Draftsight ..need a bit af assistance

[Ron ValeParticipant @ronvale24328]

I want to do two drawings to get the mudguards for my loco i am building cut.
I am drawing in Fractons so have gone to Format>Unit System and set up length as Fractions and Angles as Degrees/minutes/seconds.
Now i want to draw a line of 3 inches length and have got the grid set up. The X,Y centre is located at (taking the bottom left hand corner dot as 0,0) as 4Y,7X. hope that makes sense. So what is the dimension of each square of dots? and how do i know that i have drawn a straight horizontal line of 3 inches?

If you could give instructions like
Place cursor at point ( A,B) click right mouse
Move pointer to point (c<d) click rh mouse etc,

type of thing it would at least get me started. I could take the easy way and draw it longhand, but would like to get into the 21st century and not dust of the square and compassses!

Thanks in Advance

[Ron ValeParticipant @ronvale24328]

[Tony RayParticipant @tonyray65007]

Hi, Not sure I follow you exactly. I use Draftsight, if you have the latest release please ensure you have it in classic view the toggle is at the top somewhere on the left as I will attempt to explain using the classic view. I think you are asking what the grid setting is ? At the bottom right click on the grid and a window will open showing the setting. You can check it by drawing a line of a known grid spacing with snap on then measuring it with dimension. To draw a straight line turn on Otho at the bottom near the Grid button. Without ortho using the line command the line will be straight but can be at any angle. To draw a line of fixed length just click on the desired start point then enter the length you want. So if Instarted my line at 0,0 with ortho on I start my line going vertical and enter 3 and the line will be that length. Another way is to use relative coordinates With the @ sign so from zero you could enter @ 0,3 and that will give you a length of 3 along the X axis. If this does not help post a dimensioned sketch and I'll draw it from that. Have you downloaded the tips & trick e book ? That s quite helpful

[mgnbukParticipant @mgnbuk]

With the @ sign so from zero you could enter @ 0,3 and that will give you a length of 3 along the X axis.

That would give a vertical line in the Y axis on my setup of Draftsight ?

@ "horizontal line length", "vertical line length" where positive dimensions go "left to right" or "bottom to top" & negative dimensions go "right to left" and "top to bottom" from the start point.

Also useful is the "length of line at an angle" feature :

@"length of line" < "angle" where the "angle" coordinate system related to a clock face is 0 degrees at 3 o'clock, 90 degrees at 12 o'clock, 180 degrees at 9 o'clock & 270 degrees at 6 o'clock. i.e @10<45 draws a line 10 units long at 45 degrees to the start point .

Can't help with the grid bit, as I don't (& have not had cause) to use it – I draw "full size" components that "float" within the workspace, rather than being tied to an absolute start point. Can't say if that is right or wrong, but it was that way my former colleagues worked when I first started out with Autocad LT & it has not been a problem for me to work that way since. Draftsight functions in a very similar way to Autocad LT, though I find it has a tendancy to random crashes – regular "saves" are very much the order of the day !

HTH

Nigel B

[duncan webster 1Participant @duncanwebster1]

As far as I'm concerned, grids are one of life's great mysteries. Why would you ever want to use it? Turn 'ortho' on which limits the cursor to moving in x and y only, then turn on 'ortho' and 'esnap'. To draw a 3" line in x direction you then just click where you want it to start, move the cursor to right or left, type '3' and there you are.

While I'm on I also think using fractions is just making life complicated, I've been caught out on other people's drawings trying to take a dimension. If the resolution is set to 1/16 and the actual dimension is say 0.135, it returns 1/8 which is wrong. Stick to decimals, it's easier.

[Ron ValeParticipant @ronvale24328]

Tony, Ray, Duncan

Thank you for taking the time to reply. It looks like between the three of you you have hepled me to crck it. Hve just got in and read the posts so will play aboutwith it tomorrow ( hopefully, grandson arrived tonight to spend tw onights with us!) lots od andpit playing and Thomas tracklaying

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