This is true for most screws which have right handed threads, but some screws are made with left handed threads, though, from my understanding left handed threads are mostly used in mechanisms. The toilet handle for example, has a left handed thread so that when the handle is pushed down the screw is not loosened. And this is just SOME of the information I have learned so far, along with this, I have already learned how to draw a Hex Head Bolt with a standard thread and am working on another with an ACME thread.  It was pretty intimidating at first, but I found drawing a thread by hand was much easier than it looked once I knew what I was doing.

So here's my first drafted thread and my second one is on the way--so stay tuned for more exciting informational drafting! 

Oblique Views

The oblique section is so far my favorite section, and one of the easiest. For the most part. :)  Oblique views are similar to isometric views except the front is drawn straight on and objects like circles are not distorted. A cavalier view is a normal oblique view, while a cabinet view (which is pictured above) is a oblique that the front is drawn normally and the width is drawn half size so it looks how it accually would look and does not look distoreted like a cavalier view can seem.
^ The picture above is a snapshot of a cabinet oblique of a guide bearing.

Auxiliary Views

The auxiliary views unit was much easier for me to understand then the last unit I had worked on. I was able to complete this unit fairly quickly without many issues. The most difficult drawing was the last drawing, the Connecting Bar. The top view was seen at an angle in most parts so the drawing had to be drawn like an isometric almost.   It was challenging and felt great to complete. One of my favorite things about drafting is after all your hard work you have something great to show for it.  Drafting is a very rewarding job/task to complete. I look forward to the challenges of the next unit and hope to incorporate all I have learned in this unit in upcoming units.