ENGINEERING DRAWING N1

Module 2 - Drawing Equipment, Standards and Techniques

Learning outcomes:

 The correct identity, use, and care of drawing instruments.

 To identify and apply the different line types adopted in engineering drawing.
 To write in alphanumerical script.

2.1. Introduction
The purpose of communication is to impart or exchange information by speaking, writing,
drawing, or using a specific medium. In Engineering, drawing communicates what objects or
components look like in a way that an engineer or manufacturer will understand.

In this module, you will learn:

1. The basics of engineering drawings.
2. The different types of equipment and instruments used.
3. The specifications and standards acceptable to learning institutions and industries in
South Africa.

As you progress in drawing, you will come across the term “SANS
10111”.

What does this mean?

“SANS” stands for South African National Standards and is controlled by The South
African Bureau of Standards.

A standard can be defined as a rule, an example, or a basis of comparison.

An example of a standard can be the guidelines governing what students must learn in N1
Engineering. Standards provide rules for quality, specification, and interpretation. Students
need to learn and apply specific standards to their drawings.

Drawing is a practical subject, and in this course, you will learn different drawing techniques
and activities, which will increase your confidence and knowledge. The more you practice,
the more you will develop your accuracy, speed, and neatness skills. You will also learn all
about different instruments, its usage, and various functions.

2.1.1Following is a list of popular drawing instruments:

 Drawing board
 Pencils
 T square
 Set squares
 Compass
 Protractor
 Ruler and scale ruler
 Eraser and Erasing shield
 French curves

N1 Engineering Drawing – Module 2 Page 1

  Templates such as circle templates

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TiK-wLCTOas

i. Drawing board
A drawing board is a flat board, where the paper is spread for artists or designers to
work on. They are available in different sizes to accommodate various sizes of paper.
An ideal board for drawing students is an A3 portable board. These boards generally
come with a T square built in.

Note: Always keep your board clean.

Use a damp cloth to clean the board
and avoid using harsh chemicals.
Drawing boards are expensive so
avoid dropping the board on the floor
as it will become damaged and need
replacing.

ii. Pencils
Use a good quality pencil for all your drawing requirements. Either of the following
pencils will be suitable.

Clutch Pencil – 0.5mm with 2H or 3H lead Note: Always keep your pencil sharp
at all times to ensure neat and
accurate drawings. When drawing
lines, rotate the pencil for uniform
lines and to keep your pencil sharp
Traditional Wood Pencil – 2H or 3H for longer.

iii. T-Square
A T-square is an instrument that slides up and down the drawing board to draw
horizontal lines. Combined with a set square you willNote:
alsoAlways
be able to these
keep draw vertical
lines. instruments clean when drawing. As
the T-square slides on the page, it
picks up lead dust from pencils,
making the page dirty. Avoid
dropping it as it will damage the
drawing edges.

N1 Engineering Drawing – Module 2 Page 2

 iv. Set Squares
Set squares come in two forms, and you will need both to do engineering drawings.
Both have right angles, one with 90-45-45-degree angles and the other 90-60-30-
degree angles. It is a tool to draw lines at specified angles. Used with the T-square,
you will be able to draw vertical lines.

Note: Choose your set squares

according to the dimensions shown
in the picture. Always keep them
clean while drawing. Avoid
damaging the drawing edges.

By combining your set squares, you will be able to draw other angles

N1 Engineering Drawing – Module 2 Page 3

 v. Compass
A compass is a precision instrument used to draw arcs and circles. A good quality
compass is an essential drawing tool.

Note: A compass is a precision

instrument. Do not dismantle or
drop a compass on the floor. Always
ensure the compass lead is sharp for
good line quality.

vi. Protractor
A protractor is used for measuring or marking off angles. The measurements on the
protractor are in degrees.

Note: Protractors are made of plastic

and can break, and damage easily.
Avoid damaging the drawing edge.
Do not use chemicals to clean it as
the measurements could be wiped
off.

vii. Ruler
A ruler is an instrument used to measure lines.
There are two types of rulers used in drawing.
Note: Do not bend or allow
Standard ruler in millimetres (mm) the drawing edge to become
damaged. Do not use harsh
chemicals to clean as the
numbers and measurements
may wipe off. Should the
measurements and numbers
become illegible, replace the
ruler.

N1 Engineering Drawing – Module 2 Page 4

Scale ruler

viii. Eraser
An eraser is a handy tool for erasing unwanted lines and cleaning up the drawing
page. The erasing shield will protect against erasing essential details of a drawing.

