Blueprint reading resource suggestions
CabBennett
| Posted in General Discussion on
As relatively new cabinet maker, I’m looking for a easy to understand and comprehensive guide to blueprint reading to continue my education. All suggestions appreciated. Thanks gang.
Replies
There are books on the subject as well as books on how to draft. Local library, used books stores, Barnes and Noble etc. Google it!
Thank you Rick. I've meandered down some of these more common roads already and found 'some' peripheral info, but nothing dead-nut to the topic. My search continues...
If you Google "how to read blueprints" the first 100 or so results look promising - there are even some video/youtube tutorials.
Lee
I learned to read blueprints as an apprentice carpenter.
The biggest "trick" about reading blueprints is that blueprints are, by design, minimalist.
To illustrate, consider a cube. In spite of the fact that a cube has 12 edges, in a proper blueprint, only three of them (if that) will be dimensioned, because the other 9 dimensions can be derived from those three dimensions. Those three are, therefore, all that is necessary on the blueprints.
A good blueprint is crowded and can be confusing if only the minimum information is included, and therefore no more than the minimum information should be concluded, since every fact included runs the risk of establishing several contradictions.
The trick to "reading" a blueprint is not interpreting the symbols that are written on the paper-- those can be looked up in any reference.
The trick is in correctly visualizing and deducing what ISN'T there.
The only way the picture in your mind can be made to fit all the facts that are on the paper is if the picture in your mind matches the intended design.
(Or if there is an error on the paper, but don't get me started about that.)
Once you understand that concept and become comfortable with it, a blueprint with extra information will start to appear sloppy, amateurish and error prone to you.
Good luck!
Edited 8/21/2009 6:44 pm by Jammersix
The biggest "trick" about reading blueprints is ..
I think learning the symbols used for the type of project! Very different between plumbing, electrical, steam fitting, Etc...
As a starter try.. I have not read the contents.. Try a search on 'blueprint symbols'
http://www.cad-design-and-drafting-services.com/blueprint-symbols.html
Edited 8/22/2009 3:14 am by WillGeorge
Jammer,
Back when I was selling hardwood flooring to retail brands we would get blueprints from the brands and/or from the GCs (General Contractors) that had all the systems blueprinted on different sheets of paper. Flooring was on its own sheet with its associated symbols, transitions, etc.
In this case envisioning the final product was relatively easy as there was consistency between stores . Not so sure about houses where there may not be the consistency. I should think it would take a considerable amount of experience to develop this skill.
Regards,Bob @ Kidderville Acres
A Woodworkers mind should be the sharpest tool in the shop!
Go to amazon.com. Search for "Technical Drawing".
You can pick from a bunch of books. I know the subject of your post is not "I want to learn how to draw blueprints", but if you understand how they are drawn you can understand how to read them.
By the way, there are very few real "blueprints" being produced today. Blueprints came from old machines that used light and ammonia to print images on sensitive paper. You could always tell where the print office was in an Engineering company. The smell of ammonia was overpowering.
Today hard copies of drawings are generated by plotters, (think BIG printers). They can print in color and make copies as large, or larger, than E size, (34" x 44").
You might like to get a simple CAD program, (A lot of people use Google Sketch Up), and try your hand at making some drawings of simple projects. It's kind of fun to see what you're going to build, and how everything fits, before you go to the shop.
Your post is a good example of what I like about woodworking: learning a new skill, or meeting a challenge. Good Luck
It's true that much detail on a bp will not concern us as cabinetmakers .
So really we / I don't have to understand the entire print but certainly to the scope of our bid .
Having someone you know to give you a quick tutor hands on is real helpful when possible .
Typically we are looking at a bp that shows the intended cabinets locations sometimes with and some without the cabinet lines drawn in .
There is sometimes a special page for cabinet detail .
Find the scale of the bp measure walls , check the bp .You can quickly measure a room or interior wall.
Often times the bp is used for reference and bidding , it is a rare occasion you will build from a bp. You need to take actual field dimensions and that is when you may find the bp is not the same as the building ,,,been there .
When I submit a bid I state based on bp dimensions , things change
good luck dusty, boxmaker
Dusty,"it is a rare occasion you will build from a bp"
Absolutely.
Do you have the latest revisions?
Did the framers build to the blues without moving to accommodate something unforeseen? Electricians misread BPs? Plumbers -- same? Did the, did the, did the...Story boards and tape from site. I preferred after mud. Only sure way (and hope it wasn't changed again later)The citiots are doing whale jams (like Yellowstone bear jams) now. The Grays of Autumn are running. Early and they will finish come September. Inside the reefs at Depoe Bay.
They just pulled in a great white tangled in a crab pot.Take care,BB
Check with your community college too.
Blue prints are an abstraction, and show a building in view that you will almost never be able to see in reality. Architectural plans should be understood as if you sliced or sawed the building horizontally four feet above the floor plane and drew what you cut through. If something is shown above that plane (4-0 above the floor) then it is shown as a dashed line.
Building sections are as if you sawed (sliced) the building vertically and pulled it apart to draw the shapes at the cut line. Sections are used to show vertical relationships that might be missed in a plan, like a stair, roof vault or high breakfast counter.
Elevations are unreal, because their point of view is so far back that lines are vertical or horizontal. Well, yes there are sloped gable ends and things like that, but generally perspective is eliminated, which makes it harder to understand but easier to draw.
The trick is to be able to mentally put together the object (building or table) by seeing how the plan, section and elevation fit together in three dimensions. I used to say that architecture was a game played in plan, section and elevation. Now there's Sketchup.
Peter
Thanks Peter and to all of you who have given me great information to go on. I am a first time blogger to Knots (or anywhere else for that matter) and will continue to visit often with further queries, since the wealth of info is vast and inspiring. Likewise, if I can contribute, I will.
-/Cab
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