hey guys, i have an oppurtunity to buy a vemco 3500 detailer at a really good price and was just wondering what you guys think of drafting arms and in particular the 3500 detailer if you've used it, i've never used a drafting arm.
I used an elbo arm drafting machine for my first job as a summer intern fresh out of highschool in 95. It was smooth and fast. Beats a mayline anyday. However ACAD is the only logical option. Is this for production or fun?
I got an old drafting table from an engineering firm that was liquidating. Came with the drafting arms. One spanning the entire width of the table and another the depth. Has all the attachments with scales printed right on them. Also got some heavy duty triangles with it. Not sure on brand/model but it's all huge, heavy and dates to the late 60's.
Took it off the table, which by itself is a beautiful table, and put my mayline on the table. Any questions?
i like 'em. my first job out of school was for a developer/construction company. the only drawing table in the place had a drafting arm on it. I enjoyed using it, as much or more than a mayline...it's not faster by any means, but i'm not too quick anyway...so....
hey guys, i should mention its one of those elbow type arms, not the big machines with the perpindicular tracks. I want to use it to work on presentation type hand drawings and to make quick axonometric sketches. I'm working on my portfolio for my application to masters programs but i don't have an arch background so i dont really have any experience with drafting machines. does your table have to be pretty much flat to use the elbow or will it stay in place if the table is raised to 20 or 25 degrees? Are these machines easy to manipulate quickly and accurately? Those are my two main questions.
Let me put it this way. In three years of grad school we have had to do ONE hand drawing. So people used CAD anyway and the teachers didn't care. So think before you spend.
Since your in school, whatever medium you can make and articulate your ideas will be the best one for you. A good drawing is a good drawing no matter what.
ok im bumping this again because im still in limbo and have to decide very soon. My main question is are these elbows easy to manipulate quickly and accurately/smoothly. thanks for all the info so far guys.
ok for anyone whose interested i got the drafting arm and it totally rocks. Yes, thats right i just described a drafting arm as "totally rocking" and i'm well aware of how much of a dork that makes me but i love mechanical things and it works really really well. so thanks for all the input guys.
enjoy. Old technology has a special place in my heart, as well. My old Mac IIe sits on my bookshelf, permanently on the clock screensaver in After Dark.
I think my first concern for you was, given the total net value of what you planned on using it for, that money could have been better spent elsewhere. Good luck, drafting arms are fun.
Old school is the Swiss guy in my 2nd year studio who used a T-square and never taped down his drawings.
To drafting arm? or not to drafting arm?
hey guys, i have an oppurtunity to buy a vemco 3500 detailer at a really good price and was just wondering what you guys think of drafting arms and in particular the 3500 detailer if you've used it, i've never used a drafting arm.
drafting arm? Does that play vynil records?
mayline and triangles all the way or t-square and triangles all the way.
you'd want to use it for a bit to figure out if it's for you. everybody likes different stuff. ...but a drafting machine's not for me.
I used an elbo arm drafting machine for my first job as a summer intern fresh out of highschool in 95. It was smooth and fast. Beats a mayline anyday. However ACAD is the only logical option. Is this for production or fun?
I got an old drafting table from an engineering firm that was liquidating. Came with the drafting arms. One spanning the entire width of the table and another the depth. Has all the attachments with scales printed right on them. Also got some heavy duty triangles with it. Not sure on brand/model but it's all huge, heavy and dates to the late 60's.
Took it off the table, which by itself is a beautiful table, and put my mayline on the table. Any questions?
Oh A, How could you
i like 'em. my first job out of school was for a developer/construction company. the only drawing table in the place had a drafting arm on it. I enjoyed using it, as much or more than a mayline...it's not faster by any means, but i'm not too quick anyway...so....
never could draw reallly long lines with a d-machine. give me a mayline anyday....
man this takes me back to the early days of the '90s...
... hell, early days of the '60s
Ah ... the good ol' days ...
well back in the 1890's this is how they did it:
no drafting machines in sight...
hey guys, i should mention its one of those elbow type arms, not the big machines with the perpindicular tracks. I want to use it to work on presentation type hand drawings and to make quick axonometric sketches. I'm working on my portfolio for my application to masters programs but i don't have an arch background so i dont really have any experience with drafting machines. does your table have to be pretty much flat to use the elbow or will it stay in place if the table is raised to 20 or 25 degrees? Are these machines easy to manipulate quickly and accurately? Those are my two main questions.
Let me put it this way. In three years of grad school we have had to do ONE hand drawing. So people used CAD anyway and the teachers didn't care. So think before you spend.
Since your in school, whatever medium you can make and articulate your ideas will be the best one for you. A good drawing is a good drawing no matter what.
seriously. is anyone on the planet NOT drafting on a computer?
yes, I am looking at one.
i draw freehand.
t-square maybe.
Definately go with the parallel ruler, I've seen too many drawings accidently ripped in half with the drafting arms.
bump bump
sharpie/paper/napkin
colored sharpie on vellun = best diagrams ever.
ok im bumping this again because im still in limbo and have to decide very soon. My main question is are these elbows easy to manipulate quickly and accurately/smoothly. thanks for all the info so far guys.
ok for anyone whose interested i got the drafting arm and it totally rocks. Yes, thats right i just described a drafting arm as "totally rocking" and i'm well aware of how much of a dork that makes me but i love mechanical things and it works really really well. so thanks for all the input guys.
enjoy. Old technology has a special place in my heart, as well. My old Mac IIe sits on my bookshelf, permanently on the clock screensaver in After Dark.
I think my first concern for you was, given the total net value of what you planned on using it for, that money could have been better spent elsewhere. Good luck, drafting arms are fun.
Old school is the Swiss guy in my 2nd year studio who used a T-square and never taped down his drawings.
i want that "High Paying Job In Drafting"
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