What it is.

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Drafting is basically the creation of plans or technical drawings used by engineers to create commonly used items around your house, or highly complicated machinery used only by high end companies to get an edge on the competition. Drafter's drawings are visual aids, showing the technical details of a machine or product. They use their knowledge of standardized building structure to create those details of those structures.

            Drafter's used to use a board, pencil, protractor, ruler and all that old fashioned who-ha, to create their technical drawings. They now commonly use technical handbooks, tables, calculators and computers to help complete their drawings. Most drafters use a CAD system. CAD systems employ computers to create and store drawings electronically that can then be viewed, printed, or programmed directly into automated manufacturing systems.

Here are just a few of the many types of drafters:

1. Architectural drafters draw architectural and structural features of buildings and other structures. These workers may specialize in a type of structure, such as residential or commercial, or in a kind of material used, such as reinforced concrete, masonry, steel, or timber.
2. Electrical drafters prepare wiring and layout diagrams used by workers who erect, install, and repair electrical equipment and wiring in communication centers, power plants, electrical distribution systems, and buildings.
3. Electronics drafters draw wiring diagrams, circuit board assembly diagrams, schematics, and layout drawings used in the manufacture, installation, and repair of electronic devices and components.
4. Process piping or pipeline drafters prepare drawings used in the layout, construction, and operation of oil and gas fields, refineries, chemical plants, and process piping systems. To view student work in drafting <click here>