AutoCAD EXERCISE

GALLERY SETUP WITH TABLES


This is an exercise in creating and using Blocks in AutoCAD. It will require opening a new AutoCAD drawing file using the previously created drawing from the Art Gallery exercise as a base drawing, how to do "Text" in AutoCAD, how to work with layers, how to draw lines, arcs, and circles, how to create a multi-nested block and insert it into a drawing, how to use the MIRROR and BREAK commands. The end result will be a drawing which will be plotted on the HP Laser Jet printer.

  1. Start up AutoCAD.
  2. Open the Art Gallery exercise, and save it as "<date> Art Gallery with Tables and Chairs.dwg."
  3. Make the A-FURN layer current.
  4. In a scratch area of the drawing (i.e., anywhere) draw a square chair 24" x 24" with a 21" diameter padded circular seat insert and a 2" thick back. Draw the chair and back using the Line command. Keep the small 2" sides of the back as separate lines from the chair seat because you will need to extrude these lines to a greater thickness in the next exercise. How can you make the circle representing the chair pad be precisely located at the center of the square? Try to come up with more than one possible way to do this. What is the fastest method?
  5. Make a block out of this chair for future use in this problem. Place the Insertion point at the CENter of the chair pad. Name the Block "CHAIR".
  6. To do this, select "Draw" from the pull-down menu, then "Block," then "Make." Type "CHAIR" in the Block Name slot in the Block Definition dialogue box. Pick the button "Select Point<." OSNAP to the CENter of the circle which represents the pad of the chair. Note that you will need to pass the cursor over the locus of the circle (i.e. the outer edge of the circle itself) when you OSNAP to the center of a circle. Do not attempt to snap to the imaginary center by trying to place the aperture somewhere within the open space inside the circle, because there is nothing to snap to there. Pick the button "Select Objects<." Select the chair in its entirety by placing a selection window around the objects. There should be 8 objects -- 7 lines and 1 circle. After you have picked all of the objects to include in the block, type <RET> to get back to the dialogue box. Select the radio button "Delete." Then Click "OK." Note that when you do this, you will automatically make the objects disappear from the screen. That is OK -- they have been made into a block and gone to "Block Heaven." You can bring them back later when you need it by "inserting" the block.
  7. Draw a 48" diameter round table at another scratch area of the drawing. Do this by typing C <RET> (or by selecting "Circle" from the "Draw" pull-down menu, or the circle icon from the Toolbox), then digitize (pick) an arbitrary location for the center of the circle, and type 24<RET>.
  8. INSERT the CHAIR block under the table at the northern QUAdrant of the table circle you just drew. OSNAP the insertion point of the Chair to the northern QUAdrant of the table circle. From the Pull-down menu, select "Insert" then "Block...." In the Insert dialogue box which appears, select the "Block..." button. Select the word CHAIR from the list (it will probably be the only one on the list), then pick the "OK" button, and then pick the other "OK" button. When prompted for the "Insertion point:" OSNAP the cursor to the QUAdrant at the top of the circle. Three more <RET>s should place it correctly. The three <RET>s mean that you are accepting the "defaults" of X scale factor <1>, Y scale factor (default =X), and Rotation angle (0.00), that is, it will be inserted just like it was created.
  9. Explode the CHAIR block, you just inserted. Type X<RET> and pick any object on the chair block.
  10. BREAK the part of the chair seat rectangle which would be hidden under the table. This is a little easier than the chair pad circle, since you can break it at a point. To do this, pick the "Break" command from the Toolbar, then pick the line to be broken with the crosshairs, then type F<RET> (to allow you to select the first break point), then OSNAP INTersection, then pick the intersection point of the table and line to be broken, then type in the key @. The "@" means to make the second point "at" the same location as the first point. Do the same process on the other line of the chair which passes under the table.
