ME1105 CAD Tutorial 1 1 Prepared by A.

Kovacevic
AutoCAD Tutorial - Part1: Draw the front view of the mechanical
. part from Tutorial 3.
ME1105 CAD Tutorial 1 2 Prepared by A.Kovacevic


In this tutorial you will learn how to start AutoCAD, make the new drawing,
draw the front view of the object shown and how to save a drawing.
Starting AutoCAD

Log on to the computer using your university login name and password.
Start AutoCAD by double clicking on the AutoCAD icon or through
Start/Programs/Main Applications/AutoCAD 2009 menu.
Despite command line
interfaces being
considered totally
archaic the command
area in AutoCAD is
absolutely vital! One of
the key things I'm
trying to "get you to
do" in these tutorials is
to watch the command
area! Using AutoCAD
is like a conversation
and AutoCAD's half of
the conversation comes
from the text in the
command area...
Once AutoCAD has loaded, first cancel AutoCAD Today window by pressing
on the X on the top right side of the window. Then move the mouse around until
you see a crosshair cursor. The AutoCAD window has a number of important
features:
1. The standard Windows ribbons and panels.
2. The standard Windows toolbar above the menus, it includes: File-New, File-Open, File-
Save, Print and "Find and Replace"(!!).
3. AutoCAD specific toolbars: Object Properties, Draw and Modify (there may be
others...?).
4. The graphics area - that's the area where you draw - note the scroll bars and the axis
label.
5. View icons - these 'tabs' give access to different view of the current drawing. The
"model" tab should be selected at present.
6. The command area - this small window (by default) has space for three lines of text -
this is where you type commands.
7. The status area, at the bottom of the AutoCAD window, this includes the current cursor
position.


ME1105 CAD Tutorial 1 3 Prepared by A.Kovacevic
Command Entry
Typically there are three ways of giving a command!
Not all commands are on the
Menus and/or toolbars!
1. Type the command using the keyboard - the command is displayed in the
command area.
2. Select the command from a menu (under the big red A).
3. Select the command's icon from a ribbon panel.
When we want you to type a command in the command area the AutoCAD
command will be written like:
This means : type the text
(qsave) and then press the
Enter key (or the space-bar).
type: QSAVE
When we want you to select a command from a menu, it will look like:
This means: click on the
'File' menu and then 'Save'
(which should be one of the
items on the 'File' menu).
select File - Save
AutoCAD also supports
common shortcuts like Ctrl-S
for Save!!
When I want you to pick a command from a toolbar, I'll write:

select Save
Here I'm trying to cover all
the bases by giving you the
command to type, the menu
options and showing you
what the toolbar icon looks
like! Despite all of the above, I'll probably use a combination of the above like:

select File - Save (or type QSAVE )
Create and set up New Drawing
This will create new blank
drawing
Go to City Space ME1105 page and Click on City A3 V2004Template.
Switch to the model space by clicking on Model icon (from the Status area
(underneath the command line).
Set up the drawing limits -
space in which the drawing
will be made
Select: Format Drawing Limits, then type:
0,0
420,297 these are absolute Cartesian coordinates
This repeats last executed
command
Press: ENTER to repeat the last command
This turns drawing limits on,
which enables you to draw
only within that area.
Attempts to draw outside it
result only with message
**Outside limits
Type: ON
ME1105 CAD Tutorial 1 4 Prepared by A.Kovacevic
Show the grid Select: GRID from the Status area or type: GRID and then ON
Snap to grid
Select: SNAP or type: SNAP and then ON
Type: SNAP and then 5
Turn SNAP OFF
Enter ortho mode Select: ORTHO or type: ORTHO and then ON
Select current layer
Select Layer Properties manager or type LAYER
Double click on Layer DRAW to make it the Current layer (green tick).
Close Layer Properties manager.
Start drawing the front view of the mechanical part

In this part of the exercise you will make a front view of the part drawn in
exercise DrE-3

