Was talking with a guy at the drafting supply shop and he said hand drafting is still faster for quick changes

I was picking up new leads at Gordon's Art Supply last Tuesday and got into it with this older drafter. He said he can sketch out a revision on vellum in 5 minutes while I'm still booting up AutoCAD. Then he showed me his edits from a job last week and honestly the detail was clean. It got me thinking, am I leaning too hard on software when a pencil and scale could get me there faster? Any of you guys mix hand drafting into your workflow still?

3 comments

3 Comments

joseph_torres9d ago

That guy's 5 minute claim on vellum though - did he say if that speed holds up when you're doing something like complex roof geometry or was it just for straight line revisions?

wesley_martin9d ago

Man that older guy is right on the money. I had a boss back at my first firm who would redline everything by hand and I thought he was just being old school. Until I had to do a quick roof pitch change last month and I was fiddling with layers and plot styles while he had it sketched and handed to the client in the time it took me to open the file. Now I keep a roll of trace paper right next to my keyboard for roughs and it saves me so much headache. There's something about the feel of a lead on Mylar that just clicks faster for me on small tweaks.

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thomas_martinez9d agoMost Upvoted

@wesley_martin got me keeping trace paper on my desk next to my coffee, not that it helps my drafting any.