  11. BREAK the part of the chair pad circle which would be hidden under the table at the intersection point of the chair and table. This is tricky, since you cannot break a circle at a point, as in effect this would be making an ARC of 360 degrees, which AutoCAD will not let you do. Go back and read the section of this text which explains the Break Command. Then, OSNAP the "First" break point at the left-most INTersection point of the pad and table, and move the crosshairs manually slightly counterclockwise around the circle to pick the "second" break point. Always break a circle counterclockwise, just as it is drawn by AutoCAD, otherwise only the smaller piece will be left on the screen. You cannot "OOPS" a break like you can an ERASE function (but fortunately you can "Undo" it). Do the same with the other intersection of the table and the chair pad circle. You can break this time at a point. Now that the two parts of the circle have been converted to arcs, it is possible to lengthen the side of the arc made under the first break process which does not exactly reach the table circle by using the "Extend" command. Select the "Extend" icon from the Toolbox. Pick the table circle as the "Boundary edge," then pick the end of the arc which does not touch the table as the "object to extend," then type <RET>.
  12. Create a layer called "A-FURN-HID," and assign the color green to it and the linetype Hidden2.  CHANGE the lines which are hidden under the table to the "A-FURN-HID" layer. You will not be able to see the hidden lines until you view it in a layout.
  13. Make a block out of this chair with the dashed lines for future use in this problem. Place the Insertion point at the CENter of the chair pad (which is now two arcs, instead of a circle). Name the Block "CHAIR1".
  14. INSERT the CHAIR1 block under the table at the northern QUAdrant. OSNAP the insertion point of the Chair1 block to the northern QUAdrant of the table circle.
  15. MIRROR this CHAIR1 block around the centerline of the table to create the same chair opposite it. Select as the first point of the mirror line the CENter of the table. The second point of the mirror line should be any point horizontally to the right or left of the CENter of the table. Be sure that ORTHO is toggled on while you perform the Mirror function in order to get a perfectly symmetrical mirroring.
  16. Make a block out of the two chairs, selecting as the insertion point the center of the table. Call this block "CHAIR2".
  17. Insert the CHAIR2 block you just created, with the insertion point again selected as the CENter of the table, and a rotation angle of 0 degrees. This will put back what just was erased in making the block but it will put it back as a single unitary block.
  18. Insert the CHAIR2 block a second time, again with its insertion point selected as the CENter of the table, but this time type in a rotation angle of 90 degrees. This will give you four chairs around the table, vertically and horizontally.
  19. Make a block of this table group, selecting as the insertion point the CENter of the table. Call this block "TABLE".
  20. Insert the "TABLE" block into the room, rotating it at a 45 degree angle (show a "Rotation Angle" of 45 in the dialogue box when you insert).
  21. Place 5 more such tables with chairs in the room, by using the COPY Multiple command, copying the block you just inserted.
  22. MOVE the table blocks around the room until you have them placed in a correct fashion. Try using Grips to do this.
  23. Insert the CHAIR block into this room against a wall.
  24. Place 5 more such chairs in the room, by using the COPY Multiple command, copying the block you just inserted.
  25. MOVE and ROTATE the chair blocks around the room until you have them placed in a correct fashion.
  26. Switch to Paper Space. Make the A-ANNO-NOTE layer current. Place the title "GALLERY SETUP WITH TABLES", 1/4" high, centered above the main drawing title using the AutoCAD "DTEXT" command - select from the Draw pull-down menu "Text" then "Single Line Text" (or select the large letter "A" on the Draw Toolbox.)
  27. Check that your name, the date, and the exercise number are all correct at the bottom of the drawing. If they are not, double clik on teh text and change the wording.
  28. Set the scale of the viewport to 1/4" = 1'-0"
  29. Lock the viewport.
  30. Save the drawing: Click on the "Save" icon on the Toolbar. You should always save the drawing just prior to plotting.
  31. Plot this drawing using the HP Laser Jet 5si printer. Plot the drawing in Paper Space at a scale of 1=1. See the main handbook text for instructions on how to set this up.

  32.  
END OF EXERCISE NO. 6