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Manual Drawing, Anyone ?

  • 1.  Manual Drawing, Anyone ?

    Posted 11-17-2016 04:22 AM
    Is there anyone else out there, using Manual Drawing for Project delivery?
     
    My practice is a solo, home-office operation.  Including co-op in Architecture School, I worked-around for about 18 years.  When the large firm I was with in '84 closed its office here (Springfield, MA), I decided to go out on my own.  Pin-drafting was early, crude, but up-and-coming; then it died a worthy death.  CADD (yes, w/ 2 "D"s) was in its infancy.
     
    So, so far, no problem.  In the late '90s, I was convinced I'd go to CADD.  Then, a good friend, a Surveyor, gave me a "tour" of his home office.  He went over the large costs of Autocad, w/ annual renewals, 4-month learning-curves for each year's changes, along with printers / plotters, etc., etc., and I was sold! 
     
    Manual it is!!
     
    North of here, there's more wealth and "energy-conscious, Design vision", where people will pay the price of a car for Architectural services for a house, or even a well-done addition or retrofit.
     
    In this area, I'm working for middle-class people, whom I actually prefer.  Full houses are rare.  Additions are large or small, and work includes the occasional commercial / institutional project.  The small, local G.C.s who build my work are usually great to work with:
    1.     Sometimes, they "come with" the job.
    2.     They are involved mid-to-late in Design or C.D.s, pricing as we proceed.
    3.     They much prefer my basic sheet-specs over a "spec book".
    4.     If field visits are involved, it's easy to resolve details, w/ the Owner as needed. 
     
    This is a modest-living way to do things, and I'm enjoying the hands-on work.  At age 70, I'm riding-it-out with a "B" lead in a Pentel 0.7mm pencil.  And as I say, "Most Architects never retire, we just draw to a conclusion". 
     
    There have been 3 referrals in the last few weeks (typically from Clients, friends, G.C.s...).  My other main marketing effort is the 4-day Home Show in late March.
     
    Anyone else?
    Thanks ---
    Bill Devlin    william j. devlin aia, inc., ARCHITECT    Springfield, MA


  • 2.  RE: Manual Drawing, Anyone ?

    Posted 11-18-2016 05:26 PM

    My 2-person firm is also still drawing with pencils on vellum. I can get PDF's made at the print shop for any jurisdiction that prefers electronic copies. At 73, we are only taking new work from the 3 "F's": friends, family and former clients, and the now-grown children thereof, who were newborns when we started.

    You are right about retiring! They will have to pry my cold, dead hands off my drafting board.

    Judith Wasserman, AIA

    ------------------------------
    Judith Wasserman AIA
    Bressack & Wasserman
    Palo Alto CA



  • 3.  RE: Manual Drawing, Anyone ?

    Posted 11-21-2016 05:54 PM
    Judith:
    You rock, girl!
    I'm about 8 years your junior and I still use a pencil- Ticonderoga 2HB- mainly for plan and elevational concepts and for one-of-a -kind details which flow directly from head to hand.
    We turn them into pdfs, beam them into the drawing and presto: BobCAD
    It also compels?? me and my computer savvy junior of 16 years to coordinate our work
    Thing is, I hate working a keyboard and with all the other things I'm responsible for - I haven't the patience- but I know enough to make corrections and move things around as needed for last minute issues
    But I do?? have the utmost appreciation of CAD and the 3D programs like Sketchup that do a marvelous job of illustrating, conveying the design to clients who?? have trouble reading/understanding?? plans and the time-saving aspects of it all.
    Wrestling also with retiring.
    But keep putting pencil to paper and let the younger generation put the mouse to the pad.
    Regards
    bh

    --





  • 4.  RE: Manual Drawing, Anyone ?

    Posted 11-28-2016 01:16 PM
    I grew up hand drafting, and in many ways kind of miss it.  About 20 years ago, I transitioned to 2d CADD, using a Mac based program called PowerCADD.  I still use it.  It is very similar to hand drafting (drawing at scale, line weights, etc), except I don't have to worry about erasing through the velum due to too many changes!  Although I can import and export DWG and DXF files, I mainly stay within my clean neat PowerCADD world.  I frequently get complements on the readability of my plans.  If anyone is interested in a small step into the CADD world, you might consider PowerCADD.  I am both an architect and civil engineer (specializing in structural design) and do structural engineering for other clients.  If someone sends me a copy of a hand-drawn plan, I have it scanned and drop the scanned image into my plans, using it as a half-tone background and draw my structural plans atop it.  If someone sends me a plan from AutoCADD or some other CADD software, I can either insert a PDF copy of their plan into my plans, or import a converted plan into my drawings, depending on the complexity, etc.

    best wishes,
    patrick


    patrick marr, aia pe  architecture + structural design
    2105 gillespie street
    santa barbara, ca  93101
    p:  (805) 898-2096

    proud member of 1% for the planet









  • 5.  RE: Manual Drawing, Anyone ?

    Posted 11-28-2016 01:17 PM
    It is nice to hear there are people out there still doing real drawings.  Tried CAD once and couldn't take it.  In a recent chat with an old high school friend (Architect) he mentioned that when he first started (early seventies) the office still used linen and ink.  That and seeing an original linen drawing at my structural engineer's office, it got me thinking of trying linen out.  Can't seem to find any.  Anyone know a source?  Or maybe some office still has some in the back room they would be willing to sell.  Please let me know.   As far as CAD goes, I also maintain a Woodworking shop that fabricates doors windows and any interesting parts of my projects.  Sometimes for other Architects as well.  I am always surprised by the the lack of subtle information conveyed by CAD drawings and how much flavor and information hand drawings convey.  A good hand drawn drawing conveys a 1000 words, a CAD drawing often needs a 1000 words to describe what you really what.  OK I'm off my soap box, but if you know a source of drafting linen, please let me know.  As for me, a BS in Industrial Design and experience got me here, probably one of the last to do it the old way.

    Andrew Peklo III AIA
    Peklo Design & Joinery pc
    Pomperaug Hydro  P-12790
    203-263-4566
    cell- 203-233-9258
    29 Pomperaug Road
    Woodbury, CT 06798









  • 6.  RE: Manual Drawing, Anyone ?

    Posted 11-18-2016 05:37 PM

    Well, I'm 71, and after teaching myself Autocad, Autocad Architecture, and then Revit, whenever I start taping a sheet of paper onto my drawing board, I find myself slapping myself up alongside my head exclaiming "What the heck am I doing ?  This would be a lot easier on the computer !"  I could never produce as much as I currently do if I were drawings manually - and I'd never be able to generate the building sections, elevations and 3d color renderings I can with Revit. I guess I've gone over to the "other side" !

    ------------------------------
    Robert Larsen AIA
    Principal
    Robert R. Larsen, A.I.A.
    Denver CO



  • 7.  RE: Manual Drawing, Anyone ?

    Posted 11-18-2016 05:42 PM
    William,
     
    I like to use hand drawing for concept/preliminary phase so that they represent its not a hard-lined finished product, but rather an evolving idea.  The "sketch" appearance helps them understand that, and its more enjoyable and easier to solve design issues that way - at least for me.
     
    Adam J. Trott Architect
    1001 State Street, Suite 205
    Erie, PA 16501
    p. 814-456-8667
    f. 814-453-4978





  • 8.  RE: Manual Drawing, Anyone ?

    Posted 11-18-2016 08:46 PM

    I have tried  all kinds of CAD classes and it just won't go in my head right, plus you need to practice...a lot. I was licensed in 1980. My practice is 100% manual..BUT...I ONLY do schematic design, and have numerous contract Architects, Engineers, Building designers and draftspeople that work with me to put in CAD format, be it Revit, AutoCAD, Vectorworks, etc. Plus I have a few illustration modeling companies that do modeling and illustrations. Specialize in facilitating design charrettes, masterplans and schematic design enough to start entitlement work. This is for ALL kinds of projects. Masterplanned communities, casinos, Hotels, house, offices, Apartments, (No condos) Retail, Institutional..you name it. I do not seem to be short of work over the last 30 years. Ever. I do wish i could do some CAD/Sketchup plans, but...I do not have time to learn..too busy drawing...and clients love my ability to do that in front of them, and in collaborative meetings. (public or private.) I used to be in and owned larger firms..but it was maddening to deal with the ups and downs in order to keep good people.  When I was in a large firm, and brought in work, I had to give the client a fixed fee, based on estimates from staff. But..when the timesheet came in over budget...it was a problem. Not the clients problem. ..mine. No more. Tripled my income when I left. A good Schematic design gets a good scope and fixed contract. I need to check them thoroughly, , but....It seems to be the path I am on.   You have to be a good fast draw-er, of course... so..yes..some people still hand draw. But not CD's. Unless something small for a friend..or my own house, in my spare time. Ahh..the Tailer's son has no shoes....I am hiring some contract VR dudes now....from my hand sketches... The world can change around me and i will contract out as needed. We'll...see...

    ------------------------------
    David Christensen AIA LEEDap
    Principal
    Christensen Design Management
    Bellingham WA



  • 9.  RE: Manual Drawing, Anyone ?

    Posted 11-19-2016 06:11 AM
    You are not alone: I’m a solo practitioner and I also draw by hand!

    I used CAD in the early 90s in a larger office, but as I did larger and larger projects and became more of a project manager and did less and less drafting, I lost any facility at it. When I went out on my own (2000), I stuck with/went back to pencil and paper. Despite frequent intentions to switch, the learning curve time never seems to match the time available on any one project. I have hired people to do CAD drawings on my large projects. I may yet switch; despite enjoying the physical skill and not wanting to spend even more time looking at screens, I hate re-drawing backgrounds, shells, details, etc.

    I was talking to a local architect who is also on a local Planning Board I often go before. She said I stood out because of the quality of my work (thanks!) and because I was one of, if not the only one, still submitting drawings done by hand. Not sure if that's fame or notoriety!

    Philip Kramer, AIA
    Brookline, MA




  • 10.  RE: Manual Drawing, Anyone ?

    Posted 11-19-2016 02:26 PM
    Two of us hang out in my office in Kalamazoo, Michigan downtown. We are both hand drafters. I do mainly Commercial: additions, remodel, adaptive reuse of old and historic buildings.
    The Contractors don’t mind a bit. IN fact they say they can read them better and there are more rtes on the drawings. Our Engineers redraw a background in CAD. So, it all works.
    I still use a lead pointer, E2 lead, mylar, and blue line prints for everyday use. Nathan© nice goes to the Kal-Blue print shop including job sets.




