IsometricDrawing
Description
Isometric drawings use perspectiveto communicatealargeamount of information ina singledrawing. Isometric drawingsshowthreesides ofanobject,makingiteasier to better understandhow a finished object may look or howthe pieces ofthe object will fit together.Inthisactivity,students will draw an isometric drawing onapiece of paperwitha titleblock.Students will alsocontinuetopractise lineweights andlettering techniques.
LessonObjectives
The student willbeableto:
•Completea boardset-up
•Identify andappropriatelyuse drafting tools
•Create an isometric drawing of an object
•Differentiatelineweights
•Refine letteringtechniques
Assumptions
The student will:
•Havea basic knowledge of draftingtoolsand equipment
•Have a foundationalunderstandingofhowtoappropriatelyuse drafting equipment
•Havecreated a title block on which tocompletethis activity
Terminology
Borderortitleblocklines:thick,darklinesusedtocreateasolidborderaroundablankpage.
Draftingboard:aflat,smoothsurfaceusuallycoveredin vinyl towhichpaperisaffixed.Thedraftingboardhas square, paralleledgesthatallowa T-square toslideeasily.
Draftingbrush:usedtosweep away debrisfromadrawingsothefulldrawingisnotsmeared.
Erasershield:amicro-thinpieceofmetalwithcut-outsthatallowtheusertoerasedetailedsectionsofadrawingwithouterasingtherestofthedrawing.
Guidelines:thin,lightlines,drawnwhenusingtheletteringguideforevenlyspacedletters.
Isometricdrawing:atwo-dimensionaldrawingthatlooks3D.Thisdrawingwillshowthreesidesoftheobjectinoneviewandwillbecreatedusinglinesprimarilyat30and90degreesfromhorizontal.Whendrawingonpaper, you willusea30/60/90triangle.
Layoutlines:verylightlinesusedto layout measurementsbeforethosemeasurements aredrawninheavy,darklines.
Letteringguide:usedtoassistinthedrawingofuniformlinestodrawconsistent, evenlyspacedlettering.
Lineweight:thethicknessanddarknessofdrawnlines.
Maskingtape(draftingdots):holdsdrawingpaperand/orvellum tothedraftingboardsothepaperdoesnotshiftwhiledrawing.
Pencil:adrawing utensilwithamechanicalorsolidcore (lead).Leadsrangefromhardtosoft:6H,4H,2H,H,HB,2B,4B,6B.HisveryhardwithafinepointandBisextremelysoftwithabluntpoint.Ahardnessof2Hwillbeusedfortheseactivities.
Precisiondrawing:theactofcreatingdrawingswithspecializedtoolsandequipment.
Steelrule:astraightedgemadeofrigidmaterialanddivided intospecificincrements,foundbothinmetricandimperialunits.
Triangles(rightangleandisosceles):draftingguidesmadeofhard,clearplasticthatareusedtodrawlinesatverticalandsetangles (45°-90°-45°, 30°-60°-90°).
T-square:precisiondrawinginstrumentthatisusedasaguidewithotherdraftingequipment.The T-square hasa90°anglewheretheheadandbladeattach.
EstimatedTime
60–90minutes
RecommendedNumberofStudents
20, basedontheBCTechnology Educators’Best PracticeGuide
Facilities
•Regular classroom spacewithdesks/chairsforallstudents
•Drafting boardswould be ideal.Howeversmooth,clean,flat surfaces willalso suffice.
Tools
•T-square
•Steelrule
•Triangles(rightangle andisosceles)
•Eraser shield
•Draftingbrush
•Maskingtape(drafting dots)
•Draftingboard
•Letteringguide
•2H mechanical pencil
•Isometricdot paperfor practice
Materials
•Handoutforstudentswithinstructions(this could be directly from thisdocument—i.e.,printthetextundertheTeacher-ledActivity)
•Title-block drawingpage(createdinIntroductiontoTitleBlocksactivity)
•Isometricdot paperfor practice
•Wooden block usedin theScale and DimensioningandOrthographic Drawingactivities
Teacher-ledActivity:IsometricNotes
Anisometricdrawingisbased on threeaxesthatareequallyspacedapartat120°(Figure1).Lines that runparallel tothe axes are calledisometriclines. Linesthat are NOT parallel arecallednon-isometriclines.
