[Solved] Looking for doc on details of Preferences

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DaleEltoft
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[Solved] Looking for doc on details of Preferences

Post by DaleEltoft » Tue Jun 29, 2021 2:57 am

There are a lot of settings to be considered in the Preferences. Also in Properties. Many are easy to guess. Some I can speculate on using trial and error (thanks for that restore to defaults button which at least has a tool tip). However, there's a bunch I don't understand. There's a question mark "tool" that I suppose is intended to display help but at the moment hasn't been implemented.

I can't see explanations in the User Reference Manual or the Introduction book. Is there other documentation?

I'm running 3.26.4.0 on Windows.
Last edited by DaleEltoft on Sun Jul 04, 2021 1:30 am, edited 1 time in total.

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ryancousins
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Re: Looking for doc on details of Preferences

Post by ryancousins » Tue Jun 29, 2021 3:21 am

I'm not aware of any stand alone guide that goes through what all the preference options do, but feel free to ask in here. There are several people happy to help out.

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DaleEltoft
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Re: Looking for doc on details of Preferences

Post by DaleEltoft » Tue Jun 29, 2021 3:37 am

Here's a question that's off topic but I see that you teach high school drafting. I learned a bit of drafting in high school circa 1963. Now I'm getting started on some bridge building projects for a volunteer organization. Do you have any recommendations for beginner online courses or books?

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Re: Looking for doc on details of Preferences

Post by Panchdara » Tue Jun 29, 2021 7:29 am

DaleEltoft wrote:
Tue Jun 29, 2021 3:37 am
Here's a question that's off topic .... I'm getting started on some bridge building projects ...
Not another bridge salesman! 😁😁😁JUST KIDDING! 🤐

Actually sounds more structural engineering than CAD????? 👍
Windows 10

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ryancousins
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Re: Looking for doc on details of Preferences

Post by ryancousins » Thu Jul 01, 2021 2:56 am

Are you talking about paper drafting or CAD? I teach very very basic beginning drafting and 2D CAD. I have never found a good online resource for manual drafting skills. I use the Exploring Drafting: Basic Fundamentals textbook a little but mostly do my own thing. As far as online resources for CAD, most of it is YouTube videos for AutoCAD, though there are some QCAD videos out there on YouTube, also.

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DaleEltoft
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Re: Looking for doc on details of Preferences

Post by DaleEltoft » Thu Jul 01, 2021 3:43 am

I'm getting the CAD thing down pretty good & I can do a quick sketch with a straight edge. However, those are tools. Where I'm lacking is the knowing the conventions and standards. I'm going to head over to the library to see what's available.

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ryancousins
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Re: Looking for doc on details of Preferences

Post by ryancousins » Thu Jul 01, 2021 4:30 am

Gotcha. Two possible resources are the national CAD standards, which are focused on Architectural standards. You have to pay for the current version (6), however the 4th version can be found in the wild. https://web.itu.edu.tr/~yamanhak/ders/ ... C_S-v4.pdf

Or there are the ASME Y14.5 standards which are for engineering design. Like above, you have to pay for the current version but the previous can be found for free http://mu2e.phy.duke.edu/cw/drawing/GD ... %20(1).pdf

I don’t know if either of those are what you’re looking for but I think they’re really comprehensive and interesting resources either way.

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Husky
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Re: Looking for doc on details of Preferences

Post by Husky » Thu Jul 01, 2021 7:28 am

Thinking about this ...
DaleEltoft wrote:
Thu Jul 01, 2021 3:43 am
Where I'm lacking is the knowing the conventions and standards. I'm going to head over to the library to see what's available.
Fact is: It takes years to become a draftsman who knows all conventions and standards. With or without CAD! Howsoever - it is possible!
Knowing a little bit about your goal I would ask myself who is using your drawings? Architects / engineers or a group of volunteer helpers? Or do you need them for the required permit process?
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DaleEltoft
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Re: Looking for doc on details of Preferences

Post by DaleEltoft » Sat Jul 03, 2021 9:08 pm

I volunteer with the Mountains to Sea Trail group in NC. We build & maintain hiking trails. The trails mostly follow public land and greenways. That is land developers haven't paved and that is areas along streams & rivers. Consequently trails often cross creeks and need bridges. These are fairly simple 40 or 50 foot long foot bridges. Many of these are built by other groups like Boy Scouts as projects. Not all of these have turned out well. We have decided to create a guide with specifications which will need drawings. So I'd like to create drawings that not only convey the plans but are also reasonably good enough to give young people the proper impression of how a "blueprint" should look.

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Husky
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Re: Looking for doc on details of Preferences

Post by Husky » Sat Jul 03, 2021 11:11 pm

Sounds interesting and QCAD is the right tool for it!

I would look into a "Standard" modular bridge design what means all bridges are the same style just different lengths. A modular design makes it easy to put just so many section together as you need to gross a river etc.. No matter if it is a 10 or 50 footer bridge. QCAD's block / library feature will help you a lot with that. If you prepare your drawing carefully a new bridge can be build in one or two hours ...... at least in CAD.
It is also easy to precalculate how much lumber you need, what is the cost (material) of the project and many of those lumber cuts can be done in the shop before the parts are delivered to the built side. It makes your life just easier ...

Husky-2021.07.03-01.png
Husky-2021.07.03-01.png (39.8 KiB) Viewed 6586 times

I assume you will built your bridges with standard lumber - maybe this collection of Library Items can help you in the beginning:
viewtopic.php?f=51&t=2536&p=8397&hilit=lumber#p8397

Just my two cents ... have fun!
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DaleEltoft
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Re: Looking for doc on details of Preferences

Post by DaleEltoft » Sun Jul 04, 2021 1:20 am

Seems like a good approach. Thanks for the lumber. I can see that part of successful CADding (sp?) is building a collection of library content. e_geek

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