save space on crowded dimensions

[Henry D]

Little drafting tip: In tight spaces like small closets with the same wall thickness on each side you can save space by overlaying similar dimensions on top of each other so they appear as two leaders coming off one dimension.

[christopher.zoog51272]

nice tip!!!

[Scott D Davis]

You guys make it really tough to be the tips and tricks manager....just where am I gonna find content?

[m_cahoon14336]

Henry, you'll save even more space if you dimension to the centerline of the wall!

[mlgatzke]

Centerline? Who in their right mind would dimension to the centerline of a wall. Do you trust framers enough to have them do the math and re-snap the chalk line to locate the wall? I haven't seen dimensioning to centerlines of walls since the late 70s or early 80s. I've had nothing but trouble whenever I used to dimension to centerlines of walls.

With that said, there's also another faux-pau going on here. You should NEVER dimension to both sides of a wall. This is encouraging problems RFI's and errors on the job site. This is Dimension Rule #2 (Dimension Rule #1 being "Never override what the dimension length reads).

[Henry D]

I love it... all these years out of school and I am still getting F's on my drawings...don't laugh Colquhoun you got an F in Professor Gatzke's drafting class too! Looks like I better sign up for Mike's classes so I can unlearn my bad drafting methods.

I have heard dimensioning methods debated before: centerline, one face, both faces.... Each dimensioning method in my very humble opinion has its advantages/disadvantages and appropriate use. I've seen production builders do their own drawings with walls dimensioned to centerlines, I've seen drawings with walls dimensioned to only one face, and I have mostly seen the method I was taught which was dimensioning to both faces...this was the office standard in all the offices I worked at which had projects ranging from custom houses to high rise apartment buildings.

[WolffG]

This is funny!. I started to dimension to center lines once I started using Revit.....precisely because framers can't be trusted. If I dimension to centerlines, they can snap their chalk lines and I can be reasonably sure that they are no more than 1 3/4" off. An oldtimer architect friend of mine used to dimension partitions as a 6" width. He was happy if the framers got a stud wall anywhere inside the 6".

By the same token, I once walked up one side of one of my draftsmen and down the other because he dimensioned rough carpentry to 1/64 of an inch. I try not to use fractions of less than 1/2" for framing.......it's a pointless exercise.

[beegee]

By the same token, I once walked up one side of one of my draftsmen and down the other because he dimensioned rough carpentry to 1/64 of an inch. I try not to use fractions of less than 1/2" for framing.......it's a pointless exercise.
Whereas, a lot of builders on this side of the pond will RFI you to death if your dimensions don't close to the millimeter !

( RFI = Request For Information. There are Site and Project Managers who make their living through this sort of paperwork. :mad: )

[Dimitri Harvalias]

A little off topic but I have a great 'rough carpentry' story.

A buddy of mine has his own construction company and was on site one afternoon when he was approached by a rather large individual looking for work. Normally he wouldn't hire off the street but he happened to be looking for people at the time.
He asked the guy if he had any 'rough framing' experience. The guy looked around a bit, picked up a length of 2x4 and proceeded to break it in two over his thigh! He casually asked my friend, "Rough enough for you?"

He started the next day.

[cliff collins]

Looks like you are using ARchitxt font in your Dim Style.
We are doing the same, but trying to "compress" or "condense" the TTF
so it doesn't stretch out so much. Love the chiselled hand drawn look, but
we can't change the "width factor" ( like in Acad).

Found a Font Editor and even tried to condense, then reload into Font folder--
doesn't seems to change. Also would like to horizontally stack the fractions--not have the slash.

If anyone can point us in the right direction it would be great.....

cheers, cbc