Reading Scales

In this lesson, I explain how to read and use drafting scales, while first emphasizing that current practice is to rely on the dimensions written on a drawing rather than scaling it by hand due to modern printing practices like scaling a B-size drawing onto A-size paper. I then detail the three main types of scales: metric scales (used for millimeters or meters), engineer's scales (inch scales divided into tenths, often used in civil drafting for large-scale projects like 1 inch = 10 feet), and the more complex architect's scales (divided into fractions of an inch, showing feet and inches). I focus on the "trick" to reading the architect's scale by finding the nearest foot mark and then shifting the scale back to the zero to read the inches and fractions of an inch on the end, ensuring you are reading the numbers that correspond to the direction you are measuring. Video Chapters [00:01] Why Not to Scale Drawings Anymore [03:01] Metric Scales [03:43] Engineer's Scales (Tenths of an Inch) [04:00] Architect's Scales (Feet and Inches) [04:47] Engineer's Scales for Civil Drafting (e.g., 1 inch = 10 feet) [08:42] Reading the Engineer's Scale [16:47] The Architect's Scale and Its Dual Numbering System [18:40] Breaking Down the Architectural Scale (Inches in Fractions) [20:58] How to Read the Architect's Scale