whyun,
'Invaluable' may have been the wrong word for me to use. Indeed, a seasoned engineer should be able to develop their own details from scratch. I have found this book useful in a time sense, by photocopying a page and red-lining it with my own notes, then turning over that sheet to the draftsman or tech to work from. Also, it is a good 'picture book' to use when you are trying to describe a certain framing method to a contractor OR when they are trying to explain to you the framing setup that they prefer for shop drawings, submittals, field changes, etc. Over time we all develop our database of details that work for our respective techncial and geographic areas; to the point that technical drawing books like this accumulate dust on a book shelf. I donated my college techncial drawing book to the local library for a charity book sale because it collected dust.
As far as fundamentals go for details, you brought up a good point...it comes with experience. Some things that I would offer jelenko on preparing details and developing that experience are:
Can your detail be built by the type of contractor who would normally be working on that particular job?
Does it use typical methods that contractors/inspectors/fabricators are accustomed to in your area?
Does it utilize materials and components that are accesible in your area?
Are you generally following the industry standard? It certainly is O.K. to deviate, but it can play a big role in end costs.
Can this detail be used in other parts of the project to provide for ease of construction and like methods?
As much as all of that sounds trivial, this Socratic method can help you down the path of gaining that experience.
