Civil Engineering Drawing

Use Of Instruments and Lettering

Engr. Abdul Rahim Khan

07/01/2021 1
 Classification of Lines

Classification of lines is as follows:

 Classification According to Thickness

 Classification According to Darkness

 Classification According to Shape

Classification According to Thickness

 Very thick lines

 Relatively thicker lines

 Lines of common thickness

 Thin lines
Classification According to Thickness

 Very thick lines drawn

with chisel-shaped
pencil, are used to
show reinforcing steel
bars and position of
beams etc. in structural
working drawings.
Cutting
Plane C
O
L
O
U
M
N

Beam
 Cross Section

Reinforcement

Long Section
Plan Of a Single Room
Plan Of a Single Room
Classification According to Thickness

 Relatively thicker lines drawn with cone-shaped

pencil, are used to show ground level in
elevation of buildings, plastered surfaces of
walls in plans, etc.
 Lines of common thickness show usual features
of the object.
 Thin lines are used for center-lines, construction
lines, extension lines, and dimension lines, etc.
Ground Level
 Construction Lines
 Construction lines (also known as xlines) are temporary line
work entities that can be used as references when creating
and positioning other objects or line work

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Classification According to Darkness

 Line of a given thickness may be dark and bright or it

may be dim depending upon grade of the pencil and the
pressure applied.
Classification According to Darkness

 Thick and common lines should be of greater

darkness and brightness keeping their thickness in
the required range. Generally try for greater
brightness increases the thickness of the line.

 Center-lines, extension lines and dimension lines

should be of moderate darkness

 Construction lines and guide lines should be very

light or dim, just visible to the working person.
Classification According to Shape

 Full line of common thickness shows visible outline of

the object, H-pencil is generally used for the purpose.
 Full lines of lesser thickness and brightness are used as
extension and dimension lines, ; 2H – pencil may be
used.
 Full lines of very dim quality, drawn with 4H-pencil,
are used as guide-lines and construction lines.
 Dotted line consists of a series of dots, and is not
generally used in engineering drawing because lot of
time is consumed in drawing a dotted line.
Classification According to Shape

 Dashed line consists of a series of dashes. The dashes

should approximately be equal in length and also the
gap in between tow dashes should roughly be equal.
Where dashed lines are in continuation of full lines,
these should be started from a gap, otherwise, these
should be started by a dash. These lines indicate hidden
outlines in mechanical drawing but, in civil engineering
drawing, these lines, in plan, show the features above
the horizontal cutting plane like beams, sunshades and
ventilators.
 Center-lines consist of series of alternate long and short
dashes. These lines are used to locate centers of circular
parts and axes of cylindrical features.
Classification According to Shape

 Hidden lines are used to represent surfaces that are not

directly visible in the orthographic view. Without
hidden lines all information about the features that are
not directly visible would be lost.
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Classification According to Shape

 Cutting plane symbol is series of alternate one long

and two small dashes using relatively thicker line.
(Phanthom Line)
 Break lines have different shapes, two of which are
shown here. These are used to end a part of the
structure to indicate the continuity of the structure in
the same pattern.
 Section lining or cross-hatching consists of lines
drawn at 45 angle with a uniform spacing of 1/16” to
1/8”. It is used to indicate solid portions in section.
 Dashed lines, cutting plane symbol and break lines
are imaginary lines and are usually extended
from the views.
 Break Line

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 Sharpening the Pencil
 Lead of the Pencil should always be kept sharp, only a
sharp lead is capable of producing clean black lines that
sparkle with clarity. For wooden pencils, lead is opened
approximately 1.2” in length and then required shape of
the lead is made over a sandpaper pad.

 For cone-shaped lead, pencil is rotated in the hand

while sharpening and a very fine cone is made having
at least 3/8” length and ending in a perfect wedge point.
For chisel-shaped lead, grinding of the lead is done
from the two opposite sides and for lead to be used in a
compass, grinding is done only from one side.
 Fixing the Drawing Sheet

 Drawing sheet should be fixed on the board in such a

way that its upper longer side is truly horizontal. First of
all the sheet is placed on the board such that
approximately equal spaces are left on all the sides.