    Nelson Breech Nave, AIA, Architect
    nave-aia@mindspring.com




  • 11.  RE: Manual Drawing, Anyone ?

    Posted 07-02-2017 04:05 AM
    Computer all the way for me although the first office I worked in was hand-drafting - but I only worked there for a year while I was still in school (and being the only one that knew ACAD I started drawing the office standard details in ACAD for them!).  But I want to point out that the learning curve for the yearly update is pretty much non-existent.  If you want to learn the new features there is a little curve there - maybe a day or two with tutorials or something but you don't have to learn the new features for the most part.  But you don't have to learn the new features - you can continue to operate as you've operated since V14 came out (NOT 2014).  Now it is true that the ribbon was new and confusing a couple years ago - but you can close it or learn it.  I think I'm way faster typing one and two letter commands with my left hand and clicking out lines and things with my right hand than anyone can ever be having to move the mouse up to the ribbon to different tabs and options and then back into the work area.  I do use the ribbon for the newer features as I do like to explore and learn them.

    ------------------------------
    Thomas Fallon AIA
    Benner Stange Associates Architects, Inc.
    Portland OR
    ------------------------------



  • 12.  RE: Manual Drawing, Anyone ?

    Posted 07-03-2017 07:32 PM
    Manual drawing only for me.   Tried the electronic drafting stuff and decided I needed to be in complete, not partial control.  There are so many aspects of any drawing if it is viewed as an illustration of a designers' thoughts which a computer print-out could never express.  Because of this I abandoned the keyboard and mouse and keep on rendering the thoughts that my endless imagination will create for me and my clients.  I cannot envision any advantage to letting a mouse be my expression messenger.  It cannot do it.  We need line weight, shading of perfect values, spaced line beginnings and endings sometime with fade out features, we need natural clouds which express the direction of wind paths, we need to say something that is not tangible and express a feeling of permanence, of stability, of uniqueness, most times of warmth and of strength of shelter.  None of this is possible with any CAD system.  I have a BFA degree in Industrial Design but have been a registered architect since 1981 and hand drawing, especially in the schematic phase is very satisfying because what I feel shows in what my hands produce and my clients are in awe of what I present to them.  I always preface my initial presentation with the phrase "this is what I think you asked me for" and fortunately I have the mindset to get it daggone close.  Of course, during my initial interviews there are many aspects which clients tend to disagree upon, usually questioning anothers' preference with "I didn't know you liked that " (My favorite).  My approach at that point is to perform the problem solver facet of design and include the softness of feeling and understanding all viewpoints and working them into solutions that please.  I love doing this and most time my solutions come to me in the wee hours of the morning, just as it must for all dedicated creative designers.  I have been a designer for over sixty years and have trouble turning work away because of the challenges presented.  I can almost always spot a design that has been created on a monitor and I am sure y'all can too.  Seriously, though, at 84, although as sharp as ever, I know I'll be drawing to a conclusion also (as a previous contributor suggested).

    ------------------------------
    Robert Stirling Morris AIA
    Principal/Owner
    Morris Architecture/Planning
    Canterbury CT
    ------------------------------



  • 13.  RE: Manual Drawing, Anyone ?

    Posted 07-17-2017 05:38 PM
    Robert, you are so right about being able to see it when some buildings are designed in cad. (not all)
    You can also tell from people's grammar that they text a great deal.

    ------------------------------
    Patrick Espy AIA
    Avon CO
    ------------------------------



  • 14.  RE: Manual Drawing, Anyone ?

    Posted 07-20-2017 08:28 PM
    Morris is my man. When I started in 1958 my first job was to replace draftsmen's paper on the plywood boards. We soaked it and stapled it on the underside. Whe the water evaporated it became taught; unless with too much water the board would bend like an Assyrian bow. The we graduated to linen sheets; took the title block stamp, inked it and placed square (using a cardboard template) in the lower right corner. Next, with a bow pen, the kind with a screw at the top, you filled with ink from the bottle, and drew the two sets of border lines. If you ruined a shett it was taken out of your pay. 
    Only later were we allowed to trace in ink the working drawings generated by senior men.

    I became registered in 1968 and worked in pencil and ink for 20 years. Even on mylar my ink work was better than pencil. I finally got a computer and a free AutoCad light program and finally mastered it.
    But CAD drawing is hideous. It is unbelieveably timeconsuming and tedious to gave every line it's proper weight. So long as one doesn't mind that every line is the same value, then it may be quicker. There is nothing so fine as a pencil drawing. 

    Maybe today we are close to have full color printing; although my recent experience suggests this is still too expensive.

    ------------------------------
    William McCullam AIA
    Newbury OH
    ------------------------------



  • 15.  RE: Manual Drawing, Anyone ?

    Posted 07-20-2017 08:29 PM
    Morris is my man. When I started in 1958 my first job was to replace draftsmen's paper on the plywood boards. We soaked it and stapled it on the underside. Whe the water evaporated it became taught; unless with too much water the board would bend like an Assyrian bow. The we graduated to linen sheets; took the title block stamp, inked it and placed square (using a cardboard template) in the lower right corner. Next, with a bow pen, the kind with a screw at the top, you filled with ink from the bottle, and drew the two sets of border lines. If you ruined a sheet it was taken out of your pay. 
    Only later were we allowed to trace in ink the working drawings generated by senior men.

    I became registered in 1968 and worked in pencil and ink for 20 years. Even on mylar my ink work was better than pencil. I finally got a computer and a free AutoCad light program and finally mastered it.
    But CAD drawing is hideous. It is unbelieveably timeconsuming and tedious to gave every line it's proper weight. So long as one doesn't mind that every line is the same value, then it may be quicker. There is nothing so fine as a pencil drawing. 

    Maybe today we are close to have full color printing; although my recent experience suggests this is still too expensive.

    ------------------------------
    William McCullam AIA
    Newbury OH
    ------------------------------



  • 16.  RE: Manual Drawing, Anyone ?

    Posted 07-03-2017 06:13 PM
    The more I practice I realize....Hand drafting (can be) good...CAD is better...BIM IS BEST!

    I started out hand drafting in the mid-eighties.  I saw firms begin to transition to CAD in the early 90's.  by the late 90's most firms did not have drafting boards, and if you wanted a job, you had to know CAD!  I met a lot of seasoned architects who said they could draw "just as fast" by hand.  I don't doubt them. However, most cannot modify a drawing quicker by hand; most cannot use base plans for reflected ceilings and framing plans with out creating some type of reproducible to mail to consultants, etc.  There are many other reasons, but simply put,  feel CAD IS BETTER

    Although I began using CAD in  about 1995, when I began my practice in 1999, I was using plastic lead on mylar (do they even make that stuff anymore) In 2000 I purchased Autocad LT.  I had to do a lot of set up, but then realized I could use schedules and such as templates to be a little more productive.  It is important to note that the time I spent on projects did not change significantly.  The thought that one can cut their production time by 2/3 is a myth, plain & simple!

    In the early 2000's my clients began asking me for 3-D drawings.  in fact one client (an engineer)  went out and bought a cheap 3-d Home architect programs so he could show his wife what their project was going to look like.  It got me thinking that I should look into something beyond AutoCAD LT, which was just 2-D drawing.  I researched it for a few years and settled on SoftPlan - a BIM program for residential and light commercial design.  I could now create 3-D models, but most importantly, was the information while documenting.  Door s and windows are automatically scheduled.  When you change a window, it updates the elevation.  SP has a great "area" mode that allows yo to do quick take-offs - and it is kept in a data base.  A sole practitioner, I taught myself this program in 6 weeks!

    I have also used Revit, which I find harder to learn and manage and better suited for commercial buildings.  Still it is a powerful tool.  I have been doing consulting work for other architects and have to go back to Autocad LT.  Working with another architect there were many discrepancies and changes that did not get followed through.  Most of these could have been avoided with BIM.

    Most of the time we send pdf's to builders and clients.  I cannot imagine making diazo prints or large format copies  and having to distribute these!  This is an electronic age where information can be shared quickly.  Are these programs faster than hand drawing?  Slightly.  Are they better?  Definitely!

    ------------------------------
    Edward Shannon AIA
    Des Moines IA
    ------------------------------



  • 17.  RE: Manual Drawing, Anyone ?

    Posted 07-11-2017 02:01 PM
    I suspect I'm among the last few in the profession who started hand drafting, but I was lucky enough to work a couple years for a small architect in Berkeley who did (still does?) hand drafting in 2002.  I've since gone through Vectorworks and AutoCAD as 2D drafting systems and am now in ArchiCAD as a BIM system.

    I love some of the features of BIM and 2D drafting in AutoCAD is blazingly fast, but the big downside in going to computers is that there is a lot more copy-paste mentality when it comes to detailing.  And a big part of the problem is not the interns who don't know what they are copying and pasting details from previous projects, but the PM's who create such tight project deadlines that no one (PM's, Job Captains, interns) has time to really double check standard details to ensure they are applicable to the new project.

    But yeah in spite of the ease of document coordination and cool 3D views from BIM, I really miss the act of standing at the drafting table and actually drafting.

    ------------------------------
    Justus Pang AIA
    APTUS Architecture
    Las Vegas NV
    ------------------------------



  • 18.  RE: Manual Drawing, Anyone ?

    Posted 07-12-2017 06:06 PM
    As a one man shop, I don't think I could ever compete if I had to draw everything by hand. I'm 71 and I plan on working until I croak. 
    I made the decision some years back to learn Revit because I knew the industry is going that way and if I was going to keep up I had better learn it.   
    When I look back at drawings I did by hand years ago I'm amazed at how beautiful they were.  But after dragging my feet and being in denial about learning CAD and then Revit, now I have to say I'm sold on computer drafting. Anymore I get as far as taping a sheet of paper onto my drawing board when I stop and slap myself up alongside the head and exclaim "What The Heck Am I Doing ?  I Can Do This Much Faster On The Computer!!!" 
    I do almost exclusively residential projects. Revit saves me so much time and allows me to produce much more detail with much more accuracy. Just being able to generate quick building section views helps me to understand how the building goes together. To construct section views by hand used to take forever. Revisions used to take forever too - now they are almost painless.  When I finally have the computer model constructed, I can quickly create multiple colored 3d views of the building to show my clients. To draw so many views by hand would be virtually impossible in terms of billable time. Yes, the final drawings aren't as "pretty" as my old hand-drawn ones, but I feel I'm giving my clients better service now.
    I really sympathize with my peers who are still drawing by hand, and I admire the artistry involved. But I'm not going back. This old dog is glad he learned new tricks.

