Student "edition" found at {csi dot journalspace dot com}.

Maybe I shouldn't have started this blog now, not with everything that's been going on.

On the third day of the fifth week of classes, I had my fourth batch of plate assignments for my Manual Drafting students.

There were actually just two plates assigned, because the assignment was the opposite of what we’ve been doing in the past weeks. Instead of isometric to orthogonal, we now proceeded to isometric from orthogonal views.

Just to make sure that the perspective was clear, same as with the first two batches of plates, I had them submit two sample free hand drawings first on scratch paper before proceeding to the main plates. I also limited the drawings to blocks for now, reserving slanted lines for the meeting after that, and hidden lines for the next one.

I just specified that the front and right side edges should be thirty degrees from the horizontal. So for some, this meant being forced to use their T square and their triangles, although there were still those who did not use them.

There were a few for whom I had to show how to get the thirty degree angle, even though they had all the equipment right in front of them. These, in general, were those who did not take up drafting in high school, or were not studying in a technical school before.

In the samples and in some of the plates that I passed by doing my rounds in the class, I had to ask them what lines would not be seen from that angle of viewing, since some still had the idea they were making wire frames.

A lot of them still finished early though, so I threatened to add a third plate for the day, to which there was an audible uproar. I wasn’t seriously considering it though.

For the first time in three weeks, the second class also did not show up early, so I was able to give them a different set of plates from the 8am class. The early class said it was easier than theirs, and vice versa. It’s “the grass is greener” syndrome at work.

Some asked if they had to add dimensions to the final drawing. I said that that would be taken up next time. For now, I wanted them to concentrate on getting the correct view.

There is also a standing joke in class, since their early plates had a maximum of ten points, that my writing of the figure ten looks like a “W” because the bottom of the one is connected to the top of the loop of the zero, and the loop is not closed. So there were some who protested even though how meticulous their plates are, that they were still marked “Wrong”.

Session 809’s work is marked “W”. Class dismissed.