 T- square is placed over the sheet and is held in the

correct position with the left hand as described before, so
that, its blade comes in a horizontal line. It is then slided
up until its working edge comes very near to the top
edge of the sheet. The drawing sheet is now adjusted
from below with the right hand without disturbing the T-
square until its top edge becomes parallel to the working
edge of blade of the T-square.
 Fixing the Drawing Sheet

 The T-square is then slided a little downwards and the sheet

is fastened to the board on the two upper corners with the
help of drafting tap.

 The T-square is then slided up and edge of the sheet is again

checked. If it is exactly horizontal, the T-square is slided
down until it is just above the bottom of the sheet and tape is
applied over the lower corner.

 Drafting tap is preferred for fixing the sheet on the board

because it does not damage the board and it will not damage
the sheet if it is carefully removed by pulling it off slowly
towards the edge of the paper.
Horizontal and Vertical Lines on the
Board
 For right hander working
edge should be at left side.
 Working edge is working
as reference vertical line.
 All vertical lines on the
drawing sheet should be
perpendicular to it.
 The head of the T-square
can be slide over the
working edge of the board
as shown in Fig.
 Steps to use T Square

 Only one point is marked on any vertical line on the sheet from
where horizontal line is to be drawn. It is not a good practice to
mark points at the two ends which are later on joined with any
straight edge.
 While using a T-square, the working edges of the board and head
of the T-square must be in close contact throughout the contact-
length.
 To draw a horizontal line, hold the head of the T-square with the
left hand, and apply slight but uniform lateral pressure over the T-
square towards the board. Slide the left hand until the working
edge of the blade just passes through the already marked point.
Change your hold so that fingers remain on the T-square and the
thumb is placed on the board, making sure that the position of the
T-square is not changed. Draw horizontal line with the right hand.
 Steps to Use T Square

 while sliding the T-square, the blade should be

allowed to move freely. If it is touching with the
right hand, notes or the instruments, either the angle
of the T-square will be disturbed or the T- square
will lose its connection with the working edge of the
board. And the lines drawn will not be horizontal.
 Drawing a Vertical Line

 To draw vertical line, place any of the triangles on the

T-square with the vertical edge on the left as shown in
Fig. Slide the T-square up or down until the
combination is vertically in the required range. Slide
the triangle towards the left or the right until working
edge of the triangle passes through the marked point,
the triangle and blade of the T-square being in full
contact. Hold the combination with the left hand draw
line with the right hand.
 Lines at other angles available on the triangles may be
drawn in the same way. In some cases, combination of
triangles may also be used as in Fig.
 Border Lines and Seal

 Border line usually drawn with HB-pencil leaving ½”

spacing from all the sides except on the left where it is kept
one inch away from the edge for the reasons of binding of
the drawings at the end in the official documents.

 Seal or title is a block usually left at bottom-right corner of

the sheet to have the following information’s .

 Name of the department or the firm which is preparing the

drawing.

 Name of the client for which the drawing is being prepared.

 Border Lines and Seal

 Heading of the sheet showing the purpose and the

name of the project for which the drawing is made.
 Scale used, date of drawing, drawing number, etc.,
are also mentioned.

 Name and signatures of the designer, the checker,

the draftsman, the approving person, and the client
in some cases.

 The design of seal is always fixed for a particular

organization and, in some cases, it is printed on the
blank sheets.
 1/2 Inch

1 Inch 1/2 Inch

Seal

1/2 Inch
 1/2 Inch

1 Inch 1/2 Inch

Seal

1/2 Inch
 Detail Of Seal Content

7 Inch

½ Inch
Civil Engineering Department
½ Inch UET Narowal

4 Inch 1+3/4 Inch

TITLE OF THE SHEET

2/8 or 1/4 Inch Scale Date Drawn By Checked By Signature

1 Inch

1 Inch 1.5 Inch 1.5 Inch 1.5 Inch 1.5 Inch

Measurements in Fractions of an Inch

 To measure fractions like 3/16”, 6/16” 8/16”, etc.,

an inch has to be first divided into 16 equal parts
and then 3 parts will have a dimension equal to
3/16” and so on.