    ------------------------------
    Robert Larsen AIA
    Principal
    Robert R. Larsen, A.I.A.
    Denver CO
    ------------------------------



  • 19.  RE: Manual Drawing, Anyone ?

    Posted 07-12-2017 06:11 PM
    I just realized I had already addressed this last November.  I apologize for hogging the space.

    ------------------------------
    Robert Larsen AIA
    Principal
    Robert R. Larsen, A.I.A.
    Denver CO
    ------------------------------



  • 20.  RE: Manual Drawing, Anyone ?

    Posted 07-13-2017 12:05 PM
    I am a 73 year old architect. I continue to sketch out concepts at beginning of a project. I no longer draw construction drawings by hand.  

    It is fun to reminisce about the old days all the way back to drafting on linen with ink using erasing shields,, scum-x, erasers, lettering guides, Leroy sets, French curves, blue prints, plotting perspectives and so on. To draw a plan, section or detail one had to know how elements fit together. Once drawings were completed, changes often occurred. I often had to use the note "NTS" (not to scale) rather than having to redraw the plans, sections or details, and hope nothing was missed. I do look, with fascination and admiration, at those hand drawn sets as artwork from another time.

    I am glad we now have computer software (AutoCAD, Revit, Archicad, etc.) to manage the task of creating and coordinating architectural drawings. Change is good and I can not wait what tomorrow will bring.

    ------------------------------
    Juris Laivins AIA
    Owner
    Juris Laivins Architect
    Dallas TX
    ------------------------------



  • 21.  RE: Manual Drawing, Anyone ?

    Posted 07-13-2017 06:09 PM
    Robert, some things bear repeating - so I'm always glad to hear what others (in our age bracket are doing). I use VectorWorks Architect for the same reasons; I chose it because it allows me to approximate the graphic qualities of my hand drafting with the benefits of BIM. I still have my trusty drawing board which I use for conceptual sketching (which I have never been able to approximate on computers), but do all of my production and design development using CAD/BIM.

    ------------------------------
    Don Leighton-Burwell AIA
    Owner
    DLB Architect
    Austin TX
    ------------------------------



  • 22.  RE: Manual Drawing, Anyone ?

    Posted 07-13-2017 09:01 PM
    Robert,
    I am 69 and taught myself Revit several years ago and agree with you. Although I hope to quit as least 10 minutes before I croak. I can give you another reason for being happy to have learned. I have started using virtual reality with both Iris VR and Revit Live from Autodesk with an Oculus Rift headset. The Revit file converts quickly into a format using the Rift and it is really helpful in analyzing and polishing the design. I recommend it highly.

    ------------------------------
    Douglas Mayo AIA
    Doug Mayo Architect
    New Orleans LA
    ------------------------------



  • 23.  RE: Manual Drawing, Anyone ?

    Posted 07-15-2017 02:49 PM
    ​Count me among the dinosaurs!  And I'm still a  relative pup.
    My architecture degree was inked in 1988 and CADD was a 1 semester offering.  The software and equipment was not something a small office could usually justify.  The architect I briefly interned with was entirely old school.  Then I got into construction for 3 years to learn more about how to put together the pretty lines we were placing on the page.  Hand drawing allows me to think about how to construct the entities that get presented on a page instead of thinking how to make the computer understand what my hand and brain can put onto the paper. Every mark on the page is intentional.   And it is tiring to see how many plans get generated with the cut and paste mentality where the people drafting need basically no comprehension of how their computer generated lines need to come together to make a building; or a dimension string is just a series of clicks instead of a mental evaluation of placement of members.
    CAD is great when I am doing a project that involves repetition or a larger project that will need to get presented in multiple scales.  3D presentations are wonderful to help clients visualize what we already can see in our minds.
    But just as cool are the oohs and aahs, and "how do you even do that!?" when you roll out a true blueprint in front of your clients -- especially the younger ones that grew up with an iPad in their hands.
    I will continue to be lead on mylar as long as they keep selling it!!!

    ------------------------------
    Rene Lusser Assoc. AIA
    Better By Design
    Driggs ID
    ------------------------------



  • 24.  RE: Manual Drawing, Anyone ?

    Posted 07-17-2017 05:39 PM
    Rene, I'm in your camp.  I need a pencil in my hand for the thought process.  My personal theory is that for me this has a distinct neurological basis; the different physical motions involved with drawing lines of different lengths, textures, and weights is a virtual building process, and for me clicking a mouse repeatedly just doesn't complete the circuit.  Also, working with my hands and creating a drawing makes me happy.  Since mine is a solo practice with small projects, the need for repeating modules isn't there.

    Maybe if a person learns to draft only using a computer it's a different synaptic pathway that can be meshed with 3-D images in the brain. I do wonder, though, if the only way an architect creates a 3-D image is with a computer (rather than drawing an iso or an axo or even a perspective), is the ability to conceive three dimensions conceptually as internalized as it became for me after drafting for a few years?

    No one will ever do a study to investigate this question, I'm sure.

    Leah Greenwald
    ______________________
    Leah Greenwald, Architect
    Lexington, MA





  • 25.  RE: Manual Drawing, Anyone ?

    Posted 07-19-2017 06:14 AM
    Hello, Folks ---
     
    What the hey ---
    I just did a long bit on CAD and Manual Drawing, so, I'm on a roll (of yellow trace)!  In all these discussions of Manual Drawing, many different methods-and-materials have come out.  So, I'll take the liberty of explaining how I do it, in case there's something there that could be of use to someone else.
     
    The set-up:
    Base table:
    Years ago, I had a large "base-table" made.  It's 7'-0" long by 3'-6" wide, by 2-1/2" thick, 1/2" plywood top-&-bottom, on a flat-2x frame.  It's covered w/ plastic laminate all-around (preventing warping), and sits on 2 Charrette table-horses.  Or, 2-drawer file cabinets would work. 
    Drawing surface:
    The base is a simple piece of 3/4" plywood, 3' x 4', covered in drawing vinyl.  At the back, it sits on a loose 2x3, to give it a slight tilt (I don't like runaway tools).  On top is a 4-foot parallel-rule, which "rides" on 2"-wide strips of chip-board at its ends, as an anti-smudge measure.
    The "Over-shelf":
    Along the far edge of the base table, I have my (loose) "over-shelf", which is 6-ft. long.  It's 2 - 1x8s, with 1x2 spacers at its ends, and 2 - 2x2 spacers, about 1-ft. apart, at its center.  Underneath, it stands on 1x4s on-edge, ("legs") about 5" in from each end, so it can span the drawing board.  At its left end, another 1x4 on-edge is on top, directly over the leg.  Screwed to that are 2 heavy cardboard tubes, covered in decorative roll-vinyl, to hold rolls of yellow-trace paper.  At the 2x2s at the center, I drilled 1/2"-diameter holes, for my drafting lamps.
    The shelf holds my (great!) collection of templates, then the triangles, on the left, scales/pens/pencils/lead-holders/X-acto knife/etc., in the middle, and drafting brush, compasses, etc., on the right.  For the small items in the middle, toilet-paper tubes fit just-snugly in the 1-1/2" space, and keep the small items in place.  As I draw, everything is "right there"...
    It stayed fairly straight as a seat-of-the-pants "stressed-skin panel", until I loaded it with 2 piles, 18" tall, of paperwork, plus miscellaneous other burdens.  Even like this, it's only deflected about 1/2".
    Height:
    This is all a sit-down set-up.  For my new office (within our new condo unit) later this year, I want to have a stand-up-drawing option.
    Lamps:
    I've got 2 of the usual 2-source drafting lamps, old-&-tired.  I'll treat myself to new ones after the move.
     
    Doing Architecture:
    (I wrote about how I get my small projects, last year.  The same goes for the Design process I use.  Anyone interested in a re-run?),
    Measuring / Photographing:
    Structure
    After I've been retained as Architect, there's usually a building, generally a house, to be documented (or, rarely, a site).  For measuring, I use an actual tape, for the hands-on feel.  It gets hooked-on securely at some good point, then I keep it taut as I walk, and note dimensions, in pencil on the structure, as far as the tape will go.  This minimizes cumulative errors.  Then, after free-handing an outline on my narrow-lined, yellow pad, I write-in the dimensions.  A similar process works vertically.  For, say, brick, I'll measure 9, or 12, courses, not just 3, and similar w/ lengths.  Old clapboards were proportioned to suit the openings, so there are few "typicals".  Much as I hate vinyl siding, etc., its regular spacing makes things easier; I just stand-back and count!  Roofs are easy if 3-tab (5"/course, 1-foot length per tab), tougher on "architectural".  For metal roofs, if I can get to a typical pan-width (out a dormer, etc.), I'm golden.  Otherwise, I can count to known stretches of wall, or, whatever...
    Open Site:
    For a "naked site", I get the legal plot plan from the "county" (long story) Hall of Records, and/or the Client.  Usually, I'm asking for more, from the Owner/s Surveyor, especially for topo, any easements, etc.  And of course, I walk-it, with and without the Client.
    Photos:
    For photos, I "shoot first, ask questions later", from overalls to details.  I have them printed (with date shown), so I can spread-'em-out as needed.  If I need to go back, so be it.  With a good supply of old-time album pages, I can have them handy and in order.  My amazing, local, pro-photographer-with-(a real!)-photo-shop, I run my shots at 3-1/2"x 5", so I can get 4-up on each page.  Each job should have its own CD/s on file.
    Drawing existing conditions:
    If there's no addition, or such location/s are "obvious", I'll lay-out the "existing" as the shell of the final sheet.  On a more wide-open job, I just do it, to be traced later if needed.  Plans, elevations, and section/s are printed, and used as bases in Design.  The left-most 1-1/2"-or-so of the sheet is binding space, so --- for "Existing-conditions" presentations, I do a separate, informal "title block" off to the right, and print to the right, not needing the binding-space yet.  Ah-ha!  Yes, I draw on roll-stock, as below.  Rarely, very rarely, I might need to have an existing-only sheet in a set, so --- I punt as needed.
    Drawing sizes:
    The great majority of my work is on 24" x 36" sheets.  Tiny jobs might go on 18" x 24", but that's very unusual.
    Drawing paper:
    One large church-addition, years ago, was done on 32"x40" Mylar, but --- all my other work is on yellow trace, all of it.  Why?  Mylar smudges too easily, and needs mylar leads.  With careful erasing, I usually avoid "going bald" on Mylar, but it has happened.  Vellum gets too grubby, too fast, and is not as transparent as I'd like.  Yellow trace is fine, if treated with care, is forgiving in erasing, and stays clean with minimal effort.
    Drawing the Drawings:
    For yellow trace, graphite is best for me.  So, I use a regular "mechanical pencil" a Pentel 0.7 mm size, instead of an actual lead-holder.  My lead is a "B", for dark lines, and the skinny lead never needs "sharpening" per se.  If I keep it fairly well "choked-up", I rarely have it snap-off.  I'm adamant about line-weights, easily done with multiple strokes as needed.  Erasing, with white-vinyl, is safe on the yellow, with suitable care.
    Sheet protection:
    Drafting powder (crumbs of erasers) does not work for me.  With all the tool movements, it erases lines I want to keep!  It also gets in the way of making the lines, and can even cause minor issues of parallax.  So, I have "elbows", named from when I was protecting sheets from my sweaty arms, back before air conditioning.  These are just pieces of yellow trace, from ends-of-rolls, mis-torn sheets, etc.  I mask-off areas as needed, and keep drawing.  For long-term use, I tape 'em down (never to the work-sheet),  Most of the time, they're OK loose.
    Printing with yellow trace:
    It's scary, yes, but I have never lost a sheet!  I still have an ozalid machine, and a great local shop to care for it, and provide ammonia and paper.  The problem is the paper; we're down to 1 manufacturer, where "quality control" is, well, casual.  To print, I align the yellow trace & blueline paper, and feed-em-in carefully, watching as they go, and listening for any crinkling.  The machine needs an hour-or-so to warm-up, but, any time of day or night, I can run prints before bolting-out to a Client meeting.
    No paper:
    If the paper is discontinued, I could do what the big copy-shops do (I've got a great, local one of those, too); put the original in a folded clear plastic "envelope" and run it.  The major drawback to that is, it must be done during business hours. 
    Spend money:
    And, if the above doesn't work, I'd need to break-down and buy a modest machine.  From what I've seen for available models of printers, I'm guessing 2K to 3K should get me a basic, modern printer.
    Drafting supplies:
    Fortunately, I also have a real, art-supply, drafting-supply, store about 20 miles North of me.  Charrette used to have a good on-line site, which came-up as a different name, but it's been a long, long time since I checked that.
     
