How To Draw Two Lines At An Angle?

I've just got Autocad 2008 and I'm bewildered by the mountain of support material none of which seems to tell me how to do the most basic thing in the world - draw two lines of a predetermined length at a predetermined angle to each other.

Or draw two lines and then adjust them to make the lengths and angle required.

I want one line 28.74 metres long and the other 36.96 metres long with an included angle of 91degrees 47minutes.

I'm completely and totally flabbergasted that how to do this is not front and centre of all introductions and help screens and whatever.

I've tried about six different drawing progs before going back to Autocad and NONE of them put this before me.

Now I'm back at traditional Autocad and still don't know how to do it.

will someone please get me going by telling me, blow by blow, how to do this?

regards,

ab

are you set to polar or rectangular coordinates?

I want one line 28.74 metres long and the other 36.96 metres long with an included angle of 91degrees 47minutes

I would just draw 2 lines with the relative angle....

Assuming your units are set up:

1) Select Line button, click where you want it to start on the screen then ype: @28.74

2) From the origin of that 1st line, draw another. Type: @36.96

3) Thats it...from there you can highlight them both and use ROTATE to adjust them together depending on the appropriate absolute angle you are using

Thanks stopandgo, that's excellent. More progress in two minutes than in hours of reading the so-called 'help' and tutorial stuff.

It did it. Only problem it made the second go upwards instead of down.

i.e. I drew the first horizontal and wanted the second to point down. I guess the problem is it went anticlockwise with its reckoning where I wanted clockwise. Where do I change that?

And I find I can't even navigate around the screen. I can't use the zoom thing, it doesn't make any sense. There's nothing to allow me to scroll around the screen and my second line is off the screen now and I can't work the zoom.

Are you willing to clue me in on how to fix that couple of hassles?

regards,

ab

p.s. I just found the units 'clockwise' box and checked it. That's that fixed.

first you need ZOOM ALL

your rotation problem can be solved with UNDO, then repeat the input with a minus preceding the angle or distance figure

Well thanks.

I'll tell you what I really want to do.

I want to draw the plan of an existing housing block.

It is four sided and I have all the details, length of lines, included angles between the lines.

I even have the angles of the lines with respect to true north or whatever surveyors use.

What is the best way to do this?

Once that is done I want to draw in the details of the existing buildings on the block. Then I want to draw the details of a proposed structure. Then I want to print it out and submit it to the local Council for building approval.

It is my idea that a prog like Autocad would make mincemeat out of such a trivial task.

Can anyone show me the way?

regards,

ab

Having such detailed information is always a plus.

As mentioned previously there is more than one way to accomplish the task. Keep in mind that to draw straight lines, either horizontally or vertically, it is always helpful to keep ORTHO toggled on.

Now you can use either lines or polylines. Do you know the difference between the two?

You can draw using direct distance entry by selecting your start point then dragging your mouse in the direction you want to go and entering the distance at the keyboard. You can, as previously mentioned, also enter both the angle and the distance at the keyboard.

Make use of the OFFSET, COPY and MIRROR commands too. You'll find yourself using the "Modify" commands more than the "Draw" commands.

Draw everything in model space at FULL size. When done switch to paper space create a layout and establish a viewport to see your model space objects. Remember that the viewport is just a window thru which we view objects created in model space. It is this viewport that is "scaled" not the model space objects.

Dimensioning can be done in model space or in a layout. There are pros and cons to each method. Don't know which to use? First consult AutoCAD Help. Next, pick up a good after-market AutoCAD book for the version you are using. Finkelstein and Omura are two acknowledged experts and their books are widely available and good sources of information.

I find the succinct answer to my problem is a LISP procedure called TRAVERS. I've found it, installed it, used it and achieved success.

Heartfelt thanks to the man (or woman?) that pointed it out to me.

ab