dimension input 3

[bigbill]

I just made an assembly drawing. I input a 4.375 dim on a shaft length. When I went to put a dim. line on this part the dim text showed 4.369. How can this happen? My osnap and ortho were on, shouldn't the line snap to the input dimension?
Thanks,
Bill Rolland

 

[crystalrae]

A couple of things to check - I apologize if you already have...

1. Check to make sure the points you were snapping to was actually the end points - if you had nearest set on your Osnap toolbox then maybe it didn't get it.

2. Check to make sure the shaft that you are dimensioning is actually drawn to the size 4.375.

3. Check to make sure you don't have double lines with on being smaller then the other - that would also throw off the snaps.

If none of this stuff helps let me know and I will look into it some more.

 

[Kaaleen]

Currently I am a work at home mom. I draw Civil/Survey maps for Civil Engineers and Surveyors. At this time I am currently using AutoCAD2000 and BHS... I have been using AutoCAD since 1992. So I have lots of experience.

First off I am not trying to sell my services to you.

Here is a little background before I get to my question...

My husband works in Cable TV . He is what they call a sweep tech.. He sweeps cable TV systems once the cable has been strung and spliced. The he sweeps and chases noise through out the system. Once that is done he does what they call Node Certification. This happens at the end of the project.. Once the catv has been Certified they can turn the system on.
Now... as they go along they need to create 17X11 as-build drawings. At this time a secretary with no drawing experience is doing this. (I wonder what they look like ) They do this all by hand. Very time consuming and tedious. I was thinking why not take a clean print (minus everything that has been changed) and scan it into AutoCAD.. then draw in the new construction. This way they will have professional looking prints to turn into the Head office and the CATV System.

Now that the back ground is covered...

I have experience with AutoCAD... But I do not have experience in scanning drawings and importing them into AutoCAD. Do you have any experience in this area? What exactly would it entail? What kind of scanner works best? How much will a large scanner cost? Would a small flatbed scanner work? Would it be easier to have someone else scann them the drawings for me? So on and so forth..

If you have any knowledge of this or know anyone who does would please let me know.

I would really appreciate it.

Thank you,

Kaaleen

 

[dik]

Some areas to look into:

An 11x17 flatbed scanner can be pricey; if you have the volume, then it should be justifiable. Look at

http://www.epson.com

or

http://www.canon.com

websites for a start on what's available. There may be a 'service bureau' that can scan these larger images. They often have larger drawing capability. File sizes can get large and it may be possible for them to upload the images to your email account.

One of the problems you will encounter is 'matching' the various 11x17 scans.

Many municipalities (in our area) have autoCAD compatible 'mapping' information. This is available to 'scrounge' or purchase and will provide a base map. Lindsay, Ontario, for example, has this info available that can be purchased for ??/hectare. It shows streets, houses, walks, roads, hydro poles, water and sewer lines, etc. The CATV stuff can be added to this.

Your local planning office may have drawings available that can be scanned and vectorized to provide base plans to work on.

There are a few raster to vector conversion programs available. The ones I've encountered are a 'hit and miss' and very dependent on the quality of the scanned image. These will convert the scanned image into an autoCAD and then the various 11x17 vector drawings will have to be pieced together.

There are also some firms that do this. I've used one that is located about 60 miles from here to scan Hospital Plans for renovation work.

What you are proposing is becoming more and more common and is often referred to as a GIS.

 

[Kaaleen]

Dik...
Thank you for all of the information you provided me. It will be very useful.