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Preface Preface
A course in drafting should be a part of your education. It will help you develop the
capacity to plan and solve problems in an organized fashion, to interpret the ideas of
others, and to express yourself in a manner that can be easily understood by anyone.
Exploring Drafting provides information about drafting fundamentals and concepts.
It also provides opportunities to learn about basic geometric constructions. These are
the mathematical tools used to solve practical problems and create the various types of
drawings that communicate information about products. As you read and work through
the book, you will learn the drafting methods and processes used by industry. You will
also develop and practice drafting skills and techniques.
Exploring Drafting is current with the latest ANSI/ASME (American National
Standards Institute/American Society of Mechanical Engineers) practices. You will learn
how to use standard symbols to communicate in the international language—drafting.
Exploring Drafting provides you with the basic understanding necessary to allow
you to progress from manual drafting into CAD (computer-aided drafting and design).
The information and activities in this text will supply you with the solid foundation of
drafting skills and techniques you will need to effi ciently draw and design using most
CAD systems. It is important to note that CAD is a tool that incorporates the concepts
of manual drafting. The principles of drafting are common to both traditional (manual)
drafting and CAD.
Exploring Drafting provides information and activities that are consistent with and
satisfy the basic drafting standards that have been adopted by many states and/or
school districts. The content and activities in the book also are consistent with the
International Technology and Engineering Educators Association (ITEEA) standards
for technological literacy.
Drafting, the “language of industry,” offers many career opportunities. Some of these
exciting and rewarding futures are described in Chapter 2, Careers in Drafting.
You will fi nd that the ability to draw and to understand drafting will be of benefi t
throughout your lifetime as a consumer, as well as in the career you pursue. The ability
to draft and understand drawings is an ability that most anyone will fi nd useful.