Finding the scale of a drawing

[Casio47]

Hello all,

Quick Question:

Is there a way to find out if the drawing was in a scale other than 1:1 when it was originally drawn?

Thanks

[ReMark]

Is anything dimensioned in the drawing?

 

Have you tried plotting it?

[JD Mather]

The quickest way might be to simply attach the file here.

[Casio47]

The quickest way might be to simply attach the file here.

 

Hello JD. I am hesitant to attach the drawing, because it is a drawing of a factory floor layout from a company which has strict corporate guidelines for security.

Thanks for the help

[Casio47]

Hello ReMark

There are dimensions and no I have not tried plotting.

I think the problem here is I cant get to the floor to actually measure an object, then verify that measurment with the objct on the drawing.

Basically, I have two drawings, and I wish to insert one object into the other drawing. However, when I do this, the newly inserted object is tiny, tiny, tiny...almost invisible tiny. So my belief is one of the two drawings (if not both) were originally drafted (many years ago) in a scale other than 1:1.

I believe I have to get back to the beginning and determine:

1. What scale the two drawings are in

2. If they are drafted in a scale other than 1:1, then convert both drawings back to an even 1:1.

Luckily, both drawings are in the same units of mm

Thanks for the help

[ReMark]

We don't need the entire drawing just enough of it (sans title block) that we can determine the scale. No one here is going to steal your drawing.

[eldon]

I would have suggested observation and common sense to find out the scale.

 

Take an everyday object in the drawing (if there is such a thing) and see what the size is, and compare it with what you know it should be.

 

Keep an open mind about the units. Consider inches, feet, millimetres, centimetres and metres, and then rod, pole or perch, cubits etc. if you get desperate.

[dbroada]

they could be both draughted at 1:1 but with different units. One person could be working in yards, they other inches or one could be metric the other imperial. Without dimensions it is impossible to determine the scale but you can make a judgement once you have located a reference item.

[JD Mather]

First test

-dwgunits in both drawings to determine the current units.

[JD Mather]

second step

there should be something in each drawing that is known - either by dimension or by experienced observation

[Tyke]

Open one of the drawings and enter the command "-DWGUNITS" on the command line (don't forget the minus sign), then you can see what the actual units of the drawing are. Repeat the process for the other drawing. My bet is that they are not the same.

 

Edit: JD was quicker on the draw

[JD Mather]

third step

get both to 1:1 scale by running the scale command with appropriate scale factor (determined through High School math).

 

current actual value * scale factor = real world value

scale factor = real world value/current actual value

[neophoible]

There are dimensions and no I have not tried plotting.

I think the problem here is I cant get to the floor to actually measure an object, then verify that measurment with the objct on the drawing.

You say there are dimensions, but did you use the Distance command and compare its results with the dimension values? Do this and share your results. There are variations on this, but just do it in the separate DWGs first. Is everything in Model Space including the dimensions?

[Casio47]

We don't need the entire drawing just enough of it (sans title block) that we can determine the scale. No one here is going to steal your drawing.

 

I wish somebody would steel it so I dont have to mess with this!