Scales
Costomizing ScalesThe Scalelistedit command allows you to edit or add any scale needed in an AutoCAD drawing file.
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3:54 PM
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Monday, October 31, 2005
The Scalelistedit command allows you to edit or add any scale needed in an AutoCAD drawing file.
Tuesday, October 18, 2005
Wipeouts
Valve Symbols and WipeoutsFor some strange reason I have been having trouble with the "Wipeout" and "Tframes" commands. Using the Tool Pallette to insert a symbol from the company library causes some unwanted things to happen. If a block symbol is selected and inserted into a new drawing you get...
The top symbol came into the drawing with the Wipeout in the foreground and blocking out the actual vale symbol as well as the line it's sitting on. If you then toggle the "Tframes" setting you get...
If you set "Tframes" before a block is iinserted you get the same result as the above image.
To fix the problem I had to insert all the symbols into a new drawing. Luckily the Tools Pallette makes this a bit easier since you can store all your symbol blocks in a single drawing. After inserting the drawing I toggled the "Tframes" setting and everything works like it ought to. I have noticed that when plotting the drawing, there's been some strange effects caused, light lines show through some of the blocks and little things like that. The new block editor makes bringing lines and objects to the foreground, in front of the wipeouts, an easy fix to solve some issues when they do come up.
posted by Jaxom at
10:36 AM
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Monday, October 17, 2005
Inserting an Xcel Spreadsheet
The process that works best
First - Setup the "style" to be used in the drawing. Two types are generally needed, one for normal text and one for bold text.
Second - Setup "tablestyles" ... my goal is to at one point copy a standardized table into a drawing and all the fonts and table setting will be brought up and used automatically. Text sizes are 1/4" for Title, 3/6" for Column Heads, and 3/32" for Data.
Third - highlight the table in Excel and right-click the selection and go to "Format Cells" Then go to the "Font" tab and find the radio box located next to the color setting and make sure it's set to "Normal font" - I'm actually not sure why this box is here and what it's used for, but for the process of getting the table into AutoCAD I've found that if it isn't checked it will never work properly.
Fourth - while cells are still selected, right-click again and select copy.
Fifth - From the Edit menu within AutoCAD, selct the Paste-Special option. A dialog box will appear where many options can be chosen as to how to import the information into AutCAD, slect the one that says "AutoCAD Entities"
Sixth - Selct the complete table and right-click to access a menu where you highlight and select the "Remove All Property Overrides"
Last - It might be necessary to go through and add final formatting of the cells. Easiest way to change multiple rows at once is to first select the first box of the first row and then hit the "Shift" key and slect the last cell. Using the Properties Pallette you can highlight "Cell Height" and type in the height needed.
posted by Jaxom at
1:02 PM
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AutoCAD
Useful Commands to Rememberconvertpstyles - converts from "ctb" and "stb" plotting styles
battorder - allows you to select the order in which attributes are brought up when inserting a block into a drawing. The command can only be accessed within the block editor.
Ctrl+K - lets you hyperlink an obect within your drawing to go to a web page or even open a certain document.
txt2mtxt - converts normal lines of text to a group of text ewditable with mtext.
vtoptions - improves program performance by turning off the effects of zooming within drawings.
chspace - quickly moves from modelspace to paperspace.
eattext - creates a table of text from attributed text inside blocks.
taskbar - shows each drawing you have currently open on your windows taskbar instead of just the AutoCAD program.
xopen - opens an attached xref for editing.
imagefram - will turn frames on and off for images and wipeouts, see tframes below.
tframes - shows or hides wipeout frames.
Express Tools Command Alias Editor - edits the PGP file commands
Reinit - allows you to re-initialize ethe PGP file without restarting AutoCAD
posted by Jaxom at
12:50 PM
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Sub Zero Constructors Inc.
Work AreaMy work area with a dual monitor setup.
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12:45 PM
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Sub Zero Constructors Inc.
Drafting DepartmentHere's a look at the drafting department from two opposite corners.
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12:42 PM
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Sub Zero Constructors Inc.
KitchenThe office comes with a nice kitchen area and would be perfect if it had a stove and an oven to cook with.
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12:41 PM
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Sub Zero Constructors Inc.
The officeHere's the front lobby and conference room.
posted by Jaxom at
12:32 PM
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My Experience
AutoCADWhen AutoCAD Release 9 came out I was working at a company that purchased two stations for computer drafting, but no one in the company knew how to use the program. I spent a number of afternoons learning how to use the program with some help from my brother. My brother seemed to believe that an AutoCAD workstation would somehow eliminate the need for drafting by hand. Soon there was a college course offering certification in computer drafting and I enrolled. The course was a year long class with no text book and really no set curriculum. I was able to land a job within the first couple months of class. My interview was a simple one, I was taken to a large room with a drafting table in the center where the engineer had been doing some sketches and a computer and plotter setup in one corner. The engineer and production manager pointed to the machine and asked, “there it is, you know what to do?” I waited a moment figuring someone would turn the thing on, when no one volunteered I reached around and flipped the large toggle switch on the back of the computer. An instant response from the engineer was, “you got the job.” The Project manager finished the interview by saying, “no one who’s interviewed has been able to turn it on.”
That first job was an audio/video tape manufacturing equipment manufacturer… confusing? The easiest way to say it is that they made the equipment that manufactures audio and video tape material that’s placed inside the cassettes.
I still went to class, but after six months I stopped since it was tough working full-time and taking the full-time course.
Due to financial issues, I was looking for work and figured it would be a good time to go back and finish the AutoCAD class I had started and get my certificate. Strange enough that soon after I started going to class I got a call from the engineer I had worked with from the previous job, he needed a computer drafter to do layouts and details for a food manufacturing company that was going through a major renovation.
Luckily my teacher and I made an agreement that my experience in Drafting was better than the schooling and I was awarded my certificate after completing a test of what I had learned.
While working at the food processing plant I had met with a sub-contractor that was going to relocate some refrigerated piping within the building. The drafter of the company talked to me for awhile and a few days after they called and wanted me to come out to check out their company to see if it was place I’d like to work at.
I wound up taking the job and working there doing floor plans and construction drawings for refrigerated warehouses for seven years.
I left that job to do HVAC design drafting for a couple of years before getting a job close to home that built fog machines that were being used for special effects, humidification, and cooling.
I went from the fog machines to another refrigeration job, the ironic part is that I’m working for the drafter of the refrigeration company that came out to the food processing plant. In fact the people I enjoyed working with are now owner’s of the place I’m at now and they definitely learned what not to do from the experience of working in the previous company.
So I’ve been working with AutoCAD for over 15 years now and I’ve seen it go through some major changes. It’s got a lot easier since the old prompt driven menus for plotting and opening drawings. Xref’ing was a huge jump with Paperspace closely following afterwards. Now there are all kinds of features making drafting quicker and more efficient. I’ve had a fairly big learning gap to fill because the company I worked at was not able to upgrade their software. So I’m still learning all the features between AutoCAD versions 2001 and 2006.
posted by Jaxom at
12:30 PM
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SubZero Company Profile
Our MissionSubZero Constructors exists to provide value to our customers by delivering competitively priced construction projects that are built right… built fast… and built safe. We strive to make a difference in our industry and community, and believe our customers, employees and suppliers are all partners in our success.
posted by Jaxom at
12:28 PM
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