    For starters...
     
    Thanks ---
    Bill
    william j. devlin aia, inc.,
    ARCHITECT
    Springfield, MA
     





  • 26.  RE: Manual Drawing, Anyone ?

    Posted 07-26-2017 12:50 PM
    Re:  hand drafting:  Who has solved the problem of eraser strips for the old electric hand held machines?  Some time ago i went onto ebay to find that some characters were trying to sell those old boxes of erasing strips as antiques, for say, $30.00 per. Crazy, no?

    ------------------------------
    Michael Bengis AIA
    Architect
    Michael Bengis Architect PA
    Hopatcong NJ
    ------------------------------



  • 27.  RE: Manual Drawing, Anyone ?

    Posted 07-27-2017 05:40 PM
    The Mars #528 sticks don't fit?

    ------------------------------
    Stephen A Wanta AIA
    wanta-architect PLLC
    New York NY 10012
    ------------------------------



  • 28.  RE: Manual Drawing, Anyone ?

    Posted 07-27-2017 05:48 PM

    LOL. $7.50 per strip, or 12 for the Low Low price of $80.76

    http://www.aroundtheoffice.com/Faber-Castell-88-Machine-Eraser-Strip-White-Vinyl-sold-per-individual-strip/productinfo/ER-88-RF/

     

    WTF???

     

     

     

    Wishing you prosperity in 2017

    * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

    Lisa Stacholy, NCARB, LEED ap BD+C

    LKS Architects, Inc.

    1848 Independence Square, Suite D

    Dunwoody, Georgia  30338

    ph 770-393-1125, fax 509-461-0053, Cell 404-247-3335

    www.LKSarchitectsinc.com

    www.HomePlaceStudio.com

    www.houzz.com/pro/Lstacholy/LKS-architects-inc

    www.facebook.com/LKSarchitectsInc

    * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

     






  • 29.  RE: Manual Drawing, Anyone ?

    Posted 07-27-2017 05:50 PM

    Then again... GS Direct $2/strip

    http://www.gsdirect.net/erasing-machine-refills.html

     

    dataprint would likely be another good option.

     

     

     

    Wishing you prosperity in 2017

    * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

    Lisa Stacholy, NCARB, LEED ap BD+C

    LKS Architects, Inc.

    1848 Independence Square, Suite D

    Dunwoody, Georgia  30338

    ph 770-393-1125, fax 509-461-0053, Cell 404-247-3335

    www.LKSarchitectsinc.com

    www.HomePlaceStudio.com

    www.houzz.com/pro/Lstacholy/LKS-architects-inc

    www.facebook.com/LKSarchitectsInc

    * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

     






  • 30.  RE: Manual Drawing, Anyone ?

    Posted 07-27-2017 07:03 PM
    I got a few...$25/box...discounted for you...





  • 31.  RE: Manual Drawing, Anyone ?

    Posted 07-27-2017 07:27 PM
    You can still buy erasing shields on Amazon :)  I was going to offer to send you some if could find my old ones but I thought I'd do a quick search and there they were.

    ------------------------------
    Michelle Plotnik
    Architect
    Michelle Plotnik, AIA, Architect
    Murphys CA
    ------------------------------



  • 32.  RE: Manual Drawing, Anyone ?

    Posted 07-19-2017 10:20 AM
    I drew with a pencil since junior high school.  I stopped drawing with a pencil in 1990 about 25 years later.  Since then I have drawn solely on computer, except for quick noodles in a sketch book.  Working with a computer I use a keyboard connected with a small (wacom) tablet with a pressure sensitive stylus, which satisfies my neurological post birth pencil dependency.

    The computer allows me to work at an explicit and thorough level that would not be possible for a single person in pencil.  3 people, maybe.  All my work is custom, alterations.  I don't use standard or generic details except for a couple very basic general structural details (like laps and splices of rebar).   I pretty much detail every condition.  

    Kinesthetically, I have grown to love the computer for drawing.  A modern, large, very high resolution monitor shows lines as think as I could draw with a 00.  Indeed, it is like working with a Radiograph, rapidly, without drips, that erases instantly and perfectly.  I also love the accuracy.  Once something is in a particular place, the right place, I don't need to remember what the coordinates are or even dimension it initially.  It remembers.  That may be the final virtue:  After 25 years of pencil, and 27 years of computer, my processor is aging and apparently not upgradable.

    ------------------------------
    Donald Wardlaw AIA
    More Than Construction, Inc.
    Oakland CA
    ------------------------------



  • 33.  RE: Manual Drawing, Anyone ?

    Posted 07-18-2017 10:16 AM
    Interesting discussion.

    IMHO, the argument of paper versus computer is strictly one of having a credo or manifesto to one's practice at this point. I try to use computers as much as possible due to the ease of making revisions and tweaks without the dreaded NTS, but sometimes sketching on bumwad can free the mind (well, my mind anyway) in ways that the computer does not.

    Ultimately, we should possess the skill set we need to communicate most effectively with our clients on our design intent. For me that means having a roll of bumwad on hand during a meeting to discuss alternatives or explain concepts on the fly -- over top of my oftentimes computer-generated work.

    Just as I wouldn't insist on using snail mail, a telephone, or a fax machine to communicate with my clients, I don't view technology as an either/or proposition.

    Regards,
    Kevin M. Shertz, AIA





  • 34.  RE: Manual Drawing, Anyone ?

    Posted 07-19-2017 08:53 PM
    I'm old school. I have been hand drawing for decades. At one point I switched to computer but went back to hand drawing.  I understand the pros and cons but prefer the artistic style of burning graphite! To each their own.

    Richard Robison, Architect
    RWR Design Services
    Post Office Box 932
    Warrenton, VA 20188-0932
    540-347-9239





  • 35.  RE: Manual Drawing, Anyone ?

    Posted 07-20-2017 11:56 AM
    Totally agree Kevin!

    ------------------------------
    Nancy Perez Miller, AIA
    AR 17002 AA 3376
    NPMA LLC
    Florida Keys
    ------------------------------



  • 36.  RE: Manual Drawing, Anyone ?

    Posted 07-13-2017 08:24 PM
    Amen, Robert. I've been architecting since 1972 and Revit is the kinda thing I wished for way back then. Do not miss the eraser rubbings, the burned out areas of mylar and OMG that crazy ass pin drawing system with layers upon layers of mylar.

    Thad Broom

    ------------------------------
    Thad Broom AIA
    Architect
    Thad A. Broom AIA, P.C.
    Virginia Beach VA
    ------------------------------



  • 37.  RE: Manual Drawing, Anyone ?

    Posted 07-14-2017 05:53 PM

    Thad Broom – I don't miss the burned out mylar, crazy pin drawing and layers upon layers of mylar either – but wasn't that a great training pre-requisite to know how to use layers the right way in cad??  And I find it annoying that most young staff won't sketch on trace at all.  If they only knew what they were missing.

     

    Knobbie Langlinais, AIA

     






  • 38.  RE: Manual Drawing, Anyone ?

    Posted 07-13-2017 09:13 PM

    Thank you Robert Larsen for your commentes, they just help me decide to learn Revit better, ehayever iy takes, and leave the hand drawing for art work
    Regards
    Arq Margot Cueto






  • 39.  RE: Manual Drawing, Anyone ?

    Posted 07-14-2017 11:34 AM
    I concur with all of Bob's comments re Revit... I used to do pen & ink on mylar & they were beautiful, but Revit is the way to go... 
    I had release 1 Autocad & changed to Revit when it first came out...
    George (Pat) Mangan AIA
    Sister Bay, Door County, Wisconsin





  • 40.  RE: Manual Drawing, Anyone ?

    Posted 07-14-2017 03:30 PM
    Robert,

    As a solo architect for about 30 years I have been using cad since
    AutoCAD on a 286 computer. With a little tinkering with line weights you
    can make your AutoCAD or Revit work look as artistic as any hand drawn
    sheet. Always been proud of the art in the Architecture which is our CD
    drawings as there are many more sheets of those then there are of the
    design sketches and renderings.




