The History of Drafting and the Equipment of the Craft

The History of Drafting and the Equipment of the Craft

Jon M. Weinschrott

CONT 106 Construction Blueprint Reading

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The History of Drafting and the Equipment of the Craft

As early as 1567 A.D. Drafting Pencils or better known then as Lead Holders as described by the Swiss naturalist Conrad Gesner  were being used and developed so that the draftsman could avoid the ever present issue of black fingers.  Another useful benefit to the Leadholders was that they would be able to hold much smaller pieces of the and ever fragile and expensive virgin graphite . (Smith, 2006)[pic 1][pic 2]

By 1794 A.D., Nicolas-Jacques Conté had found a way to use a low quality graphite that had been unusable up to that point by mixing it with powdered clay and then kiln firing it, thus creating an affordable and most importantly, a consistent lead for using in the drafting of technical drawings. (Smith)

Being probably the most important tools in the art of drafting, the leadholder/ drafting pencil has undergone some major innovations since that humble beginning in 1567 A.D.  With the need for consistantcy with the line types and the ability for the pencils to hold varing sizes of leads to achieve the details needed in drafting, one detail stands out as an interesting fact is that predominately most drafting pencils do not have an attached eraser.  Now whether that was because the manufactures thought it beneath them or that many draftsman preferred to sharpen both ends to attain different points, is still up in the air. (Smith, 2006)

An architectural scale is another item in the draftsmen’s toolbox that is of vast importance.  Commonly made in a triangular shape so as to have five different faces with two scales on each end, with the sixth side being in inches (Proctor & Toenjes, 2010).  In needing to have a standard as to how to make a drawing fit on a piece of paper for a building that is obviously much larger, or on the other end having an object that has technical details that are much too small and need to be drawn larger than the actual object.   You are able to use the various measurements to signify different lengths according to what scale you are using for the [pic 3]

particular drawing.  One of the more common scales is the ¼”= 1’ for residential and light commercial construction which depicts that for every ¼ inch equals 1 foot.  The general rule is that you have one scale per sheet unless there is a detail section located on the same sheet to help define a particular area in which has to be labeled as to define what scale was used instead of the original scale.[pic 4]

Over the course of history the paper used in drafting has changed almost as much as the pencil has.  From drafting linen to special plastic sheets used in certain cases.  The more common paper comes in varying thickness like a Thick draft paper which is made in different strengths which is best used with leadholders or felt tip pens; Drafting paper that is more silk like; Tracing paper also called Vellum is a polished, translucent but yet thick paper. (Drawing material, 2015)