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Tangent lines permissable on a 2-D drawings?

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tomlab

Automotive
Dec 19, 2006
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My question is, If you are detailing a drawing, in the standard 2-D views is it acceptable to leave the tanget lines visable on the drawing. With the Iso view this is common practice but I believe it is becoming more of an accepted practice. Can anyone confirm what I'm saying or am I incorrectly detailing 2-D drawings?
 
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I'm not concerned with the dimension, we would just add text to indicate the dimension is to a sharp corner. To me it's a matter of making a proper drawing view. You can only put the dimension in one view so what do you do with other views or assembly views? To get back the the OP's question, I do not think tangent edges are ever proper drawing form, we just use them because the CAD vendors are not providing the proper functionality.
 
About the drawing being less than adequate, it is probably because of the fundamental philosophy of the 3D Model. It, and it alone, is used to program the mill and no paper drawing is ever required. They feel that paper is only needed to show an approximation of the parts for file cabinet storage and to take to meetings. The 3D model is always there for reference and it has the final say.

The traveler carries all the information that is needed to make the part("says here"). The problem occurs when the paper drawing is used on the shop floor to clarify something and it becomes the final word.

Some companies make the 3D model then use it to create a paper drawing. I always ask, "What has the final word in a released part?" It comes down to "Paper or plastic (silcon)?"

Certainly, we all miss the paper drawing days. I've seen some mfg engineers add things on the face of a paper drawing, attach it to the traveler and then write the change order back to engineering which references the hand-modified drawing. They don't know that the engineering CAD program can't do it.

Some CAD programs like CATIA have first-rate 2D drawing tools built in to make the paper drawing exactly as wanted. In my opinion, this is why Autocad continues to be so popular -- 3D modeling plus a robust 2D drawing ability.

Frank



Frank Reid
Reid Engineering Services of Utah
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You'll never know what you are worth until you learn to say NO.
 
frankreid,

It all depends on where you work, what you need fabricated and who you send it to.

We send out drawings. I suspect that a lot of our SolidWorks stuff goes out exclusively as DXFs. Whenever I have control over the process, I include PDFs, ensuring that my lines, my tolerances and FCFs are shown as I intended. I don't think we send out much paper anymore.

Clear tolerances are absolutely necessary, and are hard to specify on 3D models. Telling the CAM programmer what you want is easy. Telling your machinist and any inspectors what you want is more challenging.

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JHG
 
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