Select Rectangle (or type RECTANG ), then type:
The text typed is displayed in
the command area at the
bottom of AutoCAD's
window.
100,100 starting point is absolute Cartesian coordinates
110,105 continues in relative (Incremental) Cartesian coordinates

Hopefully AutoCAD drew a rectangle, which fits comfortably in the AutoCAD
graphics area!? If you can't see the rectangle, type z [space] a [space] (zoom all) -
this instructs AutoCAD to redraw the view, "zooming out" to show all the
graphics on the drawing.
Coordinate Systems
AutoCAD is a three
dimensional CAD system, so
you can also enter XYZ
values instead of the XY
values shown here.
When specifying positions you can use Cartesian or Polar Coordinates. Cartesian
coordinates are simply a X value, a comma, and a Y value, for example: 100,100.
Polar coordinates are a Distance followed by a <symbol and an angle, for
example: 10<25. Angles are measured in degrees, with 0 =East and 90 =North.
Any of these numbers can have decimal values.
Consider relative
coordinates simply as
distances!
AutoCAD defaults to use "relative coordinates" to specify a position relative to
the current position, for example: 5.6,-3.4 and 16.32<62. To specify a particular
position we need to use "absolute coordinates" by preceding the coordinate
with #, eg #5.6,-3.4 and #16.32<62.
Draw some lines using Line command
We will now draw some more graphics and then save and exit AutoCAD.
Type LINE or select from the draw menu
Instead of LINE, you can
also type: L this is an
"alias" - which is a short-cut.



Type 112,100
Type 0,70
Type 37,0
Type 0,-70
Remember: If you press
after you finish a command,
the command is re-issued.
Press to terminate the command, and then press again to re-start the
command!
If you type symbol @ before Here is an alternative way to specify "relative coordinates".
ME1105 CAD Tutorial 1 5 Prepared by A.Kovacevic
the coordinate entry this
specifies relative position to
the previous last position of
the cursor
Type: 100,155 for the line start, then type @12,0 for the relative coordinate
definition.
Terminate line command by pressing .
Snap Modes
A simple way to turn Object
Snap ON or OFF, is to click
on "OSNAP" in the status
Area. To see the various
snap options "right-click" on
"OSNAP" (in the status area)
and select "Settings...".
It is often useful to be able to draw something from (for example) the end of
another shape. AutoCAD has a large selection of "snap modes" for this purpose.
The most commonly used snap modes are "Endpoint" (which snaps to the end of
the selected graphics entity) and "Intersection" (which snaps to the intersection of
two graphics entities).
To get AutoCAD to display
the Object Snap Modes
toolbar, select
"Tools","Toolbars",
"Autocad","Object Snap".
The object snap modes can either be typed or they can be selected from the
standard toolbar or from the snap toolbar:
To display the "Drafting Settings" dialog, click on the
"horse-shoe" shaped icon on the end of the Object Snap
Toolbar.

Make fillet in the corner
From the Modify panel Select FILLET icon or type F or FILLET .
TypeR and then type6 . Note the question Autocad is asking you in
Command line.
Select the second vertical line from the left and the horizontal line on top of it.
AutoCAD will make fillet in that corner.
Repeat the fillet command
Press to repeat the last command and select the next vertical line on right and
the line on top.
You should have this shape
on the screen

Use mirror command
Select MIRROR icon from the modify panel or type MI or MIRROR
Position the cursor on the left side of this drawing underneath the top horizontal
line. Left click to mark the first corner of the selection box. Position the cursor
somewhere in the bottom middle part of this drawing underneath the bottom
horisontal line. Left click to mark the second corner. This will select objects that
have to be mirrored. Press .

To be sure that you have
selected the mid point of the
line you should look for an
orange triangle on mid point
of the line.
To mirror these objects around the mid line, from the Object snap toolbar select
Snap to Midpoint and then select the top horizontal line of the drawing. Repeat
that for the second point on the mirror line (midpoint of lower line). Type N
(don't delete the old objects).
ME1105 CAD Tutorial 1 6 Prepared by A.Kovacevic
Follow these two steps
shown in the figure to select
objects for mirror and to
define a mirror line.