  • 41.  RE: Manual Drawing, Anyone ?

    Posted 07-17-2017 05:30 PM
    You can always do both. Add a .pdf of design sketches or sometimes detail sketches.
    I can do sketches that look pretty artistic on occasion, and I sometimes add them as a .pdf or jpeg. 
    That can give Owners a reminder of the creative process, it seems. Don't you think?
    Sometimes leave some straight edge lines showing lightly with freehand linework.


    ------------------------------
    Patrick Espy AIA
    Avon CO
    ------------------------------



  • 42.  RE: Manual Drawing, Anyone ?

    Posted 07-17-2017 06:25 PM

    I know everyone uses Revit but I prefer ArchiCAD by FAR.  You were mentioning making drawings look like sketches/etc.  Archicad does that automatically with a simple setting.  

    Revit is too restrictive, ArchiCAD is a lot more like creating a sketch or drawing or the typical creative process which you can do entirely in 3D unlike in Revit plus you can fly through ArchiCAD models as you make changes/etc.  unlike REVIT.  

    I understand Revit is what everyone is using, but after having used both for many years I don't understand why - other than it having a market share lead from AutoDesk.  Just my opinion. 



    ------------------------------
    Donovan Lord Assoc. AIA
    President
    Edict Inc
    Dallas TX
    ------------------------------



  • 43.  RE: Manual Drawing, Anyone ?

    Posted 07-31-2017 05:46 PM
    Along the lines of this discussion, I'd be curious to hear from other CAD users what their preferred font choice is.  We've experimented with several over the years.  Currently, we've been going old school with the classic Architect chisel style.

    ------------------------------
    Gregory Holah, NCARB
    Architect
    HOLAH Design + Architecture
    Portland, Oregon 97232
    ------------------------------



  • 44.  RE: Manual Drawing, Anyone ?

    Posted 08-01-2017 05:35 PM
    Well Greg, in my office we’ve been using Arial Narrow or Interstate. Our intention is legibility on half sized sets.
    Elmer




  • 45.  RE: Manual Drawing, Anyone ?

    Posted 08-01-2017 05:42 PM
    I used to like Swis721 BT, because it had the legibility of Arial, but better kerning, IMO. I am now favoring Segoe UI because it is a typeface that most are very familiar with, and so looks very current. Good legibility, too, both onscreen and documents. There are some nice handwritten fonts, of course, but they feel like clinging to the past.

    ------------------------------
    Richard Morrison
    Architect-Interior Designer
    Redwood City CA
    www.richardmorrison.com
    ------------------------------



  • 46.  RE: Manual Drawing, Anyone ?

    Posted 08-01-2017 05:43 PM
    In my view, legibility is key.  So, a Hevetica-ish font is preferred. 

    And caps for the callouts on drawings, but upper and lower case for sections of text as in notes.

    A former co-worker said that at a prior firm, it was Helvetica for anything produced with CAD, and that way manually-added changes would stand out.  Of course, that was in the days when plotting was A Big Thing and replotting was an expense frowned upon.  Times have changed in that department.

    --
    best regards,
    Joel Niemi
    - Architect
    425.422.4276
    jniemiarchitect@gmail.com
    http://www.linkedin.com/in/jniemiarchitect





  • 47.  RE: Manual Drawing, Anyone ?

    Posted 08-01-2017 06:36 PM
    Arial, but I'm thinking about making my own.....

    FontCreator - the most popular font editor!
    High-logic remove preview
    FontCreator - the most popular font editor!
    FontCreator is an inspiring and beautifully designed font editor built to help you create amazing new fonts and edit existing fonts.
    View this on High-logic >



    ------------------------------
    Rudolph Beuc AIA, NCARB, CBO
    Architect
    R. Beuc Architects
    Saint Louis MO
    ------------------------------



  • 48.  RE: Manual Drawing, Anyone ?

    Posted 08-01-2017 07:58 PM
    Tahoma

    ------------------------------
    Robert Emert AIA
    Component past president
    Robert G. Emert Architect, Inc.
    Livingston NJ
    ------------------------------



  • 49.  RE: Manual Drawing, Anyone ?

    Posted 08-02-2017 08:37 AM
    I use a font called Rockwell, which is a serif font that I discovered somewhere along the way. I find it gives a nice combination of legibility and aesthetic presence to my drawings.

    I used to be obsessive about using handwritten looking fonts on my work, until I realized the only person who cared about along the way in my process was me.

    Regards,
    Kevin M. Shertz, AIA





  • 50.  RE: Manual Drawing, Anyone ?

    Posted 08-04-2017 01:30 AM
    Hi Folks ---
     
    As a Manual-Drawing guy, I use basically the same "font" I've had since well-before Architorture School in the '60s.  But I am intrigued by the discussions of font selections in CAD, with some folks hunting for a "hand-lettered" look. 
    One Q.:
    Isn't that like putting fakey vinyl siding with toy "shutters" on your house, along with "woodgrain" plastic decking?
     
    Integrity does count, in things great and small.  And in this case, it's easy; there are hundreds of serif & non-serif styles, from which to choose.  A few folks have stated that they ditched the "hand" look, due at least in part to its being fake!
     
    Thanks ---
    Bill
    william j. devlin aia, inc.,
    ARCHITECT
    Springfield, MA
     
     
     





  • 51.  RE: Manual Drawing, Anyone ?

    Posted 08-07-2017 06:26 PM
    Oh, I don't know, Bill.  I also came from the "old school" learning how to draught and letter in a technical school program (after undergraduate degree in Fine Arts and English) in order to get a job, while pursuing an architectural degree. I like the fact that "architectural" chisel-point-style  fonts help to make my architectural drawings look distinct from engineering drawings.  When I was hand-drawing everything, I often changed my "font -style" to a slanted, no-nonsense, sometimes lower-case, style to get the notes on the drawing as fast as possible.  Another reality, in those days, was how many "hands" were on the drawing at different times to get the sheet completed and into the diazo machine.  Some sheets might have as many as 4 "fonts"!

     If it weren't for the .pdf deliverable requirements, lack of desk space, Internet research/downloads and "instant" communication requirements with clients and consultants, I could be tempted to "go-back" to manual production.  I was much faster.

    ------------------------------
    Peter Hart, AIA, NCARB
    Peter C. Hart & Associates, Ltd.
    Stamford CT
    ------------------------------



  • 52.  RE: Manual Drawing, Anyone ?

    Posted 08-09-2017 09:12 AM

    Agreed... with small scale renovations, it rarely makes any common sense to input data to create BIM.

    It is SUPER fast to generate rough ideas and concepts by hand. For Residential projects, after we have a handful of hand sketches, we'll cad up a "background" for more accurate hand over lays. Again. This is a SUPER fast technique.

     

    It seems harder to make stupid mistakes by hand than when typing oon  on computer!

    By computer, its feels way easier to be stoopid stupid faster!

     

    I presume there is a joke, along the lines of 'expresso...Helping you do stupid things FAST'

     

    Have a great day friends!

     

    Wishing you prosperity in 2017

    * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

    Lisa Stacholy, NCARB, LEED ap BD+C

    LKS Architects, Inc.

    1848 Independence Square, Suite D

    Dunwoody, Georgia  30338

    ph 770-393-1125, fax 509-461-0053, Cell 404-247-3335

    www.LKSarchitectsinc.com

    www.HomePlaceStudio.com

    www.houzz.com/pro/Lstacholy/LKS-architects-inc

    www.facebook.com/LKSarchitectsInc

    * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

     






  • 53.  RE: Manual Drawing, Anyone ?

    Posted 08-08-2017 08:33 AM
    Bill,

    My educational and professional experience has consisted of starting out with hand drafting, progressing into CAD, and now into using BIM products, so that's the context for my personal perspective.

    Some years ago, prior to more mass-market acceptance of computers/technology in people's lives, things like handwritten fonts were perceived (by me anyway) as a method of putting clients more at ease with the fact that drawings were created by computers, but not chiseled in stone. At this point, I think the average client simply assumes that one is working on a computer and understands the idea that a word processor is different than a typewriter and so it is with our toolset. It's also a balance of legibility and readability of any typeface (not a one and the same concept.)

    I'm grateful to have cut my teeth in the industry with a t-square and a set of triangles, and it certainly has formed my emphasis on presentation of materials (especially line weights.) Ultimately the aim of any set is to properly communicate intent to the people tasked with fabricating the final design. It's nice to be able to whip out a hand drawn sketch at a client meeting and I also get a lot a compliments about my handwriting... but I enjoy the breadth and depth an arsenal of different technologies offer.

    Regards,
    Kevin M. Shertz, AIA





  • 54.  RE: Manual Drawing, Anyone ?

    Posted 08-09-2017 02:00 PM
    Well after reading some of this I am thinking that I am one of the only Architects that exclusively still hand drafts. My work is almost all custom residential projects with very little to no repetition of detail or design. Having each project as a unique task, i feel that I can manually draft nearly as quick or quicker without error to a cad draftsman.  I have been doing this for quite some time though. One of the original appeals to the profession was to draw with my hands and I hope to continue that for some time. 

    With regards to fonts, years ago I found a product called "Fontifier" found on the internet where you can create your own font. I did this, and now if I type notes on the computer and then stickyback them onto my drawings, they look just like the hand lettering on the same sheet. Same style, weight, and spacing as hand lettering. I would highly recommend this to anyone that wants to use their own lettering style (assuming it is good and very legible), without much effort.




    ------------------------------
    Kenneth Goodman AIA
    Principal
    Trademark Architecture+Interiors
    Lafayette CA
    ------------------------------



  • 55.  RE: Manual Drawing, Anyone ?

    Posted 08-10-2017 11:47 AM
    I love this thread.
    I am 100% "on the board". Finding materials is a challenge. When I tried to replenish my favorite plastic lead, Google led me to a website on the history of drafting leads. The history was extensive but not helpful to my needs.
    For electric eraser refills, the best substitute I've found is Pentel Clic Eraser Refills, generally in stock at my local Staples. 3-1/2" long instead of 7". A 2 pack is about $2.
    Question - how are people getting their drawings into pdfs that look good? My favorite print shop just got new machines that are horrible for scanning hand-drawn drawings. Too pixellated. Lots of stray dots in the background if they adjust darker, thin lines lost if they don't. The beautiful craft of our work is totally lost. I never thought I'd miss the smelly old diazo machines.

    ------------------------------
    Carol De Tine AIA
    Carriage House Studio architects LLC
    Portland ME
    ------------------------------



  • 56.  RE: Manual Drawing, Anyone ?

