Inexpensive triangles have
a number of uses ...
by Jack Burgess
B
ack in grade school in the early 1950s, we each had
a wooden ruler with a metal edge. This basic tool
let us both measure things and draw straight lines.
A decade later, and as an aspiring civil engineer, one of the
classes I took in my college freshman year was a basic draft-
ing class. Within the first couple of classes, the teacher
taught us something that I’ve remembered for the past 50
years—rulers (actually called scales in the engineering and
architecture fields) are for measuring, and T-squares and
triangles are for drawing lines. In other words, one should
never draw a line (or cut material) using a ruler. Instead of
using my metal scale ruler to scribe a straight line to score
and snap a sheet of styrene, I use a drafting triangle.
Even with the transition to computer-aided drafting (CAD),
traditional drafting tools are still available. Triangles are
available in two different configurations and many differ-
ent sizes. There are two configurations – 45
o
and 30
o
/60
o
.
A 45
o
triangle has two 45
o
angles plus a 90
o
angle, while a
30
o
/60
o
triangle has a 30
o
angle and a 60
o
angle along with a
90
o
angle. Triangle sizes refer to the length of the long side
Drafting tools for modeling, part 1
The tool shed - 1
MRH-Aug 2013