Anisometricdrawing can be identifiedbyseveralfactors:
•Verticalplanes or edgesarestilldrawnvertically.
•Left andrightplanesaredrawnatanangleof 30° abovehorizontal.
•Nohorizontal lines are foundon isometrics.
Figure1Anisometric view.Isometricsshowathree-dimensionalobjectfromthree perspectivesin asingle drawing.
Teacher-ledActivity
Have studentssketch anobjectusingcorrect isometric standards.Labellingthe sides oftheobject with a sticky notemayassistnovicestodifferentiatebetweenthedifferentplanes.
Isometricpaper(includes vertical axesaswellas 30° axesalreadylaidout)isanexcellentwaytobegin.
1.Gatherallmaterials listed above.
2.Demonstrate:UsingtheT-squareandmaskingtape/draftingdots,align title-blocked papertoyour drafting boardandsecurely tape down(Figure2).
Figure2Securepapertoboard
3.Thethreedimensions oflength, width,andheightaredrawn alongthe isometric axesshowninFigure3.Thelengthsof objects runningparalleltotheseaxes can be drawntoscale.Lines atother angleswill not betoscale.
Figure3Height, width, andlength drawn alongisometric axes
4.Draw a small,six-pointedstar-shaped axis on the bottom corner ofyourpaper(Figure4).Theslopingaxesshould be drawnat a 30° angle from thehorizontal grid line.The verticalaxis ofthestarindicatesheight (H) or depth(D),andthe two slopingaxesindicate thelength
(L) and thewidth (W) oftherectangle.Theverticalaxiscanbeused as a referenceguidewhenmakinglines on yourdrawing.
Figure4Six-pointedstar-shapedaxis
5.Sketchthetopofthe block bydrawingtwolines,oneparallelto L andoneparallelto W(Figure5).
Figure5Sketchingthetopof theblock
6.Sketchtwolines,oneparallelto L andoneparallelto D asshowninFigure6.
Figure6Sketchingthesideof theblock
7.Sketch twolines,oneparallelto W andone parallel toD,tocompletethe outlineof therectangular block (Figure7).Beginwithlightlayoutlines so thatyou can makeany
necessary adjustmentsbeforedarkeningthem.Thefinishedisometricsketchisdrawnwithdark object linesinFigure 8.
Figure7Full outlineofrectangularblockFigure8Isometricobject
8.Completethe activity byfillinginthetitle block asfollows:
ACTIVITY # 6 / NAMEDATE
ISOMETRIC / SCALE OF DRAWING 1:1
PAGE 1 OF 1
ExtensionActivity
Furtherdrawing practice creatingmoreisometricobjects,usingdifferentwooden cut-outshapes.
Assessment
•Student participation indiscussion/demonstration
•Completionof drawing with overall neatness:
–Linesare concisely drawn.
–Isometric object is accurateandproportionalto page.
–Borderlines cross toensure closed corners.
–Letteringisdoneto a highquality(alluppercase).
–Title block isfilledout correctly withappropriateinformation.
AppendixAcknowledgment
© Camosun College.TradesAccess Common Core:CompetencyD-3:ReadDrawingsandSpecifications(pp.79–83).TheTrades Access Common Core resourcesarelicensedundertheCreativeCommons Attribution 4.0 Unported Licence ( otherwise noted.
Appendix
Makeisometricsketchesofsimplerectangularobjects
Isometricsketchesareusefulbecausetheyareeasytodrawandclearlyrepresentanobject orsystem.Thisclaritycomesfromusingdirectionallinestorepresentthethreedimensionsoflength,width,andheight,muchlikeapicture.
