The exercises set are of various kinds. In the first and simplest certain views of some machine detail are given, generally drawn to a small scale, which the student is asked to reproduce to dimensions marked on these views, and he is expected to keep to these dimensions, and not to measure anything from the given illustrations. In the second kind of exercise the student is asked to reproduce certain views shown to dimensions given in words or in tabular form. In the third kind of exercise the student is required to make, in addition to certain views shown to given dimensions, others which he can only draw correctly if he thoroughly understands the design before him. In the fourth kind of exercise the student is asked to make the necessary working drawings for some part of a machine which has been previously described and illustrated, the dimensions to be calculated by rules given in the text.
The illustrations for this work are all new, and have been specially prepared by the author from working drawings, and he believes that they will be found to represent the best modern practice.
As exercises in drawing, those given in this book are not numbered exactly in their order of difficulty, but unless on the recommendation of a teacher, the student should take them up in the order given, omitting the following:—26, 27, 28, 35, 40, 42, 43, 45, 49, 50, 54, 60, 61, as he comes to them, until he has been right through the book; afterwards he should work out those which he omitted on first going over the book.
In addition to the exercises given in this work the student should practise making freehand sketches of machine details from actual machines or good models of them. Upon these sketches he should put the proper dimensions, got by direct measurement from the machine or model by himself. These sketches should be made in a note-book kept for the purpose, and no opportunity should be lost of inserting a sketch of any design which may be new to the student, always putting on the dimensions if possible. These sketches form excellent examples from which to make working drawings. The student should also note any rules which he may meet with for proportioning machines, taking care, however, in each case to state the source of such information for his future guidance and reference.
As machine drawing is simply the application of the principles of descriptive geometry to the representation of machines, the student of the former subject, if he is not already acquainted with the latter, should commence to study it at once.
D. A. L.
Glasgow: March 1887.