BLUEPRINT READING GUIDE

INTRODUCTION:

THIS GUIDE WAS DEVELOPED TO ASSIST PERSONNEL IN BASIC BLUEPRINT

READING. IT DOES NOT COVER ALL ASPECTS OF BLUEPRINTS, BUT SHOULD
GIVE THE USER A BASIC UNDERSTANDING OF HOW PRINTS ARE LAID OUT AND
HOW TO FIND BASIC INFORMATION FROM THE PRINT.

THE TITLE BLOCK

THE TITLE BLOCK PROVIDES INFORMATION ABOUT THE PART. THE STANDARD
HORIZONTAL TITLE BLOCK IS LOCATION IN THE LOWER RIGHT HAND CORNER OF
THE DRAWING. TITLE BLOCKS VARY WIDELY FROM COMPANY TO COMPANY. THE
EXAMPLE PROVIDED IN THIS GUIDE CONFORMS TO THE LATEST STANDARDS.
SOME COMPANIES WILL USE SOME VARIOUS ELEMENTS OF THIS STANDARD.
GENERALLY, THE SAME OVERALL INFORMATION IS FOUND IN ALL TITLE BLOCKS
REGARDLESS OF THEIR OVERALL FORMAT. REFERRING TO THE CIRCLED
NUMBERS IN FIGURE 1-3 TO UNDERSTAND EACH OF THE 18 ITEMS LISTED
BELOW.
1. COMPANY NAME AND ADDRESS
2. DRAWING NUMBER - USUALLY SAME AS THE PART NUMBER.
3. DRAWING TITLE - A BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE PART.
4. DRAWING SIZE - THE SIZE OF PAPER THE PRINT IS ON.
5. SHEET NUMBER - WHEN MULTIPLE PAGES ARE NEEDED TO DESCRIBE A PART,
THIS WILL BE NUMBERED CONSECUTIVELY AND SHOW THE TOTAL NUMBER
OF PAGES.
6. SCALE - THE PROPORTION TO THE ACTUAL SIZE THE DRAWING IS DRAWN TO.
LARGE PARTS MUST BE "SCALED" DOWN TO FIT ON A SHEET OF PAPER; VERY
SMALL PARTS ARE DRAWN MUCH LARGER THAN ACTUAL SIZE TO FULLY
ILLUSTRATE THEM.
7. FSCM BLOCK - CODE NUMBERS ASSIGNED TO A COMPANY THAT DOES
GOVERNMENT CONTRACT WORK.
8. MATERIAL - PROVIDES THE EXACT MATERIAL THAT IS TO BE USED IN
MANUFACTURING THE PART.
9. FINISH - NOTES ANY PRIMER, PAINT, PLATING, ETC. THAT IS REQUIRED.
10. HEAT TREATMENT - IF REQUIRED
11. CONTRACT NUMBER - IF THIS PART IS DESIGNED FOR A PARTICULAR
CUSTOMER.
12. DRAWN BY- THE PERSON WHO ACTUALLY MADE THE DRAWING.

THE TITLE BLOCK

(CONT.)
13. CHECKED - THE PERSON WHO CHECKED THE DRAWING.
14. ISSUED - THE DATE DRAWING WAS RELEASED FOR USE.
15. REVISION - THE CURRENT REVISION LEVEL IS SHOWN IN THE LOWER RIGHT
HAND CORNER. REVISION HISTORIES ARE SHOWN IN THE UPPER LEFT HAND
CORNER
16. APPLICATION BLOCK - THIS SHOWS WHAT THIS PART IS USED ON OR IT'S
NEXT ASSEMBLY LEVEL.
17. PARTS LIST - THIS MAY BE USED TO LIST MATERIAL TYPE OR HARDWARE
REQUIRED.
18. TOLERANCE BLOCK - WHAT THE TOLERANCE IS FOR THE DIMENSIONS
SHOWN UNLESS OTHERWISE SPECIFIED, AND IS USED AS SUCH:

19. XX = +/-.01 MEANS

A DIMENSION WITH TWO (2) DECIMAL
PLACES HAS A TOLERANCE OF +/-.010
IF THE LENGTH OF THE PART IS 5.00,
THE TOLERANCE IS +/-.010.