    Posted 08-11-2017 05:34 PM
    I am glad there are still hand drafters out there! My printer, Bacson, in Framingham, Massachusetts, serves me well. They have very good scanners and printers and they email the PDF of my scans which is great for everyone. They are even making me a new patch of pre-printed vellum title block sheets. The paper they are using is not Clearprint but it seems to be an equal. Thank God for Bacson!

    ------------------------------
    Frank Riepe AIA
    Owner
    Building Arts
    Sudbury MA
    ------------------------------



  • 57.  RE: Manual Drawing, Anyone ?

    Posted 08-11-2017 06:40 PM
    To avoid all those extra dots with the new printers I tell them to copy the drawings 1 step lighter than medium for the first set ("test set").  Then I use the new set as the originals, and print one step darker than medium for the multiple copies.  Result: less fuzz, cleaner drawings.

    ------------------------------
    William Figdor AIA
    President
    Wm. Figdor, Art & Architecture, LLC
    Maplewood NJ
    ------------------------------



  • 58.  RE: Manual Drawing, Anyone ?

    Posted 08-11-2017 07:13 PM
    We have a printer with some kind of xerox copier that does just fine. 
    I am using Pentel Super Polymer .5mm HB leads. I think Dataprint still carries them.

    Judith Wasserman

    Bressack & Wasserman Architects
    751 Southampton Drive
    Palo Alto CA 94303 
    ph: 650 321-2871  
    fx:  650 321-1987 
    www.bressackandwasserman.com







  • 59.  RE: Manual Drawing, Anyone ?

    Posted 08-11-2017 08:06 PM

    I get the best results scanning with my brother all-in-one printer at 300x300 dpi.

     

    With small projects, I put out the CDs on 11x17 format.  Easily reproducible for clients, contractors, building departments...

     

    I've had trouble with print shops scanning with the larger format drawings. (24x36)  I don't have a local print shop near-by that I can repeatedly turn to.  The Staples print shop turns over staff too often, so every time I go in with a job to be scanned, it's a new staff person that has no idea how to work the machines, let alone listen to me when I instruct them on dpi settings.

     

    Stephen N. Jouriles, AIA, CDP, LEED AP

    SNJ Design Studio LLC

    216-316-0072

    snj.design.studio.llc@gmail.com

    snjdesignstudio.com

     

    snj design - Logo - Copy

     

    A R C H I T E C T U R E

    REAL ESTATE  INVESTMENT

     






  • 60.  RE: Manual Drawing, Anyone ?

    Posted 08-10-2017 05:39 PM
    No, Kenneth, you are NOT alone! My partner, Phoebe, and I are both manual drafters. We tried CAD and it doesn't fit our practice very well. I also find it impresses the heck out of contractors!
    Judith Wasserman AIA

    Bressack & Wasserman Architects
    751 Southampton Drive
    Palo Alto CA 94303 
    ph: 650 321-2871  
    fx:  650 321-1987 
    www.bressackandwasserman.com







  • 61.  RE: Manual Drawing, Anyone ?

    Posted 08-11-2017 08:58 PM
    This certainly opened up a bevy of comments, and here I am.  I also hand draft...but...only to SD/DD.

    Then I sub-contract out to about a dozen different Architectural drafting entities, for CAD documentation, from full service Architects to local independent draftspeople. All over the place. I get good quality scanning of my sketches at min 350dpi. Most of my prelims are 11x17. Some 24x36. All materials for any media available online.  I used to have lots of draftspeople, and time sheets came in over fixed fee budgets to clients. I was stuck. Now, I get fixed fees for CD's with very defined scope, based on my SD and outline spec and detailed scope of sheets needed with revisions by permit entities. It has been working that way for many years now.

    I am swamped with projects from houses, to all kinds of MF, mixed use, commercial, industrial, hotels, Casinos,  Modulars, master planning, design charrettes, etc. ad infinitum. It helps to have been in the business for 45 years and licensed since 1980....so it is all word-of-mouth. Never an RFQ. Clients love that I (& you) can do a 3D sketch on the spot.  I tried to learn CAD, but it would just not go in my head, and it needs LOTS of steady use. I was doing too many prelims to have the time. So...if you like hand drafting..keep doing it, and contract out what you don't want to do!

    ------------------------------
    David Christensen AIA
    Principal
    Christensen Design Management
    Bellingham WA
    ------------------------------



  • 62.  RE: Manual Drawing, Anyone ?

    Posted 08-12-2017 12:58 PM
    Yes..! to hand drafting..! I find it mentally restful and you know what each line means when you put it down.

    The details at 1.5” or 3” flow easily and look great.

    Thanks. NN


    Nelson Breech Nave, AIA, Architect
    nave-aia@mindspring.com




  • 63.  RE: Manual Drawing, Anyone ?

    Posted 08-15-2017 01:44 AM
    My drafting board left the office in the early eighties.  Like almost everyone else in this thread, I began with a pencil and never expected that to change.  I mastered stickybak and some of the other aids then available to speed up my production a little bit.  I attended a Saturday morning demonstration of ArchiCAD in a colleague's office, and that's when I got curious and eventually bought Version 6.  So far in this thread, there has been no mention of something about CAD vs. hand drafting that I noticed quickly.  The best illustration I can think of began during a visit  to my office by a local junior high school student while I was in the early stages of converting to CAD.  He was immediately smitten with the sight of a large monitor, a tower, a keyboard and a mouse.  He quickly concluded that architects are a lot cooler than he expected.  I picked up a pencil, drew a few lines across a sheet of paper and deliberately broke the lead during the final stroke.  I sharpened the lead, and drew a few more lines to show him how quickly I could get back to work.  I pointed out that when the computer hung up, I had no idea how long it would take to fix it so I could get back to work.  I removed the "F" lead from the pencil and replaced it with a "2B," and he agreed that my drafting system was now "upgraded."  Upgrading a CAD system, by contrast, costs a good deal more time and dollars.  This matter of time and lost time dealing with CAD hasn't been brought up in this thread yet, and I want to introduce it.  My experience as a sole practitioner using CAD for over 15 years is that it has allowed me to practice in a much smaller space and to save documents without a huge flatbed cabinet. But lots of hours are lost to breakdowns, and more is lost hunting for dozens of minor functional changes the software industry just has to work into their happy little upgrades. I believe the appropriate term here is "zero sum?"     

    --
    Robert S. George, FAIA, Architect                  

    650-872-3330     Office                                                                     
    650-576-3360     Cell                                                                     






  • 64.  RE: Manual Drawing, Anyone ?

    Posted 08-16-2017 05:54 PM
    I introduced CAD into a small office in 1990, doing high-volume and many models of single-family residences.  An old P.E. friend, who had started electronic drafting several years previously, advised me that my biggest problem would be the "electronic filing" and boy was he correct.  We spent a lot of time setting up a filing system and continuously updating it, but maintaining standards and updating to the new codes keeps getting larger and larger.  
    There have been a lot of days when we spend hours and even days looking for something that we knew we had, and wished we would still have those old flatbed file cabinets instead of having to search through the clouds.
     





  • 65.  RE: Manual Drawing, Anyone ?

    Posted 08-18-2017 09:04 AM
    It has been interesting to see the various opinions and discussed trials with technology versus traditional hand drafting.  I was on the tail end of the hand drafting era, so some of the stories are only vaguely familiar to me.  I learned how to use lead holders, eraser shields, lettering guides, etc. in school, but when I got into practice in 1995, CAD was the tool, at least where I worked.  I remember problems with filing, slow pen plotters, programs crashing, etc. early on, but those issues should not be a problem today.  It is certainly an investment, but we keep our computers and software up to date so we rarely have upgrade problems and crashes.  The last four years I have had one major crash that cost me perhaps a day of work.  We have standards for the way things are named and filed, and everything is backed up, so for the most part we can generally find information on the server.  Typically we only have problems when someone does not follow the established standards, or if someone deletes something they should not.

    A computer printed drawing does not have the same character as a hand drawn document, but when talking about a set of construction drawings, character is not as important as accuracy and clarity.  When modern CAD/BIM software is used, the precision of documents is not a question, and with established standards clarity is there as well.  Making changes to documents is far easier than with hand drawings, or even the older drafting softwares.  Today when we make a change to our model, it changes the floor plan, sections, elevations, roof plan, etc. all at the same time.  You don't have to debate if the floor plan change was significant enough to take the time and update your elevations or roof plan.  There are so many benefits to modern CAD/BIM programs, assuming you are staying current, that hand produced construction drawings don't make sense.  Doing quick hand sketches and design overlays is still a very important skill, and rolls of trace are still integral to the design process.  When it comes to construction documents though, technology wins hands down in my opinion.
    Brad A McKenzie, AIA
    Project Architect
    Assistant Director Business Operations
    SAPP DESIGN ASSOCIATES ARCHITECTS
    3750 S. Fremont Springfield, MO 65804
    P417-877-9600 (ext. 228)  F417-877-9696  E: mckenzie@sdaarchitects.com
    www.sdaarchitects.com | Facebook Twitter | CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE





  • 66.  RE: Manual Drawing, Anyone ?

    Posted 08-21-2017 05:39 PM
    I also entered the profession at the transition from manual drafting to CAD. Like many others, I enjoy the ease of making changes to drawings and having those changes carry through to multiple drawings and then to look new and first quality as soon as they are plotted. But the one thing that CAD software has not yet resolved is the interrelation of annotation and drawing.

    We can make a drawing as accurate as possible. But, at the end of the day, the drawing says what the drawing says. And, what the drawing says is not only what is drawn, but it is that which is annotated. And, if something moves - say an inch or two (not just feet) - and someone forgets to move the annotation on the detail accompanying the detail that was affected by the plan change - all of a sudden the annotation might be pointing to the wrong thing - right words, wrong leaders, or wrong reference points for dimensions.

    Until we resolve that issue - until drawings are truly interactive, and when you touch something in the drawing or hoover your mouse over it, and all the specification data for that element is revealed - until then our models will not be complete. They will remain a representation subject to interpretation. And that interpretation is where conflict arises during bidding and construction. This is not to suggest a higher level of responsibility for the architect to develop a project to this level. Rather with appropriate BIM systems, the level of detail could evolve from schematics, to DD, to CD, then into shop drawings, and ultimately to installation. Perhaps this is happening already in large firms and large projects. But as a small firm, I am not seeing this yet.