Eraser Erasing Shield Note: Always keep the eraser clean

and maintain a sharp edge. Do not
remove the paper wrapping. Do not
allow the eraser to come in contact
with your plastic instruments as
plastic reacts with rubber damaging
plastic surfaces. Do not bend or fold
the erasing shield.

ix. French Curves

French Curves are used to draw irregular curves.

Note: Do not drop on the floor and

allow the drawing edges to become
damaged.

N1 Engineering Drawing – Module 2 Page 5

 x. Examples of other templates

Circle Template Ellipse Template

2.2. Drawing Paper

ISO stands for "International Organisation for Standardisation. The ISO works with
standards institutes from over 150 countries to develop technology and product standards.
The paper used for drawing is governed by these standards, such as type, quality, and size.
For all your drawing requirements, you will be using A4 or A3 size paper.

The type of paper used for drawing students is called “80gsm bond”. It is called 80gsm bond
because 1 square metre of this type of paper weighs 80 grams.

 Standard 80gsm bond paper: 80gsm bond is the “standard copy paper” that you buy
from your office supply store and use for your desktop printer. It is white and is an
excellent contrast for pencil drawings. It has good erasing qualities and is highly
recommended for drafting and drawing.
 Tracing paper: Comes in various weights in clear, yellow, or white. It is ideal for detail
work, tracing, layout, or rough sketching.
 Grid paper: Paper printed with a non-reproducible grid on one side. It has a smooth,
white surface suitable for pencil or ink and makes graph and chart drawing easy. Grid
paper comes with different types of printed lines such as: oblique, isometric,
perspective, and graph.
 Printing: There are various types of paper for the printing industry. They also come in
multiple colours, textures, and thicknesses from fine transparent to thick boards.

Standard Drawing Sheet Sizes in millimetres

A4 210 x 297
A3 297 x 420
A2 420 x 594
A1 594 x 841
A0 841 x 1189

N1 Engineering Drawing – Module 2 Page 6

2.3. Borders and Layout
All drawing pages must have a border defining the drawing area. According to SANS, this
should be 10mm from the edge of the page on all sides. A name and title block should also
feature on the bottom right-hand corner. There is a slight variation in these blocks between
mechanical and civil drawings.

Name Block: The name block contains the name of the person doing the drawing, date, and
course.
Title Block: The title block is an extension of the name block with more information such as
the orthographic projection symbol, scale, and drawing number.

Consider these two examples:

Mechanical Drawing Title Panel Civil Drawing Title Panel

2.4. Scale
Scale is to increase or decrease the size of a drawn object proportionally. This is done by
increasing or decreasing the specific object's ratio by a recommended scale contained in the
SANS documents.

Consider a house. A house cannot fit onto a page because the house is much bigger than a
page. So, an appropriate scale is required to shrink the size of the house to fit on a page.
The following graphics will explain this much better.

1. In a scale of 1:1 – the object is drawn at the same size as the dimensions.

N1 Engineering Drawing – Module 2 Page 7

 2. In a scale of 1:2 – The object is drawn at half the size of the specified dimensions.
This is just for drawing purposes because the object is too large to fit on a page, but
this does not change the original dimensions. To draw larger objects such as cars, a
more suitable scale e.g., 1:50 will work. Houses can be drawn with a scale of 1:100
or 1:200. If drawn to scale, all drawings need to have the appropriate scale written in
the page title block or on the page.

3. In a scale of 2:1- Here the scale is asking for the object to be drawn at twice the size
of the original dimensions. The object being drawn might be too small to see details
and form, so it needs to be drawn larger. This does not change the original size of
the object. It is just drawn larger. In this case twice the size.

Using scales can be very useful if objects need to be drawn smaller or larger, but how do
you go about using scales while drawing? Using a scale ruler can be difficult and requires a
lot of practice to use it properly. Consider a length of a wall is 10 metres and needs to be
scaled down.

Rule 1: Convert all measurements to millimetres

10meters is equal to 10 000mm

Rule 2: Divide by the scale value.

