Engineering Drawing

Lecture 7

‫زانكـــويا ثوليتــــةكنيكى يا دهـــؤك‬

‫جامعــــــــة دهــــــــــوك التقـــــنية‬
Assistant Lecturer: Nazeer M. Ali Duhok Polytechnic University

Scales

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 Scales
• Scales (scale rulers) are used to measure distances
on technical drawings.

• Purpose of scales is to allow an Engineer, Architect,

Technician or Contractor to determine scaled
measurements from Drawings or Maps very
quickly and easily.

• This mean, the scale is used to convert actual

ground measurement into paper size.

Metric Scales Civil Scales

Architect’s Scales

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 Scales
• Drawings and Maps are drawn to different scales
such as:
1: 1 (Full size) or 1: 2 (Half size).

• On The Basis Of Scale:- Maps are divided in to

three groups.

A. Large scale map ( >1:50,000)

B. Medium scale map (1:50,000 & 1:250,000)
C. Small scale map (<1:250,000)

Scales
• Each drawing needs to indicate the scale.
For example:

SCALE 1:1 ALL DIMENSIONS IN MM OR

SCALE 1:100 ALL DIMENSIONS IN MM

• If the drawing is not dimensioned and is not drawn

to specific scale,

• The term NOT TO SCALE should be indicated

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 Types of Scales
• The most important ones are Metric, Civil and
Architect’s.
• We also have Mechanical Engineering or
Combination.

• An Architect’s scale is used to create drawings of

structures, such as a building or a factory floor
layout.

• The Civil engineer’s scale is a decimal scale

divided into multiple units of 10 and is called a fully
divided scale.

Types of Scales
• The International organization that established the
metric standard is the International Standards
Organization (ISO).

• The system is called the International System of

Units or Systeme Internationale, abbreviated SI.

• Metric scale is used to create scaled technical

drawings using SI units.

• A standard ruler measurement is usually about a

foot long, or in metric terms, about 30 centimeters.

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 Types of Scales
• You will find the ruler marked with lines which are
designated with numbers from 1 to 30 and
• between each set of numbers, there are smaller
lines which indicate the number of millimeters.
• 10 mm = 1 cm, 100 cm = 1 m and so on.

• To measure the length between two points on a

paper or other medium,
• Place the ruler with the first centimeter line (which
can be tagged as zero) on the first point.

Example
• Mark the number at which the second dot on the
paper corresponds to the centimeter reading, on the
ruler.
• With one point placed against the zero mark and
the second point shows a reading of 3.
• In this case, the distance in centimeters between
the two points is 3cm.

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 Example
• If the point is actually placed at a point beyond 3
but well within the line depicting 4,
• Count the smaller lines which show the millimeter
scale and count the number of lines at which the
point rests, say at the 5th small line,
• in which case the distance between the two points
is 3.5cm or 35mm.
3.5 cm=35 mm
Goes to 30 cm

3 cm=30 mm

International System of Units

• Millimeter (mm) is the primary SI unit.

• Conversion: U.S. Customary 1” = 25.4 mm.

• Kilometer (km) is used for large scale drawings.

1 km = 1,000 m
1 m = 1,000 mm
1 m = 100 cm
1 cm = 10 mm

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 Metric Scales
• The metric scale ruler has 3 sides and there are 6 different scales
on this scale.

• The number on each corner refers to the scale on the drawing.

• For example 1:125 on this scale means: every millimeter on the
drawing is equal to 125 millimeters in real life.
1 mm =125 mm
• We write this scale as or
Scale = 1/125

Common Metric Scales

1: 1 Full Size
1: 2 Half Size
1: 5 1/5 Size

1: 20 1/20 Size (can be used for 1/200 size)

1: 50 (can be used for 1/5 size)
1: 100 (can be used for full size)

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 Metric Scales

There are 6 scales to use.

Number Scale

1:1 1
1:10 1/10
1:2 1/2
1:20 1:20
1:5 1/5
1:50 1/50

Figure 6.54

Metric Scale
A. How long is this match?
• Every 10 divisions on this scale are 10 mm (as shown).
• The match is longer than 20 mm.
• You have 6 divisions after 20, which are equal to 6 mm.
So it is 26 mm long!

What is the scale?

Scale is 1
or 1 mm =1 mm

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 Metric Scale
B. How long is this screw?
• Every 10 divisions on this scale are 200 mm (as shown).
• So every division is 20 mm.
• The screw is longer than 400 mm.
• You have 2 divisions after 400 mm which are equal to 2x20=40 mm.
• So it is 440 mm long!

What is the scale?

1/20
or 1 mm=20 mm

Metric Scale
C. How long is this knife?
• Every division on this scale is 5 mm (as shown in corner).
• So every 20 division are equal to 100 mm (shown for the
first number).
• The knife is longer than 300 mm.
• You have 7 divisions after 300 mm which are equal to
7x5=35 mm. So it is 335 mm long!
What is the scale?

1/5
or 1 mm=5 mm

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 Civil Engineer’s Scales
• It is a decimal scale divided into multiple units of 10 and is called a fully divided scale.

There are 6 scales to use.

Number Scale

10 1"=10’
50 1"=50’
20 1"=20’
40 1"=40’
30 1"=30’
60 1"=60’

Every inch on the

drawing is equal
to 60 feet in real
life!

Civil Scales
• Regardless of the number you see on the corner (here 10),
• Every division of the scale is always 1 foot in real life.
• Always count the number of divisions and that is the measurement
in feet.
• Below, you see 17 divisions, which are equal to 17 feet and
• 26 divisions which are equal to 26 feet!

This is actually 1 inch, which is equal to 50 feet in

real life! So a civil engineer can use this scale to
draw bridges and other long structures.

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 Civil Scales
How long is this bridge in real life?

Civil Scales
• The bridge is longer than 120 feet.
• Remember that each number should be multiplied by 10 to show
the actual number in feet.
• It is 3 divisions more or 3 feet.
• So the bridge is 123 feet long.
What is the scale?

20 feet 40 feet 60 feet 120 feet

1 " =50’

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 Civil Engineer’s Scale

There are other possible scales for each scale ruler that we choose, but for this
course we focus on the most common case.

Civil
How long is the width of
Scales this small cottage in real
life?

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 Civil Scales
• The width of the cottage is longer than 20 feet.
• Remember that each number should be multiplied by 10
to show the actual number in feet.
• It is 4 divisions more or 4 feet.
• So the bridge is 24 feet long.
What is the scale?

20 feet 30 feet
10 feet
1 " =20’

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