Resizing Details


jbaehmer
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Rich is correct.  Looks like magic number is 2/3.  (its 50% larger than a 1:1 scale).  Easiest way to tell is by simply drawing a line at a known dimension (the larger the number the more accurate) in 2 directions (just to make sure the detail hasn't been distorted) and then doing the math.  In this case I measured:

 

1.  The 2x4 ledger at the eve in the vertical direction which was 5-1/4".  3-1/2 (3.50) divided by 5-1/4 (5.25) equals 2/3 (.667)

2.  The 2x6 top plate in the horizontal dimension which was 8-1/4".  5-1/2 (5.50) divided by 8-1/4 (8.25) also equals 2/3 (.667)

 

I like to use a normal line to check dimensions like that.  Draw the line, open the dbx and check the length.  Its usually a lot more accurate than any dimension defaults you might have set up. 

 

Once you figure the resize factor simply group select and resize as Rich suggested.  If your numbers suggested 2 different resize factors (the detail had been distorted for some reason...Simply group select, block it, open the CAD Block dbx and assign the appropriate size factors...one for the width and another for the height.  

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Rich is correct.  Looks like magic number is 2/3.  (its 50% larger than a 1:1 scale).  Easiest way to tell is by simply drawing a line at a known dimension (the larger the number the more accurate) in 2 directions (just to make sure the detail hasn't been distorted) and then doing the math.  In this case I measured:

 

1.  The 2x4 ledger at the eve in the vertical direction which was 5-1/4".  3-1/2 (3.50) divided by 5-1/4 (5.25) equals 2/3 (.667)

2.  The 2x6 top plate in the horizontal dimension which was 8-1/4".  5-1/2 (5.50) divided by 8-1/4 (8.25) also equals 2/3 (.667)

 

I like to use a normal line to check dimensions like that.  Draw the line, open the dbx and check the length.  Its usually a lot more accurate than any dimension defaults you might have set up. 

 

Once you figure the resize factor simply group select and resize as Rich suggested.  If your numbers suggested 2 different resize factors (the detail had been distorted for some reason...Simply group select, block it, open the CAD Block dbx and assign the appropriate size factors...one for the width and another for the height.  

 

Thank guys!  The explanation was exactly what I was looking for.  will give it a shot on the other details.  Hopefully he stayed consistent with his resizing.

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That's an interesting scale.  It almost seems that the detail may have been created as 1-1/2" = 1'-0" and then either exported or imported as 1-1/2" = 1".  IAE, determining the ratio is the key to resolving the problem.

 

If the detail is in a CAD Detail Window you can simply change the scale instead of using Transform/Replicate to resize the detail.

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That's an interesting scale.  It almost seems that the detail may have been created as 1-1/2" = 1'-0" and then either exported or imported as 1-1/2" = 1".  IAE, determining the ratio is the key to resolving the problem.

 

If the detail is in a CAD Detail Window you can simply change the scale instead of using Transform/Replicate to resize the detail.

 

I asked him why that scale and he said that all he was doing was resizing it to fit in a area of his plan.  I opened a few others and they were not 2/3.  He was drawing the details, blocking them together and scaling the size down with a handle on the CAD block, so there wasn't any rhyme or reason to scale them down.  Fun times....

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I asked him why that scale and he said that all he was doing was resizing it to fit in a area of his plan.  I opened a few others and they were not 2/3.  He was drawing the details, blocking them together and scaling the size down with a handle on the CAD block, so there wasn't any rhyme or reason to scale them down.  Fun times....

OMG

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At the risk of being ridiculed here.  I for one don't think scale is nearly as important as some people do...at least not for what I do.  For example, I print pretty much all my cabinetry plans on 8-1/2" x 11" paper and I'd much rather fill the page with a good looking and readable set of plans than to stick with scale just for the sake of sticking with scale.  I don't want people pulling numbers from my plans via scale anyway. 

 

We were a framing subcontractor for years and the vast majority of plans we framed off had "Do Not Scale" printed on them and for good reason.  Not only was the scale sometimes off, paper media is unstable at best...especially on the jobsite where things get torn, wet and muddy, dried back out, etc.  I think pulling scale from plans is actually almost always a bad idea from a subcontractors standpoint, a builders standpoint and from a designers standpoint. 

 

Having said that...I do draw to scale whenever reasonably possible, I just don't make a big issue of it and if NTS works best for a particular situation...than NTS it is. 

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At the risk of being ridiculed here.  I for one don't think scale is nearly as important as some people do...at least not for what I do.  For example, I print pretty much all my cabinetry plans on 8-1/2" x 11" paper and I'd much rather fill the page with a good looking and readable set of plans than to stick with scale just for the sake of sticking with scale.  I don't want people pulling numbers from my plans via scale anyway. 

 

We were a framing subcontractor for years and the vast majority of plans we framed off had "Do Not Scale" printed on them and for good reason.  Not only was the scale sometimes off, paper media is unstable at best...especially on the jobsite where things get torn, wet and muddy, dried back out, etc.  I think pulling scale from plans is actually almost always a bad idea from a subcontractors standpoint, a builders standpoint and from a designers standpoint. 

 

Having said that...I do draw to scale whenever reasonably possible, I just don't make a big issue of it and if NTS works best for a particular situation...than NTS it is. 

Was always taught to never scale anything from a plan, especially details. I always draw and note details N.T.S. saves so many headaches and shouldn't deteriorate from the working plans.

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