SCALES : I just don't seem to get it

OK, so I am drawing in Model view. I need to draw the detail of a universal beam showing end plates, and the beam itself ( part of it only and not to scale).

The problem is that if the flanges of the beam are 170 mm in width, then that still takes up just about half of my drawing space on the screen. How do I deal with this madness?

The actual scale I have to draw it at is 1:10, but setting this up in Model View under Annotation Scale does not affect the size of the drawing. What on earth do I need to do to get the scale of the drawing right?

Help!

always set up your UNITS first before you start to draw. toggle english- inches,ft, etc: , metric- mts, cm, mm, etc..

check "Help" in autocad help for reference.

Draw everything in full scale. if it takes up a lot of space on your screen then just zoom out, if it says "already zoomed as far as possible", just regenerate the drawing (command- RE ) then zoom out again.

the annotation scale is not used for scaling the objects. Scaling of objects to be printed out is done in Paperspace.

Nocturne, I did in fact have the units set at mm before starting the drawing. I also have set up a border for the drawing ( in model view) to fit A3 paper on print out, but when I draw the line it is outside the page border. Do I just ignore that border in Model view?

Im a bit confused. you set up a boarder in model space? is this a simple rectangle with actual A3 Paper dimensions(420mm X 297mm)?

Im not sure how you are trying to accomplish scaling in model space, and I cant answer your question if thats the case,

But I would recommend working with MVIEW in paper space. just set up your A3 paper in page setup, create an MVIEW, and under its properties, adjust its scale to your preference.

platsk:

Conventional wisdom states that when one creates a drawing in AutoCAD that it is done FULL size in model space. The user then switches to a layout and creates a viewport. The viewport acts like a window allowing the user to see the objects drawn back in model space. A scale is applied to the viewport itself. However, since the viewport is in a layout when it comes time to plot it is done so at a scale of 1:1.

The way you are now doing it harkens back to the days of manual drafting, on the board, and the early days of AutoCAD (when there was no paper space, viewports, layouts or Mview, etc.). We scaled the drawing such that it was at the largest scale that could fit the paper size we were using.

You do have a good after-market AutoCAD 2010 book by your side don't you?

You can also check out the paper space tutorial here at CADTutor.

even those of us who still use Model Space exclusively (most of us) draw the model at 1:1. This is the big difference between board draughting and CAD draughting. On the board you had to determine your scale and paper size before starting. In CAD you draw the model and then decide the paper size at the end.

If you must use MadelSpace only, draw your items THEN put a border around it, scaling the border to fit the part. The page then gets printed at the inverse scale of the border. Simple.

^^ I agree, NOT drawing in 1:1 is just leading you into potential issues/problems down the road. It's common practice to always draw in MS at full size, as mentioned by several other posters. Also, as mentioned, with the introduction of ps/ms type plot layouts a decade ago, if you haven't switched to that now, you should consider it. It makes 'scales' 2000 times easier to manage.

I'm not an expert. But my instructor teach us when we are going to put the boarder for the drawing. You need to draw first everything you need in full size. That means draw your actual drawings and the A3 Paper dimension on different files(.dwg) in 1:1 scale. Open a new drawing space then use XREF to put this two drawings into one, and use viewports. sorry for my english

If your full size model doesn't fit into your screen and you can't zoom out fully, then simply set your drawing limits to a size greater than the object you are drawing, e.g. if you have an object thats 8 metres long by 4 metres wide, simply set your drawing limits to 12 metres long by 8 metres wide so that your screen resolution will accommodate the model.

When completed, enter paper space, set up your viewports and zoom into any part of your object and print off at a designated scale.

As others have metioned in this thread, there are dozens of tutorials on how to use viewports and once you getthe hang of using them, they are magical!

Good luck.

If anyone needs a set of metric borders in paperspace with viewports already on them then there is a set here you can download-

http://www.autocadeverything.com/help/showthread.php?t=4380&highlight=templates