Lines
A DRAWING IS MADE UP OF MANY LINES. EACH LINE HAS A PARTICULAR
MEANING AND REPRESENTS SOMETHING: A VISIBLE SURFACE, A HIDDEN
SURFACE, and A BEND LINE, CENTER OF A HOLE, HARDWARE.
IN ORDER TO HELP MAKE DRAWINGS EASIER TO READ AND UNDERSTAND, EACH
KIND OF LINE IS DRAWN WITH A DIFFERENT THICKNESS. THERE ARE TWO
DIFFERENT THICKNESS IN USE TODAY: THICK AND THIN, AND ARE USED AS
FOLLOWS:
THICK LINES ARE USED FOR:
OBJECT OR VISIBLE LINES
CUTTING PLANE LINES
BREAK LINES
THIN LINES ARE USED FOR:
HIDDEN LINES
BEND LINES
CENTERLINES
EXTENSION DIMENSION LINES
LEADER LINES
SECTION LINING LINES
PHANTOM LINES
BREAK LINES
PROJECTION LINES
THE FOLLOWING DIAGRAMS DESCRIBE WHAT THESE LINES ARE AND HOW THEY
APPLY. INCLUDED ARE ONLY THOSE THAT ARE IN COMMON USE AT FAB-TECH.

DIMENSIONS
THE FUNCTION OF A DRAWING IS TO GRAPHICALLY ILLUSTRATE AN OBJECT
WITH ENOUGH DETAIL SO THAT IT CAN BE MANUFACTURED WITHOUT QUESTION,
ANY PLACE IN THE WORLD, EXACTLY AS IT WAS INTENDED TO BE. IN ORDER TO
DO THIS, A DRAWING MUST BE DRAWN IN ACCORDANCE WITH ACCEPTED AND
RECOGNIZED STANDARD METHODS.
A FEW BASIC DIMENSIONING PRACTICES APPLY TO ALL VIEWS. THERE ARE TWO
KINDS OF DIMENSIONS: SIZE AND LOCATION. AS EACH NAME IMPLIES, SIZE
DIMENSION INDICATES THE SIZE, AND LOCATION INDICATES WHERE IT SHOULD
BE. FOR THE PURPOSES OF THIS GUIDE, ONLY THOSE DIMENSIONS RELATING
TO SIZE WILL BE DISCUSSED.
DIAMETER - THE DISTANCE FROM ONE SIDE OF A CIRCLE TO THE OPPOSITE
SIDE. THESE ARE NORMALLY CALLED OUT AS A SMALL CIRCLE WITH A
BACKSLASH, FOLLOWED BY THE SIZE OF THE HOLE. SEE FIGURE 4-5.

DIMENSIONS
(CONT.)
RADIUS - A RADIUS IS HALF THE DISTANCE ACROSS A DIAMETER. THE LETTER
"R" IS PLACED BEFORE THE SIZE OF THE RADIUS.

COUNTERSINK - THIS WILL BE CALLED OUT AS A DIAMETER, BUT WITH THE

NOTATION "COUNTERSINK" OR "C'SINK" OR THE LETTER "V" BEFORE THE SIZE.
ADDITIONALLY, THE ANGLE MAY BE INCLUDED. SEE FIGURE 5-6.

COUNTERBORE - THIS WILL BE CALLED OUT AS A DIAMETER AND A DEPTH. IT

MAY HAVE A SQUARE "U" IN FRONT OF IT.

LENGTH - THIS WILL BE A NUMERIC VALUES SHOWN WITH DIMENSION LINES.

