On Sun, 28 Feb 2021 15:30:25 -0800, pyotr filipivich
wrote:

Bill on Sun, 28 Feb 2021 06:39:25 -0500 typed in
rec.woodworking the following:
Puckdropper wrote:
pyotr filipivich wrote in

I had a semester of mechanical drafting in high school. I'm SO glad I
did. Even though most stuff is done with Sketchup, the ability to grab a
piece of paper and use "that looks about right" for my dimensions is
perhaps the best skill I learned in high school. You can almost always
borrow a pen/pencil and something to write on.

The cool thing is that the skills can transfer. Working with faces and
edges in Sketchup directly links back to "do I need this line?" and
"what's this line doing here?" from mechanical drafting.

Puckdropper


Kind of sad there are kids out there who don't know how to use a
straight-edge and a compass, huh? Or, a T-square! : )

Yes and no. Sadder are the ones hired as "draftsmen" who
apparently can't work from a sketch to a completed drawing, even using
CAD.

I agree, here. To effectively use CAD you have to be able to
visualize what you're trying to draw. Sketchup ain't CAD.

I had the "basics" down pretty early since my dad was an engineer.

I remember in 4th or 5th grade we had an assignment to sketch a room of
our house (and I enjoyed the technicalities). The teacher said,
"...and you were the only one who drew sharp arrows (arrowheads)", and I
just said, "well, my dad is an engineer". I have wondered since then
whether she thought I got help with the assignment, because I didn't ask
for or get any! It just wasn't my first rodeo! : )

I remember trying as a high school sophomore to 'draft' a proper
"to scale" drawing of a combination closet, student desk, and with bed
on top. Dad took a look at my efforts and passed on the words of
wisdom: not everything needs to be "to scale".
He then told the story of when he'd been working in the woods, and
the spring runoff had wiped out the bridge necessary to get logs
delivered. The 'schmart guy' spent most of a day trying to figure out
how to get the needed pilings in. When he gave up, the wood rats
cobbled together a crib of logs with two long logs at the base (sort
of like this []__ ), they filled the crib with rocks, and used the
dozer to skid that up off the bridge approach. It tipped over, sank
and left the two long logs up right to serve as piers. Wasn't exactly
square, but you could drive a log truck over it. "It worked".
I wonder how many 'kids' have the problem of not being able to
guesstimate an imprecise solution because their calculator always gave
them 8 decimal places? Which was six or seven too many. I do not
need to know exactly the size of the thing, just whether it will fit
the space or materials available.

I certainly know how to round and trim significant digits (few do) but
my calculator does it for me, too. All I have to do is tell it how
many are significant. ;-0 When I stopped using a slide rule, I soon
lost the ability to estimate and even get the decimal place right. In
college I was really good at slippin' the stick but since I've
completely lost that skill. I did have a calculator my senior year of
college. Had to. Competition required it. $400 was a lot of money
in '73, about a semester's tuition and I was making $2.25/hr.