Autocad 2000 Cant draw at a chosen angle.

Hi

I am trying to draw a line 70mm long going down at 30 degress from the horizontal by using the command @70<30. The line is 70 long but always goes horizontal and to the right so it seems as though my zero degrees direction is going off at about the 4 o'clock position.

Does anyone know how to set the zero degrees into a horizontal position or even straight up?

Thanks

Sounds like it is working as I recall it did. The absolute zero degree point is at the 3 o'clock position relative to the centre point - 90 degrees is 12 o'clcock, 180 degrees at 9 o'clock & 270 degrees at 6 o'clock.

To get your line to point 30 degrees "downwards" to the left of centre, use -30 degrees or 330 degrees, if you want it to go to the right of centre use 210 degrees.

Hope I understood your question correctly & that this helps.

Nigel B

Nigel

Hopefully this photo will explain it better.

It seems as though the angles are all rotated clockwise by about 30 degrees and I dont know how to set zero degrees horizontal? Thanks Rich

There are often dozens of ways to do the same job. With what you are trying to do I would draw the line the correct length horizontally, then 'rotate' that line 30 degrees.

I mostly use the mouse rather than entering strings of characters from the keyboard. so for the above would only enter, 70 and 30.

Ian P

If the default line direction is not horizontal it sounds as if you have Autocad in Isometric mode. I have forgotten the commands but f8 toggles orthographic mode on and off.

Ian P

I have found it now. Its in Format/Units/Drawing Units/Direction Control.

Thanks for the reply.

Rich

Richard,

My knowledge is of AutoCAD LT but I suspect that the basics are identical to your package so here's a suggestion.

On the toolbar at top of the screen click on 'Format' then 'Units' which brings up the 'Drawing Units' table. At the bottom is a button 'Direction' which brings up the 'Direction Control' panel. This sets up the degrees zero point, and usually shows the 'East' button lit up which sets zero at the 3 o'clock position - the ACAD default. You can change that to suit your own needs by selecting the 'Other' button but I'd suggest leaving it at East for now. Bear in mind that in AutoCAD degree entries are default set to work anticlockwise from zero; you can change that to clockwise by going back to the Drawing Units panel where you need to check the box marked 'clockwise', but see my note below as well.

It'd be worth running through the above just to confirm that the basic settings are correct.

The other question is - which direction do you want your line to go down from your line start point i.e. 30 degrees down from horizontal to the left or 30 degrees down to the right? If the first (with zero degrees at 3 o'clock) I'd be entering '@70<210' i.e 30 degrees beyond 180 degree working anti clockwise, or for the second - '@70<330' i.e. 30 degrees short of the full anti clockwise circle. The latter can also be entered as '@70<-30' - the minus sign reversing the direction of rotation (i.e. clockwise).

I just draw the line the correct length and rotate it. by entering degrees plus or minus.
Just follow the prompts on the command line.

Regards
John

I too think it is most likely you have slipped into isometric view as I am sure you would know if you had set the drawing direction up at an angle.

From your screen shot I notice in the instruction window that you have the text angle set at 30 degrees also - was that intended? (I usually keep text at zero degrees to make the drawing easy to read)

I share your frustration with AutoCAD - I was trained and used it at work but now I rarely use it and forget some of the different shortcuts to reach the same end. That , the cost of updates, associated training and the increased complexity with each version release makes it more a tool for a professional draughtsman rather than something only occasionally used.

Highlight to me however was when I sent files to an engineering firm and they put them straight into their machine and out popped a laser cut, folded and machine welded component ten times. Later I sent a drawing of frames for the stainless steel window side screens of my kit car. They came back laser cut from sheet and screw holes a gentle interference fit asI slid the fixing screws on for the hinges. Fantastic. Even better the windows hung on the door pillarspot on with no need for Ferlinghetti or adjustment!

Ferlinghetti? Where did that come from - Pretty sure I typed 'further' LoL

Fettling?

Martin C

Press F8 and that turns ORTHO (Horizontal and Vertical) off.

You can then draw your lines at any angle to the degrees indicated at the curser location, press F8 again to turn it back on.

F7 for GRID on and off, F9 for SNAP on and off.

F3 for OSNAP on and off.

I use them constantly, I used to put masking tape along the top of my keyboard, and print the AutoCAD functions above the 'F' keys, don't need to do it now....

Hi

Better Autocad drawing technique.

Snap (F9) I almost never use. I also leave Grid (F7) off, the little points are annoying. With ortho (F8) on select a point, enter L for line then drag the mouse in the direction you want to go in and enter a specific length, followed by enter. once the first line is drawn you can keep adding lines by entering a new length and pressing enter. Practice doing this say drawing a box. At any time entering C will close the set of lines you have just drawn so drawing a box only takes 3 lines plus C to make the last line.

I do keep Osnap on (F3) most of the time. If you enter Osnap in the command line you can set the points it will snap to.

Oh Important, I Always start my first line at XYZ zero. Enter L then 0,0,0 as numerals not 0's then [enter] then mouse the direction then enter a length then [Enter]. This way the first part of an object (Normally the bottom left hand corner is set at true XYZ zero). Ortho (F8) should be on. Yeah it could be an angled line, I like to start with a straight line.

Drawing lines of a specific length will become second nature after a while. Using snap gets in the way as it limits you to a standard grid spacing. Most real life objects are not built that way.

Regards
John