 The measurements up to first decimal place can be

measured from those scales where an inch is divided
into 10 equal parts. For example, 0.3” means 3/10”
or 3 parts out of 10 parts of an inch.
 1/8 Inch 2/8 Inch

2 Inch 3 Inch
 Lettering on the Drawing
 Generally all the lettering on the sheet is carried out in
capital letters and following points should be kept in
mind while carrying out the lettering.

 Naturally upper and lower guide line are required so that

all the letters are of equal height and they are arranged in
a single row .

 After drawing the guide lines, no instrument is to be

used for the lettering, the lines should be drawn freehand
and the proportions should be approximately guessed.
 The best pencil for lettering on most surfaces are the H,
F, and HB grades.
 Lettering on the Drawing

 The proportions between width and height for each

letter should be as accurate as possible.
 In case I-H-T-L-E-F group, all the strokes should be as
vertical and as horizontal as possible.
 For N to W group, inclined strokes are also used while
in O-O-C-G group, circular strokes are used.
 For all other letters, irregular curves are to be used
which require much more practice because the
proportion of width and height is to be maintained at
the same time while drawing the line in a single stroke.
 Lettering on the Drawing

 To write fractions, total fraction height is made twice the

height of the integer. Two extra guide lines are drawn at a
distance equal to half the height of the integer from the top
and the bottom guide lines as shown in Fig. The numerator
is then written first having height about three-fourth the
height of the integer and the letters should be started from
the top most guide line. Now a horizontal bar is drawn in the
center of the guide lines having length equal to the
maximum width of the numerator or the expected width of
the denominator. Denominator is now written making sure
that a clear space is left above and below the horizontal bar.
Heights of the numerator and the denominator should be
made equal to each others.
 Lettering on the Drawing

 Proper spacing of the letters to form words and of

the words to form sentences is more important than
the shape of the letters themselves for the appearance
of a block of lettering. Actual spacing between the
letters is not made constant in a word, instead the
letters are so arranged that approximately equal areas
are left between them producing a spacing which is
visually uniform. Spacing between two words
should approximately be equal to 3 to 4 times the
average spacing between the letters in a word.
 Methods of Dimensioning

 No dimension should be written inside a view. The

length to be dimensioned should be extended on any
side of the view with the help of extension lines drawn
perpendicular to the length having at least 1/8” gap
from the view.

 A line parallel to the length is then drawn called

dimension line with starting and ending points of the
length properly marked as shown in Fig. The
dimension may then be written within the dimension
line or an top or bottom of the dimension line. Two
guide lines for writing the dimensions should be used.
Extension Line

6 Inch

Dimension
Line

12ft

7 ft 7 ft

Front Elevation
 3 Inch

1
3 Inch

3 Inch
2

3 Inch

3 Inch

W
1/8
Inch
3W
 8R

8D

Circular Dimensions
 Methods of Dimensioning

 First and second methods in Fig. are used for

bigger dimensions, the first being preferable,
However, for small dimensions, any of the other
methods may be used, Smaller dimensions are
placed nearest to the outlines of the parts to be
dimensioned while larger dimensions are written
outside they may preferably be read from the
bottom or from the right-hand side of the drawing.
 Methods of Dimensioning

 For circular dimensions, draw radial dimension

lines starting from the curve to be dimensioned
not going up to the tail of the line outside the
view on any side where space is available and
write the dimension there. If radius is mentioned,
write ‘R’ at the end but if diameter is given, write
‘D’ at the end of the dimension.
 Thank you!

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