Draw the line in the middle
Click OSNAP (object snap) and OTRACK (object track) to turn them on.
Type L , then position cursors on the intersection and them move to the right
and click to select the intersecting point. (Look for orange X).

Type 12,0 . Press ENTER to cancel the command
Saving and Closing a Drawing

Note that if you type SAVE
, you actually get "Save As"!!

The quickest way to save is
to press Ctrl-S - this is the
same as "qsave".
Select the Save icon from the standard toolbar. The drawing has not been saved
before, so AutoCAD will display the SAVE AS dialog box, select the appropriate
Drive and Directory (for example: U:\My Documents), type the drawing name:
CADTutorial1, and then select "OK".
If AutoCAD 2009 Today window appears, turn it off by pressing on X in the top
right corner.
Starting AutoCAD with an Existing Drawing
To load a drawing, start Windows Explorer and select the appropriate Drive and Directory. Once Explorer
is showing the correct directory then double-click on your CADTutorial1.dwg drawing.
If AutoCAD 2009 Today window appears, turn it off by pressing on X in the top right corner.
If you can't find your drawing (in Windows Explorer) then press F5 (function key 5), this tells Explorer to
update the directory display; if you still can't find your drawing then perhaps you saved the drawing in
some other directory - load AutoCAD and then select the File menu, at the bottom of the File menu is a list
of recently opened drawings, select your drawing from the list.
Draw an Arc


Select Arc, then Center, Start, Angle (or type ARC , then type C ) to select
the centre of the arc. Select the midpoint snap mode (or type: MID ) and select
the top line of the drawn object.
Specify start point of the arc: -20,0 , then type 180 (or A for angle and type
ME1105 CAD Tutorial 1 7 Prepared by A.Kovacevic
180 - check what the command line is asking you for) to define the angle.
Use offset command
Select: OFFSET button or type OFFSET
Then type 12 for the offset distance
Position the crosshair over the last drawn arc and click the left button to select.
Move the crosshair to the outside of the arc and click the left button again.
Press ENTER ( ) to terminate the command.
Trim icon
When picking lines to be
trimmed, the part of the line
that you select is important.
In the example in the
following figure, if you pick
to the left of the selected arc
(rather than to the line inside
the arc), then the line will be
trimmed from the arc to the
boundary line.
Select: TRIM button from the edit toolbar or type TR or TRIM
Select the smaller arc you drew above. Press to terminate object selection.
To select object to trim, position the crosshair on the top line in between the ends
of the smaller arc and click the left button to select.
Press ENTER ( ) to terminate the command.
This is the object that you
should have now

Layers
Most CAD systems have some kind of overlay concept. AutoCAD uses layers. Layers are used to separate
and structure drawings; layers can be turned on and off (for example to vary the amount of detail in a
drawing), and can have linetypes associated with them....


When using AutoCAD, the graphics appears on the current layer, so be careful that the current layer is
correct. Look in the Layers panel: the current layer and its colour is displayed there (see previous figure).
Layers icon
The current layer is the layer
to which new graphics is
added. The properties
command can be used to
change a graphics object's
layer (or linetype or colour)
Select the Layer Properties icon or select Format - Layers..., AutoCAD will
display the "Layer Properties Manager" dialog. Select the layer with name
CENTRE then double click to make this the current layer.
Close the layer property manager by pressing OK.
ME1105 CAD Tutorial 1 8 Prepared by A.Kovacevic
Draw centrelines
Draw some lines
Select LINE icon or type L , select the centre of the arc as first point and pull
down to pass the bigger arc. Terminate command with .
Note: You have selected a circle centre if a small orange circle appears there.
Press to repeat line command. Draw line by selecting ends of the smaller arc.
Terminate command with .


