2-D Section (cutting plane) Line and Arrows

[czyktech]

Greetings,

Are there any ACAD users who can help with the following:

My students are creating 2-D Orthographic drawings of mechanical parts (not architectural, not solids) and I am trying to find how to add the Cutting Plane, Arrows and Label in one view to define a Section View. All I have found in my books and on-line Forums are: 3D Solid Cutting Planes, directions to somehow construct a custom arrow, and Lisp programs (whatever that is). Am I searching the wrong phrase? You know, the phantom cutting plane line (perhaps rotated or offset), with directional arrows, labeled A-A (and a Section View, Hatched, labeled Section A-A)? How do I insert the Cutting Plane, Arrows and Labels? Do I need to construct each element in every view? Jeez, Mon. ACAD doesn't have a Section Tool, Symbol or Block available? This is per ANSI, not anything unusual. (For the record, KeyCreator (Cadkey) does it all beautifully and 20 years ago CADAM (and MicroCADAM) could construct the arrows.)

Thanks

[uddfl]

What do you teach?

[ReMark]

Sorry, but you're expecting way too much of a $3500 program. Cutting planes, arrows and labels are all left up to the user. You can simplify part of the process with the use of blocks and the use of Design Center or Tool Palettes to pull them into future drawings.

[czyktech]

Thanks for the suggestion. I am a Technology Education Teacher, in my 9th year teaching. I also have 20 years in various engineering positions using various PC and mainframe Cad systems. This year I started teaching Drafting and CADD at a CT State Tecnhical HS. The predominant SW is KeyCreator but we want to expose students to a variety so ACAD is my mission. I used it before (15 years ago?) and was unimpressed. I am frustrated because it is far from plug and play - everything must be set up from scratch and struggling with that while trying to teach it is painful. I had no templates, still have no workable borders, haven't figured out Paperspace, Blocks, have no clue what a Lisp is, haven't seen a Design Center, etc. But we are drawing, printing w/o borders and learning. I just spent my entire Feb break doing school work (grading, planning, writing. Getting stuck on Section Line Arrows (which we needed in class THIS week) was the killer.

I now have a workable (but awkward) Block & PLine that I'll try to figure out so I can teach it, a couple of Lisps (God knows when I'll risk that adventure) and two "get what you pay for" comments. (KeyCreator student seats sell for $189 by the way, so why can't ACAD do Cutting Planes??)

Sorry to you AutoCad lovers for my obvious frustration and disrespect, but ACAD always struck me as a little archaic or cryptic. Kinda like trying to learn a new computer game without knowing any of the cheat codes! Imagine trying to figure all this out while a class of adolescents watches impatiently.

Thanks anyway.

[uddfl]

... ACAD is my mission. I used it before (15 years ago?) and was unimpressed. I am frustrated because it is far from plug and play - everything must be set up from scratch and struggling with that while trying to teach it is painful. I had no templates, still have no workable borders, haven't figured out Paperspace, Blocks, have no clue what a Lisp is, haven't seen a Design Center, etc. But we are drawing, printing w/o borders and learning. I just spent my entire Feb break doing school work (grading, planning, writing. Getting stuck on Section Line Arrows (which we needed in class THIS week) was the killer.

How/Why the hell are you teaching AutoCAD then? Am I missing something?

 

I now have a workable (but awkward) Block & PLine that I'll try to figure out so I can teach it, a couple of Lisps (God knows when I'll risk that adventure) and two "get what you pay for" comments.

That cracked me up.

 

(KeyCreator student seats sell for $189 by the way, so why can't ACAD do Cutting Planes??)

I assume this was a joke as well.

 

Sorry to you AutoCad lovers for my obvious frustration and disrespect, but ACAD always struck me as a little archaic or cryptic. Kinda like trying to learn a new computer game without knowing any of the cheat codes! Imagine trying to figure all this out while a class of adolescents watches impatiently.

I like your sarcasm and everything, but it's precisely that lack of specialization what has made AutoCAD the most versatile and most widely used drafting program ever. Even 15 years ago, people who had command of the software (no pun intended) were able to produce things via ACAD that you won't even dream of in your lifetime. And I'm no AutoCAD lover. It's just a tool. The same things you hate now, some of us hated too when we first started; then we understood how the program is intended to be used and its (incommensurable rather than limited) capabillities, and then learned how to make the program work for us instead of us working for it.

 

You're just frustrated because you are not qualified to teach what you are teaching. That's normal, but I can imagine how uncomfortable it is.

[czyktech]

Yeah, I crack myself up sometimes.

 

As to "Why/How the hell" I am teaching ACAD: Having earned a BS and MS in Technology Education, I am certified to teach K-12 Tech Ed, theoretically can teach ANYTHING that the administration or school board deems "Tech Ed" and actually have. (Seven years ago I started a new HS job, teaching primarily Graphics and Photo but was told I'd also be teaching an Intro to Drafting class. No problem. So I found myself a CADKEY class to get functional and conversant before school started. Toward the end of the summer, with my first day of work looming, I was told that Drafting was out, instead I'd be teaching Applied Power (small gas engine repair) and Intro to Automotives (neither of which I had touched since undergraduate classes 30 years back. It was not pretty. Resistance is futile.).

My current (new) position at the Technical HS is governed by a state-wide board which sets curriculum, texts, assessments, etc. Having a mandate to give the broadest instruction to students, a number of Cad programs are taught. Being low man on the totem pole, I earned the freshmen and sophomore classes and the ACAD introduction.

Yes, I'm frustrated. I can certainly figure out ACAD and have been doing so at home at night and on weekends and producing drawings. The problem is that I have a deadline: the next morning I must teach what I learned to my students. So when I get a handle (pun intended) on plines, I need to be able to explain it, demonstrate it and have a practical assignment ready to go. And when I CAN'T figure something out (like Borders and Viewports) I STILL need plans for 7:30 AM. Every single day. Some of my computer-savvy students might relish the challenge of exploration, but others will not. I've worked in engineering and faced budget restrictions, unreasonable deadlines, and Dilbert-esque bosses - teaching is tougher. I've never worked so hard in my life to please so many people for so little money. But I happen to believe that a free public education for all is a cornerstone of democracy and I believe that technological literacy is an essential life skill for the citizens I teach.

I appreciate the help and suggestions. Really I do. I apologize again for the unintended whiney insults to ACAD and y'all. Thanks. Peace, Czyk out.