What's the best way to structure a block library?

[thomas_raftery]

Hi everyone,

I would like our small company to have a well designed block library. We have tried, in fits and starts, to improve to improve the situation. We replaced the old library with one that sorted blocks by Plan, Elevation, Section, and Generic. I'm not a fan. When it comes to details I like to have plan and elevation together. One possibility is using the CSI format.

Instead of starting from scratch I would like to download a model and modify it for our use. Getting money for anything cad related like squeezing blood from a stone. I could pay for it myself if it was cheap. In other words I'd like to save time and money.

Thanks

[thomas_raftery]

forgot to add that we are sill using Autocad 2002

[Jeepin]

forgot to add that we are sill using Autocad 2002
upgrade to 2004 at least and use tool pallets!

[Jeepin]

upgrade to 2004 at least and use tool pallets!
All Kidding aside, if your company has no intention of upgrading you could use the symbol manager or the design center to catelog and insert blocks

[Doodlemusmaximus]

Hi everyone,

I would like our small company to have a well designed block library. We have tried, in fits and starts, to improve to improve the situation. We replaced the old library with one that sorted blocks by Plan, Elevation, Section, and Generic. I'm not a fan. When it comes to details I like to have plan and elevation together. One possibility is using the CSI format.

Instead of starting from scratch I would like to download a model and modify it for our use. Getting money for anything cad related like squeezing blood from a stone. I could pay for it myself if it was cheap. In other words I'd like to save time and money.

Thanks
Using a more up to date version dose give you the option of using the tool pallette to do the job for you, but if your company doesn't want to expand then the way I did it before worked fine. All I did was instruct all the users to when they had drawn some kind of standard to create a block of it and stick it a directory giveing a logical name. This is slow but that way you can spread to cost of the creation of the library to clients. It'll never get you there in one hit but will eventually build up a decent library. It will also mean that you don't have to start looking through your old drawings when you want a particular detail you used six months ago. I know this isn't exactly what you really were after but it will work.

Hope this is of some help to you.

[The VLG]

Using a more up to date version dose give you the option of using the tool pallette to do the job for you, but if your company doesn't want to expand then the way I did it before worked fine. All I did was instruct all the users to when they had drawn some kind of standard to create a block of it and stick it a directory giveing a logical name. This is slow but that way you can spread to cost of the creation of the library to clients. It'll never get you there in one hit but will eventually build up a decent library. It will also mean that you don't have to start looking through your old drawings when you want a particular detail you used six months ago. I know this isn't exactly what you really were after but it will work.

Hope this is of some help to you.
This is similar to the way we have been going & we are slowly getting there the only thig you might need to do is to make sure that the relevant ppl know what's there in the first place so you maxamise the use of your blks.
I've known ppl to set up the same blk when they have moved to a new projest :screwy:

[robert.1.hall72202]

Stay away from making a menu like block library that uses slide files to show
pictorials of all the blocks..........Did I date myself with that one? icky!