    ------------------------------
    Bruce D. Turner, AIA
    Principal
    Bruce D. Turner, Architect
    Vineland NJ
    ------------------------------



  • 67.  RE: Manual Drawing, Anyone ?

    Posted 08-23-2017 07:58 AM
    Hey Bruce,

    Archicad has associative labels. They know what they are pointing at and will move with the element.

    John J Gilchrist AIA
    jgilchristaia@aol.com
    210 Summit Ave A3 Montvale NJ 07645
    www.JohnJGilchristArchitectPC.com
    201-573-1877






  • 68.  RE: Manual Drawing, Anyone ?

    Posted 08-16-2017 06:37 PM

    This a great thread and I am surprised at how many hand drafting dinosaurs (like me) are still out there in active practice. I've been a small solo office and have handed off my CD's to some trusted CAD and Revit experts for a long time. Now in semi-retirement I still work for a few old commercial clients and have given up my custom residential work, as I have since moved too far away from that client base.

    I do my design sketches, redlines, and detail sketches by hand, and scan and email back and forth with my CAD people. I still like a good set of well composed hand drafted drawings with proper line weights. Just today I was able to purchase a roll of yellow trace at my local "blueprint" shop which carries a limited line of drafting and surveyor supplies.



    ------------------------------
    Edward Acker | AIA | LEED AP
    Winchester VA
    ------------------------------



  • 69.  RE: Manual Drawing, Anyone ?

    Posted 08-16-2017 07:17 PM
    I have enjoyed reminiscing the notion of an Architect at the drafting table, with a gray cardigan and soft music playing in the background...however, I do not see a distinction between manual drafting versus CAD, rather it's a difference of technique.  I too, learned to convey my designs through the process of manual drafting. Both are valid drawing techniques I'd argue, and both techniques we still employ.  Many have described a system that I remember very well of pasting and copying <grrrr>.  However, you won't convince me that it's faster.  The computer provides the expedience to modify drawings at my desk or laptop, then send to my plotter 5 minutes before a meeting.  Removing the dependency on an outside print house to produce all of our physical drawings, for us, is a game changer.  Not to mention the need for driving by me or the delivery person.  We still send drawings out for larger or final permit sets, but again, because at that level it's more efficient.  Today's technology is no longer cost prohibitive for the small firm.  Oversize plotters that plot full size sheets can be had for $1,000.  Our in house 3D printer (<$1,000) allows us to save our drawing files with a different extension, import into our free 3D printing software, and print models at our desk too!  For what it's worth....

    ------------------------------
    Gregory Holah, NCARB
    Architect
    HOLAH Design + Architecture
    Portland, Oregon 97232
    ------------------------------



  • 70.  RE: Manual Drawing, Anyone ?

    Posted 08-17-2017 07:45 AM
    Manual drafting certainly has its charm, and I too remember the satisfaction of a beautifully drawn plan with clear line weight delineation and lovely hand lettering.  I started on the drafting board almost 50 years ago, and made the transition to CAD while working in a 60-person firm in the '90's.  I have been a sole practitioner now for 15 years and I have to say it would not be possible for me to do the volume of work I do without the computer.  And perhaps most importantly, it would not be possible for me to share the multiple rendered exterior and interior perspectives I routinely give all my clients.  These views are critical for the typical homeowners to understand my designs fully, since most are unable to visualize anything from 2D drawings.  Revisions and alternate schemes are quick and easy while retaining every scheme to return to if necessary.  There is no erasing and re-drawing, no build-up of graphite all over the background, no burning off the tooth from the mylar sheet.  No messing with Rapidograph pens that clog up and must be endlessly cleaned.  Standard details and repeated notes are a couple of clicks away, and all this can be shared with clients, contractors, and vendors as email attachments, or I can bring my laptop to a client meeting and move the 3D perspective around in space or walk through it in real time.  


    Bruce Ward, Architect
    (315) 824-1094
    7122 Springhill Rd.
    Hamilton, NY 13346


                __o
             _ \ <, _                             
    O0---++
    ...... ( • ) /  ( • )











  • 71.  RE: Manual Drawing, Anyone ?

    Posted 08-18-2017 06:14 PM
    Amen, Bruce. I have found out that all those who are enamoured with hand drawing just never took the time to learn Autocad or Revit/Archicad and are just trying to justify falling behind current professional standards. I have been an architect since 1972 and am so happy that I always rode the leading edge of the digital wave. As for making my drawings look hand drawn, give me a break. You are not fooling anyone and this is the digital age. Arial is byte efficient and looks damn good on a well composed drawing sheet.

    Thad Broom, AIA




  • 72.  RE: Manual Drawing, Anyone ?

    Posted 08-21-2017 05:36 PM
    For me, it's ultimately about communication and getting the project built...not the method of producing documents/drawings. I have 40 years of drawings in storage that I'm about ready to do a Julie Morgan on!
    We are closer to the day of robotics/automation that will really free up our time to be more creative and visionary.

    ------------------------------
    Vincent Oles AIA
    Architect/Owner
    Vincent Oles Architect AIA, llc.
    Salt Lake City UT
    ------------------------------



  • 73.  RE: Manual Drawing, Anyone ?

    Posted 08-22-2017 05:23 PM
    I agree. It's the product that counts.






  • 74.  RE: Manual Drawing, Anyone ?

    Posted 08-23-2017 10:35 AM
    I remember when Autocad came to the last firm I worked at. Our department head hated it because he could no longer see what we were doing. I suggested he learn how to at least open and view a file...OMG did I get a lecture on how computers were ruining architecture. We ended up printing a check set for him every morning. What a waste of time. Btw, I earn an extra $15,000 a year teaching both Revit and Autocad two evenings a week at a community college. So glad I got off my ass and learned something new because it has really paid off.

    ------------------------------
    Thad Broom AIA
    Architect
    Thad A. Broom AIA, P.C.
    Virginia Beach VA
    ------------------------------



  • 75.  RE: Manual Drawing, Anyone ?

    Posted 08-21-2017 06:58 PM
    Do the hand-drafters still use dial-up modems, slide rules, and daisy wheel printers ?  Just wondering.   ;-)

    ------------------------------
    Robert Larsen AIA
    Principal
    Robert R. Larsen, A.I.A.
    Denver CO
    ------------------------------



  • 76.  RE: Manual Drawing, Anyone ?

    Posted 08-22-2017 05:59 PM
    The other day a neighbor of mine knocked on our front door and handed me a stack of these Pencil Points magazine from 1929.  They are amazing to look at and remind me what a "craft" it was to be a good professional draftsman!  They have a simple, honest and beautiful layout   . . . very nostalgic.  However, I still do not miss hand drafting!

    cover photo

    ------------------------------
    Edwin Bruce AIA
    Principal
    Edwin Bruce Associates
    San Jose CA
    ------------------------------



  • 77.  RE: Manual Drawing, Anyone ?

    Posted 08-23-2017 07:05 PM
    Hello, Mr. Bruce;
     
    (I tried "Reply to Sender"; it's not working.)
     
    It's been a long, long time since I've seen a copy of PENCIL POINTS.  If you have any duplicates, I'd appreciate a chance to buy one.
     
    Thank you ---
    Bill
    william j. devlin aia, inc.,
    ARCHITECT
    Springfield, MA





  • 78.  RE: Manual Drawing, Anyone ?

    Posted 08-24-2017 06:55 PM
    We do not use CAD for a number of reasons. 
    1. We are a very small 2 person firm, with very small projects. The initial cost of CAD is bad enough, but then they "upgrade" you!
    2. There isn't enough drafting from day to day to keep my hand in - a week later I've forgotten how to do it and I spend more time figuring out how to draw the door swing than thinking about which way it SHOULD swing.
    3. There is very little repetition in our work, and unless the house is very big, not many plans to overlay.
    4. Except for our structural engineer, we have no consultants that need base sheets.
    5. The types of mistakes made in CAD are different from those made by hand. Amazing how many dinning rooms there are in America!
    6. I don't like the way they look.

    I suppose there are more, but I have to go draw some details. None of which are repetitive!
    Judith

    Bressack & Wasserman Architects
    751 Southampton Drive
    Palo Alto CA 94303 
    ph: 650 321-2871  
    fx:  650 321-1987 
    www.bressackandwasserman.com







  • 79.  RE: Manual Drawing, Anyone ?

    Posted 08-25-2017 09:17 AM

    I have a 2 person office and have been in practice for a little over 30 years. As many of you have experienced, we've "grown up....on the boards"....and, some of use have switched to CAD. In my mind, either method is fine.

    I, personally, am all CAD and have been for about 6 years. I use PowerCADD with my Mac. I tried AutoCAD many years ago and found it not to be intuitive enough for me personally. Not to mention using a PC (sorry, I'm a Mac guy)! I found PowerCADD, coupled with the Wacom Bamboo Fun to be as close as I could get to hand drafting. My associate is completely hand drafting and he enjoys it! I've suggested he try using CAD, but, he's happy with hand drawing.

    We use an office grade Panasonic machine that, copy's, scans, faxes and emails for any hand drawings and general copying tasks. And, we use an Oce PW300 for printing and scanning our hand and digital drawings. We also can scan information provided by our clients for our files which reduces our paper files.

    A few of you have been looking for drafting supplies. We typically use Drapfix Direct .They have all of the digital and hand drafting items we need and their prices are pretty competitive. We used to use Data Print, but found their prices were higher than Draphix. We also used Disco Print, but they are closing their business after 45 years. Architectural Supplies and Survey Supply Products Are Available and Affordable at DraphixDirect.com

    The hand drawings I've seen on this form are really nice. If any of you are interested, I am "following" C. Brandon Ingram Design @cbrandoningram He still is hand drafting and his water color renderings are incredible! I suggest a quick look at his Instagram page.

    Have a great weekend!



    ------------------------------
    Frank Joseph Bell Architect, LEEDAP
    Pittstown, NJ
    ------------------------------



  • 80.  RE: Manual Drawing, Anyone ?

    Posted 08-25-2017 05:40 PM
    I remember Red saying, ...and may God bless! Another thing nobody can do today.




  • 81.  RE: Manual Drawing, Anyone ?