Constructionmethods
Thefollowingstepsexplainhowtodrawanisometriccube.Thethreedimensionsoflength,width,andheightaredrawnalongtheisometricaxesshowninFigure8.Thelengthsofobjectsrunningparalleltotheseaxescanbedrawntoscale.Linesatotherangleswillnotbetoscale.
Height
Figure8—Isometricaxes
Drawasmallstar-shapedaxisonthebottomcornerofyourgridpaper.Theslopingaxesshouldbedrawnata30°degreeanglefromthehorizontalgridline.Theverticalaxisofthestarindicatesheight(H)ordepth(D),andthetwoslopingaxesindicatethelength(L)andthewidth(W)oftherectangle.Theverticalaxiscanbeusedasaguidewhenmakinglinesonyourdrawing.NoticewehavelabelledthepointsonthestarinFigure9.Theselabelscanchangedependingontheviewthatyoumaywantwhendrawingastationaryobject.Thebottomtwohorizontalpointsindicatetheviewthatisbeingdrawn.Inthiscasewewouldbecreatingafront-rightview.
Toporplan
LeftBack
30º30º
FrontRight
Bottom
Figure9—Step1:Isometricguideforfront-rightview
8“Download for free at
SkillsExploration10–12
Sketchthe top oftheblock by drawingtwolines,oneparallelto L andoneparallel toW (Figure10).
Figure10—Step2:Isometricviewoftopsurfaceofarectangularblock
Sketchtwolines,oneparalleltoLandoneparalleltoDasshowninFigure11.
Figure11—Step3:LinesparalleltoLandD
Sketchtwolines,oneparalleltoWandoneparalleltoD,tocompletetheoutlineoftherectangularblockasshowninFigure12.Beginwithlightconstructionlinessothatyoucanmakeanynecessaryadjustmentsbeforedarkeningthem.ThefinishedisometricsketchisshowninFigure13.
Figure12—Step4:Completedoutlineofrectangularblock
Figure13—Completedisometricsketch
Sketchingirregularshapeswithisometriclines
Notallrectangularobjectsareassimpleastheblockyouhavejustsketched.Sometimestheshapesareirregularandhavecut-outsectionsorsomesideslongerthanothers.Allrectangularobjectscanbefittedintoaboxhavingthemaximumlength(L),width(W),anddepth(D).Beginbysketchingalightoutlineofabasicboxthatisthesizeoftheobjecttobedrawn.
Asanexample,considertheobjectshowninthethree-vieworthographicsketchinFigure14. Toproduceanisometricsketchofthisobject,youneedtofindthemaximumL,W,andDforthecontainingbox(Figure14).Inthiscase:
L=5gridspacesW=3gridspacesD=3gridspaces
Top
W=3L=5 / H=3
Side
Figure14—Orthographicviews
Front
Sketchalightoutlineofthebasicrectangularboxtotherequiredsize,asshowninFigure15.
Top
D=3units
Front
L=5units
Side
W=3units
Figure15—Basicoutline
Thefrontviewshowstheoutlinemostclearly.Placethisviewonthefrontsurfaceoftheisometricbox.UsethedimensiongiveninthefrontviewofFigure14andmarkthenumberofunitsindicatedalongtheaxesLandD(Figure16).
Figure16—Locationofmarksonaxes
LightlysketchlinesparalleltotheLandDaxesfromthemarkedpointsonthefrontsurface(Figure17).Thestepoutlineisdrawnmoreheavilytoemphasizetheprofileoftheobject,onceyouaresureyoursketchiscorrect.
Figure17—Locationofmainfeatures
Figure18—Locationofoutersurfaces
Sketchinaseriesoflinesparalleltotheaxes(L,W,andD)fromthecornersnumbered1to7(Figure18).TheselinesestablishthesteppedoutlineasshowninFigure19.
Whenyouaresureyourisometricsketchiscorrect,eraseallunnecessaryconstructionlinesanddarkentheobjectlines.YourcompletedsketchoftherectangularobjectshouldbesimilartothatinFigure20.
Figure19—Internalfeatures
Figure20—Completedsketch