TYPICAL - A DIMENSION FOLLOWED BY THE LETTERS "TYP" MEAN THAT ALL
SUCH FEATURES ARE THE SAME SIZE.
REFERENCE - A DIMENSION FOLLOWED BY THE LETTERS "REF" MEAN THAT THIS
DIMENSION IS FOR INFORMATION ONLY AND NO TOLERANCE APPLIES.

VIEWS
AS DESCRIBED EARLIER, TO ACCURATELY DESCRIBE A PART, A DRAWING MUST
PROVIDE ENOUGH DETAIL AS TO HOW THE PART MUST LOOK AFTER IT IS
MANUFACTURED. THIS MAY REQUIRE SHOWING MORE THAN ONE VIEW OF THE
PART. THERE ARE SOME BASIC GUIDELINES WITH RESPECT TO MULTIPLE VIEWS
THAT ARE DISCUSSED HERE.
ONE VIEW DRAWINGS
FIGURE 4-9 SHOWS A SIMPLE THIN PART. IF YOU HELD IT IN YOUR HAND, IT
WOULD LOOK LIKE FIGURE 4-9A. THE LINE OF SIGHT IS THE DIRECTION FROM
WHICH YOU ARE ACTUALLY VIEWING THE OBJECT. THE DRAFTER WOULD DRAW
THE PART AS A ONE-VIEW DRAWING AS SEEN IN FIGURE 4-9B. NOTE THAT ON
THIS ONE-VIEW DRAWING, DEPTH OR THICKNESS IS NOT SHOWN IN THIS VIEW.
THE THICKNESS IS NOTED IN THE TITLE BLOCK UNDER "MATERIAL". IN ONEVIEW DRAWINGS, THE ONE VIEW IS ALWAYS CONSIDERED THE FRONT VIEW.

MULTIPLE VIEW DRAWINGS

THESE ARE DRAWINGS THAT REQUIRE MORE THAN ONE VIEW TO UNDERSTAND
THE PART. ALTHOUGH THERE ARE MANY TYPES OF MULTIPLE VIEWS USED,
ONLY A DESCRIPTION OF THE MOST COMMON IS PROVIDED HERE.
THE MOST IMPORTANT VIEW IS ALWAYS THE FRONT VIEW. IT IS THE VIEW WITH
THE MOST DETAILS. ALL OTHER VIEWS, REGARDLESS OF WHICH VIEWS ARE
USED AND REGARDLESS OF HOW MANY VIEWS ARE USED, ARE PROJECTED
FROM THE FRONT VIEW.
LOOKING AT FIGURE 5-1 OF A SHORT PIECE OF PIPE, IMAGINE HOLDING IT IN
YOUR HAND. LOOK DIRECTLY AT THE END OF THE PIPE - THE FRONT VIEW.
SLOWLY ROTATE THE PIPE SO THAT THE RIGHT SIDE IS SEEN - THIS IS THE
RIGHT VIEW. THE RIGHT SIDE VIEW IS LOCATED DIRECTLY TO THE RIGHT OF
THE FRONT VIEW, AND ALTHOUGH IT IS ACTUALLY ROUND IN SHAPE, IT APPEARS
AS A RECTANGLE IN THE RIGHT SIDE VIEW. THE TWO HIDDEN LINES IN THE
RIGHT SIDE VIEW REPRESENT THE INNER WALLS OF THE PIPE.

LOOKING AT FIGURE 5-4 SHOWS A SIMPLE BLOCK WITH A RECTANGULAR CUT

OUT. IMAGINE HOLDING THIS BLOCK IN YOUR HAND LOOKING DIRECTLY AT ONE
SIDE - THE FRONT VIEW. THEN SLOWLY ROTATE THE BLOCK DO THE TOP VIEW
IS SEEN. THE TOP VIEW IS LOCATED DIRECTLY ABOVE THE FRONT VIEW.

CONCLUSION
THIS GUIDE IS NOT INTENDED TO COVER ALL CHARACTERISTICS AND
PRACTICES, BUT AS A SIMPLE TOOL TO HELP YOU UNDERSTAND THE
BLUEPRINTS YOU WILL USE EVERYDAY.