Draw more lines
TypeL an then:
113,207
0,-30 and to terminate the line command
Type to repeat the line command, then
120,132
20,0 and to terminate the line command
Type to repeat the line command, then
130,122
0,20 and to terminate the line command


Draw threaded hole with hidden lines
Create new layer and change
it to a current layer
Layers
Select the LAYERS icon (or type LA ), then press select New Layer icon to
create new layer.
Type SECTION for the name of the layer. Press on the field continuous in order
to change the linetype for the layer. Select LOAD option and scroll down until
you find linetype PHANTOM. Select it and press OK. Press on color field in
the same lane to change layer colour and select green.

Select layer HID. Double click to make it current layer.

Close the Layer Properties dialogue.
Draw lines
Type L , and then give coordinates:
107.9,205
0,-22
10.2,0
0,22 , then press to terminate line command.
Press to reactivate line command and then type in following coordinates:
107, 205
ME1105 CAD Tutorial 1 9 Prepared by A.Kovacevic
0,-15
12,0
0,15 , then press to terminate line command.
Press to reactivate line command and then type in following coordinates:
Select the bottom left corner of the hidden hole first drawn in the previous set of
commands or type: 107.9, 183 .
Learn how to enter relative
polar coordinates. The first
dimension is length and the
second is the angle to the
horizontal line. Positive
angles have anticlockwise
orientation.
Then type 10<-30 .
Press to terminate line command.


Use mirror command
Press MIRROR icon or type MI .
Type L for last drawn object, or select the line that you have just drawn.
Press to terminate object selection.
Select the point on the top of the centreline and another point on the bottom of
the centreline. Press N for do not delete original object.
Cut off exceeding parts of
lines.
Use TRIM command or press TRIM icon . Select both lines you previously
made and press . Click on the overhanging parts of these two lines to cut them
off. Terminate the command with .
This is the result of the
previously taken action

Zoom Dynamic

If you don't like the dynamic
zoom command, there's
always the scroll bars...
One of the most powerful of the zoom options is zoom-
dynamic, it allows for zooming and panning at the same time.
Type Z D or select the command from the zoom flyout
(flydown?) shown in the figure.
"REGEN" can be
abbreviated to "RE"...
Move the zoom window (the cursor!) over the lower half of the "bay" and press
. If the arc has turned into a series of straight lines then type REGEN to re-
generate the view.
ME1105 CAD Tutorial 1 10 Prepared by A.Kovacevic
The Array command
The array command is
used to copy one or more
objects in either a
rectangular or circular
pattern. When a circular
pattern is used the objects
can be rotated; it can be an
incredibly powerful
command
Select Modify - Array, or type ARRAY or AR . AutoCAD will open the
Array dialog box.
Select rectangular array. Type in 1 ROW and 2 COLUMNS.
Set Column offset to 84 mm.
Click on Select objects icon.
Use mouse to select the previously drawn hidden hole and the centre line. Press
to terminate object selection. Press PREVIEW button. If you are happy with
the result press . Otherwise press Escape key to edit until you are satisfied with
the result.


Make circle and copy it
Change current layer Open Layer manager, select layer DRAW and make it current layer.
Circle can be drawn in many
different ways. It can be
specified by centre point and
radius or diameter. It can be
drawn on two or three point.
Circle can also be drawn to
be tangential to two objects.
Select CIRCLE icon from the draw toolbar or type C or CIRCLE . Select the
intersection between two centrelines in the left bottom corner of the drawing and
then type D for diameter and 16 to specify the diameter of the hole.
Copy the circle and centre
lines by use of copy
command
Select COPY icon from the Modify panel or type CO or COPY . Select
objects to be copied: circle and centrelines. Press to terminate object selection.
As the base point specify the centre of the circle. Type 50,0 to define the
distance and the direction for copy command. Press to end Copy command.


Finishing up

That's all for tutorial one! Save your drawing (press Ctrl-S) and then exit
AutoCAD (select File - Exit).

Remember to log off before leaving.