Technical Drawings

What is Technical Drawing?

Technical drawing is the study of the procedures, tools, supplies, skills and techniques used to record and communicate the shape and size of a product.

Technical Drawings
Technical Drawing Turn Ideas into Products
Every product we have today (cars, houses, beds, tables, chairs, desks, appliances, tools, packages, clothing, toys, dishes, radios, CD players, video games, roads, bridges, airplanes, ships, buses, computers, telephones, fax machines, copiers, air-conditioners, heaters, light bulbs, keys, etc.) began as an "idea" in some person's head. Before these "ideas" became products, they had to be drawn on paper.

Technical Drawings
What Do Technical Drawings Show?
These "drawings" must show what the "idea" looks like from different directions

top, front and right side views

how long, wide and high the object is

what materials were needed to make the object

Technical Drawings
Pictorial Drawing
A simple box has 6 sides - top, bottom, 2 ends and 2 sides. An Isometric Drawing of a box looks like this

An Isometric Drawing is 3 dimensional. It shows the length, height and width of the object.

Technical Drawings
Orthographic Views or Drawings
Orthographic Projection is a projection on a plane, using lines
perpendicular to the plane. Orthographic drawings are views (front, side, top, and so on) of an object. An orthographic view is

only one side. Its 2 dimensional, showing just length and width of
that side.

Technical Drawings
Orthographic View
One important thing to note is that the labels are for the position. Front view is always in this location, regardless of the object that is drawn. Front View is actually of the side of the truck, Right Side View is of the front of the truck.

Technical Drawings
Lets Investigate Further!
How does isometric drawings relate to orthographic views?

Technical Drawings
How Isometric Drawings Relate to Orthographic Views?
1. Start with Isometric box.

Technical Drawings
How Isometric Drawings Relate to Orthographic Views? 2. Think of it as a real box. Imagine cutting the box along the corners so that it lays flat. If you make a particular set of cuts, the box will unfold to look like this.

Technical Drawings
How Isometric Drawings Relate to Orthographic Views?

3. As you can see, the six sides unfold in a pattern. Three sides are normally used to make orthographic projections - Front View, Top View and Right Side View. The next drawing has the rear, left side and bottom views removed.

Technical Drawings
How Isometric Drawings Relate to Orthographic Views?

4. So far, we have taken an imaginary box, cut it along several edges, folded it flat, and cut off 3 of the sides. What we are left with is 3 sides of the box. The next step is to separate the remaining sides. Note that the Front View, Top View and Right Side View are still in the same relative position to each other. Also we are now looking straight at each surface. In the pictorial drawing, we were looking at a 3 dimensional object, and all the surfaces were tilted away. (Look back at #1)

Technical Drawings
How Isometric Drawings Relate to Orthographic Views?

5. Finally, we cut the three remaining sides apart and separate them.

Technical Drawings
How Isometric Drawings Relate to Orthographic Views?

6. These views are now starting to look like orthographic views or projections. They are located in particular positions. They are always located in these positions. Floor plans for a house are really a special type of Top View.

Technical Drawings
How Isometric Drawings Relate to Orthographic Views?

7. Notice that the views are in the same relative position as they are in the isometric drawing below. (Remember Isometric Drawings are 3-Dimensional drawings)

Technical Drawings
Assignment You will be given a handout, similar to the one below. Cut along the solid, black lines and fold on the dotted, black lines. Tape the edges to create a 3-D object.