PAPER SIZES

[vooter]

I've just been hipped to the knowledge that 11X17 (ANSI C) is the most favored paper size for contract drawings.

Who agrees/disagrees?

I disagree, I think ISO A1 is the most popular.

 

[vooter]

Oooops, 11X17 is ANSI B. Sorry, sorry...

 

[EngJW]

It would not surprise me because you could easily fold it into a binder and many copiers will handle it.

I prefer D size but my field is machine design. It has enough room for most components without crowding views and dimensions and you can fold it into an A size. I can't stand E size and will use multiple sheets of D before I make one single E drawing. They are too hard to fold and you can't lay them down on a desk (at least on mine), not to mention plotting them.

 

[ctopher]

I see D as the most popular. Most details fit on it and it is easily reduced to fit size B.

Chris
Sr. Mechanical Designer, CAD
SolidWorks 05 SP3.1 / PDMWorks 05
ctopher's home site (updated 06-21-05)
FAQ559-1100
FAQ559-716

 

[ewh]

I agree with Chris. D is a good size. You can fit much detail on it and it is still readable when printed to a B size. Any larger format, and you loose too much when printing to B.

 

[MechCT]

I've always like A1 and A2 sizes for metric and thier closest ANSI relatives, the C and D size. They're just much easier to handle, fold, and lay on other people's desks. If I'm going to be explainging a print to several people in a board room I'll print out the A0, but otherwise it's gotta be a managable A1.

 

[drawoh]

I like to hang E sized drawings on the wall. It is an ideal size for arrangements, where you want maximum size and detail.

I have a strong preference for 1:1 scale on fabrication drawings. In many cases, you can do a quick and dirty inspection by lying the part on the drawing. This results in a lot of E and D_sized drawings. If you use 4mm or 5/32" fonts, the full sized drawings are readable from a distance (when they are hanging on somebody's wall), and the reduced sized prints are readable.

Our assembly people do not want to see anything larger than D_size. Big drawings do not fit on work benches.

JHG

 

[Heckler]

I'm with Chris on this D-size then print 1/2 scale 11x17. Although, I have done multi sheet E size drawings for some pump housing castings and machine drawings.

Our assembly dept. barks at anything over a B-size.

It would be a wonderful thing if we could really go paperless....wasn't that the initial selling point of CAD?

Best Regards,

Heckler
Sr. Mechanical Engineer
SW2005 SP 4.0 & Pro/E 2001
Dell Precision 370
P4 3.6 GHz, 1GB RAM
XP Pro SP2.0
NIVIDA Quadro FX 1400
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_`\(,_
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"There is no trouble so great or grave that cannot be much diminished by a nice cup of tea" Bernard-Paul Heroux

 

[ctopher]

Heckler, I agree.
Our company announced 2 years ago we were going paperless. Everthing went on-line, automated, etc. Now we generate more paperwork than ever!

Chris
Sr. Mechanical Designer, CAD
SolidWorks 05 SP3.1 / PDMWorks 05
ctopher's home site (updated 06-21-05)
FAQ559-1100
FAQ559-716

 

[wes616]

D-Size seems to be the way to go. We are quite some distance away from our mfr, so every drawing is made a D-Size PDF. We print a hard copy on 11X17 here in the office, and they can print whatever size works best for them there. PDF actually is great. I think we may even go from hard copy to PDF only if we can figure it out... then only print something out if necessary... which now that i think about is is all the time.. but what the hell... many wrong paths where departed walked with good intentions...

 

[rerig]

From the wall of our FAA Inspector.
"We will become a paperless office, when the Earth becomes a treeless planet...then we'll switch to synthetics"

Put me down for ANSI B.
Rerig

 

[EngJW]

We still use both Autocad and Solidworks. Some people have viewers and others don't, some don't have plotters, some even want R14 drawings. I am starting to put everything on pdf and email it to purchasing so they can do what they want with it. I quit plotting drawings and putting them in the mail.

 

[ewh]

I may have plotted two drawings in the last three years. Everything is in cgm format and printed on B size paper. We may not be paperless, but we do use less than we used to.

 

[EngJW]

What is a cgm format?

 

[ewh]

It stands for Computer Graphics Metafile, and is used somewhat like a jpeg. This is the drawing file that everyone gets to see here, as well as the format we send to our customers.