Any CAD Operators?

the_r_sole said:
got to be as accurate as printing then scaling with a ruler?!
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I still wouldn't trust it. :p I'd hate to be the guy that gets the dimensions wrong when all the equipment is on site and it doesn't fit :p Plus you're trusting that there is a dimension on the drawing at all. Most drawings we get sent through as PDF are just drawings - No dimensions or point of reference :p
 
Marky said:
I still wouldn't trust it. :p I'd hate to be the guy that gets the dimensions wrong when all the equipment is on site and it doesn't fit :p Plus you're trusting that there is a dimension on the drawing at all. Most drawings we get sent through as PDF are just drawings - No dimensions or point of reference :p
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the op is asking how to do this for quick quotation purposes, not for anything else
 
the_r_sole said:
the op is asking how to do this for quick quotation purposes, not for anything else
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That's often the case with me also - But imagine this scenario. You measure it all wrong, put loads of equipment in the drawing. Send it back for confirmation. They accept the quote. You go to site to measure it all up correctly, and find you need to change the entire layout due to a bad dimension on an inaccurate PDF file.

Just seems like a silly mistake waiting to happen :p
 
Depends how much margin for error is involved, I guess.

hehe that could be someone's job over right there lol
...previous refrigeration contractor I worked for fired one of its draughtsman for getting a dimension wrong; a subcontractor built a fixed run of refrigerated cases based on one of our drawings... when the cases turned up on the back of a lorry, they were too big to fit all the way inside the building.
And the structural steelwork contractor who built the supports for the roof mounted condenser packs... the street had to be closed for the lift, local officials, fire, police etc in attendance, only when the new pack was lowered into position did anybody realise the steelwork had been built too big, so the condenser fit right through the steelwork haha
 
the_r_sole said:
the op is currently hand scaling drawings!!
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g17jn.gif.png


I'm done here :p

jumpy said:
Depends how much margin for error is involved, I guess.

hehe that could be someone's job over right there lol
...previous refrigeration contractor I worked for fired one of its draughtsman for getting a dimension wrong; a subcontractor built a fixed run of refrigerated cases based on one of our drawings... when the cases turned up on the back of a lorry, they were too big to fit all the way inside the building.
And the structural steelwork contractor who built the supports for the roof mounted condenser packs... the street had to be closed for the lift, local officials, fire, police etc in attendance, only when the new pack was lowered into position did anybody realise the steelwork had been built too big, so the condenser fit right through the steelwork haha
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Exactly - Most projects we accept are fairly critical. I don't want to be that guy :p
 
Full autocad from 2010 onwards iirc can attach pdf's in the same way it handles images and xrefs. Get them to send you dwf drawings and use autodesks free dwf reader, they are better than pdf's anyway.
 
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Marky said:
g17jn.gif.png


I'm done here :p
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sorry for answering the op's question with a viable solution that would allow the same accuracy they are currently working with - I am assuming that the job will not be completed without proper accurate drawings provided after the quotation process,.
the op is looking for a quick method to use pdfs to measure, there's no point banging on about accuracy if the difference is between hand scaling and on screen scaling! The only accurate way is to get the dwg files, but the op didn't ask about that did they?!
 
Like R_sole says, it obviously depends on what its for, sometimes you need 100% accuracy and you therefore wouldnt use this method, but then you wouldnt be scaling from a drawing either if that was the case.

I've used the method 100's of times and I know it works a treat. There are some jobs I need the accuracy and in them cases they are simply told I cant use a PDF and they need to source the CAD file.
 
Surely a quick solution is to ask them to put defined grids on the drawings they send through? Still not 100% accurate depending on the issues already highlighted but at least will provide a fixed measurement reference useful enough for proposal purposes.
 
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