    Posted 08-25-2017 06:31 PM
    Judith- I commiserate ! If it weren't for the .pdf and the necessity to be able to communicate with all parties over the Internet, i never would have "switched" to CAD either, especially AUTOCAD. I'm not as "smart" as I was in my 20's, 30's, 40's or 50's, so learning "upgrades" are almost as hard as learning how to draw and organize in CAD from the get-go. After establishing all of my own, efficient, methodologies for the day to day work I produce, I now have to revamp everything to conform to FED standards for a small project I recently took on, (all at my own personal cost). It' s like a client told you you have to draw with Crayola crayons instead of HB Staedtler pencils/Mars plastic erasures. But, as architects, we accept and adapt, no matter which media we choose to communicate within. I have, over the past few years, dabbled with SketchUp, which is a lot more intuitive, and BIM supportive. Also cheap! Nick Sonder has developed a beautiful methodology/workflow for that platform, and I'm thinking of switching/committing. ( I have SU, have used it to develop a couple of models/renderings, in past years) but I have never gotten up the nerve to abandon the AUTOCAD process/methodology. It's, still, the "pencil" thing! OK, maybe it's a little of the "technology" thing. Seriously, though, Google Nick Sonders, take a look at what he is able to produce with SU, and, maybe, find a new play-tool for design (at least) and, maybe, production!
    Peter




  • 82.  RE: Manual Drawing, Anyone ?

    Posted 08-29-2017 10:24 AM
    There is an article in the August issue of "Traditional Building" titled "The Value of Hand Drawing- Recognizing the importance of drawing by hand . . ."   There is a link at The Value of Hand Drawing
    Traditional Building Magazine Online remove preview
    The Value of Hand Drawing
    The art of hand drawing seems to have given way to more advanced technologies in architecture in many quarters-but not all. While taking advantage of the latest software, including Building Information Modeling, for the documentation of its designs, the New York-based firm Robert A.M. Stern Architects remains committed to drawing by hand.
    View this on Traditional Building Magazine Online >


    ------------------------------
    Robert Larsen AIA
    Principal
    Robert R. Larsen, A.I.A.
    Denver CO
    ------------------------------



  • 83.  RE: Manual Drawing, Anyone ?

    Posted 08-30-2017 05:39 PM
    \"The Value of Hand Drawing view this on Traditional Building Magazine Online" . . . . is this an oxymoron?



    Kenton Peters, AIA, LEED-AP
    KP2 Architects
    1234 S. 900 E. 
    Salt Lake City, UT 84105
    801-541-8593






  • 84.  RE: Manual Drawing, Anyone ?

    Posted 08-30-2017 10:51 PM
    great article.

    thanks for bring it to our attention.

    i am thinking why not diverge and bring attention to the possible artistry of machine drawings done in the daily practice of architecture.

    ------------------------------
    Mark Robin AIA
    Mark Robin Architecture
    Nashville TN
    ------------------------------



  • 85.  RE: Manual Drawing, Anyone ?

    Posted 08-24-2017 07:25 PM
    Yes please. 

    I am happily drawing by hand, for 30 years in my own firm, and more than a dozen years while in school, then working for others. "Drawing is intention" Sheldon Helfman, used to say. One has to plan in advance what one wants to communicate, then enjoy the process of design by a set of drawings, alternating between sketches on trace, or modeling, and back to the drawing. That still works for me.

    In the 1990's CAD classes I took, the whole drawing was never present while working on the part, and the keyed commands demanded a type of rote memory learning, that seemed to me very different than the process of design. "No good building was ever produced from a bad set of drawings, but it takes more than good drawings to make a good building." That was James Fitzgibbon (with gesticulations), but likely from his experience with Lou Kahn at the University of Pennsylvania.

    No doubt CAD has allowed the production of good buildings, and indeed whole new types of buildings. No doubt that CAD is the near term future of our profession, just as ink on linen has gone by the way. We should however slow down to respect the craft of architecture: drawing, design and production, and leave the stones in the concrete of our glass houses.


    --
    F. Joseph Butler, AIA
    324 Chestnut Street
    San Francisco, CA
    94133
    (415) 990 6021






  • 86.  RE: Manual Drawing, Anyone ?

    Posted 08-22-2017 08:33 PM
    No, we do not use dial up modems or slide rules., and I don't know what a daisy-wheel printer is, either. Don't be snarky. Some of us learned CAD and find it doesn't meet our needs or our practice.
    Judith

    Bressack & Wasserman Architects
    751 Southampton Drive
    Palo Alto CA 94303 
    ph: 650 321-2871  
    fx:  650 321-1987 
    www.bressackandwasserman.com







  • 87.  RE: Manual Drawing, Anyone ?

    Posted 08-23-2017 06:58 PM
    Hello All ---
     
    Snark:
    Thank you thank you thank you, Ms. Wasserman,  I was rather shocked, and disappointed, to find snark in this forum...
    Maybe I can respond soon, on hand-drawing...
     
    Daisy-wheel printer:
    Another good analog concept from "long ago" (invented in '69, introduced in '72)...  It had plastic "wheels", maybe 6"? across, w/ 96 "glyphs" (alphabet lc/uc, punctuation, digits, etc.) on each one (I looked it up).  As a takeoff on the IBM Selectric's concept, the wheels came in a variety of fonts.  But, these printers were fussy, and were in fairly-wide use at about the same time as good-ol' pin-register drafting (early-to-mid '80s), in a sort of revenge-of-the-machines moment in Architects' history.
     
    Back to work!
     
    Say "Goodnight", Dick
    Goodnight, Dick!
     
    Bill
    william j. devlin aia, inc.,
    ARCHITECT
    Springfield, MA





  • 88.  RE: Manual Drawing, Anyone ?

    Posted 08-25-2017 01:38 PM
    I am reminded that back in the early 70's I worked for a firm in Syracuse, NY which was using Pin-register or Pin-bar drafting techniques on a large dormitory complex project.
    Mylar sheets were punched along the top edge which fit over a thin metal strip which had small brass buttons on the top surface.
    The metal strip was taped down on the drawing board near the top.
    The Mylar sheets were then laid over the brass buttons which held successive "layers" of Mylar in place.
    Thus a base layer – usually a floor plan – would be overlaid with layers which added ceiling plan, lighting plan, etc.
    One drawing might be compiled from several Mylar overlays.
    Then the multiple Mylar sheets were Fed-Ex'd to a shop in New York City which photographed all the Mylar layers onto a single sheet.
    Keeping track of the different sheets which had to be overlaid in order to create various final drawings was a nightmare, and this
    process had to be repeated as the project progressed thru multiple iterations from DD's to CD's.
    I suspect this is where the term "layers" in CAD came from.
    I recently explained all this to a current architectural student whose eyes became as large as saucers.



    ------------------------------
    Robert Larsen AIA
    Principal
    Robert R. Larsen, A.I.A.
    Denver CO
    ------------------------------



  • 89.  RE: Manual Drawing, Anyone ?

    Posted 08-28-2017 06:32 PM
    This talk is like a time machine. I used pin drawing system a lot, especially for a large project at the time in Washington, DC. We didn't have to send our drawings away and have them printed. A guy came by once and he invented a simple print machine that could print these drawing quite adequately. It was a large flat bed w/ a vacuum that would hold the sheet down together with a piece of blue print paper on the bottom. On top was clear plastic sheet and the the light arm would go back and forth. It took a little getting use to but you could control the speed of the light and you would get 1:1 prints without distortions because there were no rollers. You would develop the printed sheet like any other blue print in the blue print machine. We loved that machine. It was simple and did a great job. Just something from the past.
    --



    Zdzislaw Mazurek,  AIA
    Principal
     
    Zdzislaw Mazurek Architect
    144 Alcott Road
    Rochester, New York 14626
    PH.:  585.225.8861
    Cell: 585.455.8861


    Notice: This message, and any attached file, is intended only for the use of the individual or entity to which it is addressed, and may contain information that is privileged, confidential and exempt from disclosure. Unauthorized forwarding,printing, copying, distribution or use of this communication is prohibited without Zdzislaw Mazurek Architect's expressed consent. If you have received this communication in error, please delete all copies of the original message and notify the sender immediately by reply e-mail. Thank you.
     






  • 90.  RE: Manual Drawing, Anyone ?

    Posted 08-29-2017 05:43 PM
    While in college around 1980, I worked for a firm that used the same basic pin-drafting/printing system.  I still use their same basic layering scheme and cut/paste detail management system, using my simple PowerCADD program.

    ------------------------------
    Patrick Marr AIA
    Patrick Marr, PE, AIA
    Santa Barbara CA
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  • 91.  RE: Manual Drawing, Anyone ?

    Posted 08-23-2017 11:06 AM
    Are these comments intended as a "slam" to those who still use the manual drafting method of producing communications?






  • 92.  RE: Manual Drawing, Anyone ?

    Posted 08-24-2017 06:05 PM
    thumbnail imageMy apologies to anyone who was offended by my attempt to insert a little humor into our discussions during a week overflowing with troubling news. As you can see above, I've been known to do a little hand drafting myself in my 49 years in this profession. Certainly no disrespect was intended toward anyone who chooses to work by hand. As Red Skelton used to say at the end of every one of his shows, "If I said or did anything which offended anyone, I'm sorry".  Love to all.



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    Robert Larsen AIA
    Principal
    Robert R. Larsen, A.I.A.
    Denver CO
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  • 93.  RE: Manual Drawing, Anyone ?

    Posted 08-11-2017 11:39 AM
    I'm in the same camp, to some extent.  I got into this business because it was a way to make a living with a pencil.  I've always thought that there was a lot of benefit from having not only a visual but also a kinesthetic connection with the design; having run your finger over the entire profile gives you a second check on the validity of your details.  That said, I have used either AutoCad or DataCad for all my working drawings for the last 20 or so years, and was an earlier adopter first of Mac3D and then of SketchUp for modeling.  I really like the ability to communicate with consultants or clients with a quick PDF and to have the ability to zoom in on a spot, print it and then fiddle with alternatives.  

    I do mostly residential work and mostly renovations and additions within that realm, so my general practice is to measure a place and get it into the computer as quickly as possible, and then give myself the luxury of thinking time with a fiber-tip pen and a roll of yellow trace.  It doesn't get much better than that.

    Paul Scharf
    Wakefield MA





  • 94.  RE: Manual Drawing, Anyone ?

    Posted 08-31-2017 09:16 PM

    My preference has been DataCad's Arctext for notes & Arctx for titles & headings, which are similar to Davehand. I believe Autocad has one that's a little better. But I'm satisfied.

     

    Otis Meekins, AIA

    3541 Byrn Brae Drive

    Virginia Beach, VA 23464

    T: 757-424-3535, E: otisaia@cox.net