1:100------- 10 000 divide by 100 = 100mm to be drawn on a page

1:200 ------- 10 000 divide by 200 = 50mm to be drawn on a page

N1 Engineering Drawing – Module 2 Page 8

To scale up, multiply the measurement (mm) by the scale value. Consider a line is 50mm
long:

2:1 ------- 50 x 2 = 100mm to be drawn on a page

4:1 ------- 50 x 4 = 200mm to be drawn on a page

2.5. Lines

In Module 1, you learnt that engineering drawing is a way of communicating, from the
engineer to the manufacturer. Drawing Lines is one of the primary forms of this
communication. All drawing lines are standardised by SANS10111. This forms part of The
Standard Code of Practice for Engineering Drawing.

4 basic components of an engineering drawing

 Dimensions
 Text
 Line and arrows
 Extension Line

Line Quality
 All line types should be uniform and bold.
 All line types should be of the same thickness throughout the line. (i.e., It should not
start thin and end thick)
 All lines and writing on the page should be in pencil only.
 All writing should be of the same consistency as the lines.

The following table is a breakdown of the most used lines.

*Note: Always rotate the pencil while drawing a line. This will create a uniform line
throughout.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_t2NjPpsegE

Neatness and Accuracy

Since drawing is a form of communication: Neatness and accuracy is critical. Be careful of
the amount of pressure you are using to draw the different line types. If using a clutch type of
pencil, you can use a 0.5mm pencil for most line types and a 0.35mm pencil for lines which
need to be thinner. When using a standard wood pencil (2H or 3H), use more pressure to
draw bold lines and reduce the pressure when drawing thinner lines.

Make sure the corners of straight lines and blending points of arcs and curves meet neatly.

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Corners

Blending Curves

Line Types

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N1 Engineering Drawing – Module 2 Page 11
2.6. Printing
All printing on a drawing page is to be done in free hand, unless otherwise stated. The letters
should all be in CAPITAL LETTERS or UPPERCASE. The height for lettering is also
standardised in SANS 0111 by the Code of Practice for Engineering Drawing. You may
use feint construction lines as guides for printing. Printing can be STRAIGHT or in ITALIC
(SLANT) text.
 All printing should be neat for clear understanding
 Titles should be 5mm high
 Numbers and labels should be 3mm high
 Do not underline any lettering or numbering
 All notes or special instructions must be done horizontally.

Note: Guidelines or construcrion lines can be used

N1 Engineering Drawing – Module 2 Page 12

Straight Print Italic Print

Module Summary
In this module you would have learnt:
 To identify and correctly use the most common drawing instruments.
 What South African National Standards mean, and the importance of having
standards.
 How to use scale in drawing.
 The different line types used in engineering drawing: how to identify and where to
use it in drawing.
 How to print within the SANS guideline requirements.

N1 Engineering Drawing – Module 2 Page 13

Summative Assessment

1. Explain in your own words how engineering drawing is a way of communication.

(3)

2. Write a short description of the purpose of the following instruments:

(8x1=8)
2.1. Drawing board
2.2. T-square
2.3. Pencil
2.4. Compass
2.5. Set squares
2.6. Protractor
2.7. Ruler
2.8. French curves

3. What does the abbreviation SANS stand for?

(2)

4. Why is it important to have standards in drawing? (2)

5. Provide the code for the following sheet sizes.

(5x1=5)
5.1. 210 X 297
5.2. 420 X 594
5.3. 594 X 841
5.4. 841X1189
5.5. 297X420

6. Explain in your own words the following scales. Provide a diagram to substantiate
your answer.
(2x2=4)
6.1. 2:1
6.2. 1:2
6.3. Complete the following tables on scale measurements:
(1x32=32)
Actual 1:2 1:20 1:50 1:100
Measurement
30m
1500cm
25.5m
12600mm

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 Actual 2:1 5:1 10:1 20:1
Measurement
20mm
0.5cm
15mm
3cm

7. List 4 basic components of an engineering drawing.

(4)

8. List and explain 5 common line types.

(5)

9. Write down the line type for the numbered arrows in the following drawing.
(1x7=7)

10. What are the dimensions, according to SANS for printing alphabets and numbers
on a drawing page? Provide an example by printing your name and student
number. (4)

N1 Engineering Drawing – Module 2 Page 15

 References

1. Van Leeuwen, J.; du Plooy, D. (2014)

2. Mind Action Series Engineering Graphics and Design Textbook
3. Allcopy Publishers, Sanlamhof, 7532
4. Deon, R. (2017) Hands On! Engineering Drawing N1
5. Mowbray: Future Managers
6. Brink; C.G., Gibbons; P.J., Theron; A.E. (1997) Engineering Drawing
7. Pearson South Africa (Pty) Ltd.en.wikipedia.org › wiki › Geometry

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