Plumbing Blocks

[Ken M]

I have a question regarding plumbing blocks in a drawings. If anyone
knows of a better newgroup to post this question please let me know.
Started here since this is a customization question. I basically have
a ball valve but this includes all the plumbing blocks. How do most
engineering companies size their blocks per scale. Basically I have
sized the ball valve block in a drawing to a scale that looks good in
a 1/8" scale drawing. Once I have determined that size I kept that
size from scale to scale. I have plumbing designers saying the block
is too big for a 1/2" scale. My point is that the doors, walls
everything else is the drawing has gotten larger so will the ball
valve. Others have said the ball valve should be the same size from
one scale to the next. Any ideas as to which approach should be taken
will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Ken

[Ken M]

I have a general engineering question regarding the size of valves. What
direction has your engineering company taken on sizing ball valves per scale
of a drawing. I have taken the approach of making the ball valve a certain
size that looks good on a 1/8" drawing and keeping that size from scale to
scale. Thus the ball valve looks bigger on say a scale of 1/2" = 1'. Others
have said the ball valve should get the scale of the drawing and size it
accordingly thus making the ball valve the same size from scale to scale.
What direction would you suggest going and what is your company currently
doing.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Ken

[Doug Broad]

Ken,

I would classify these kinds of diagrammatic symbols as annotation
type. To insert them I usually apply 2 scale factors multiplied together.
1. The drawing plot scale - usually dimscale.
2. The annotation size - usually 3/32 to 1/8" representative of the
textsize variable.

Arch Desktop can automatically insert these kinds of things if you
embed these symbols into multiview blocks and define them as
annotation scale. (I haven't done that yet so could be wrong).
I use my own block insertion program which applies the scale factors
automatically.

Regards,
Doug

"Ken M" <kmo...@grgv.com> wrote in message news:B33D7EB42278E292...@in.WebX.maYIadrTaRb...

[Dave Alexander]

We treat valves as graphic blocks and have determined a size based on a plot
scale of 1:100. Then for use with other plot scales, we scale the block
accordingly, drawing dimscale / block dimscale ( 50 / 100 = .5 for plot
scale of 1:50 or 200 / 100 = 2 for plot scale of 1:200). This same system
applies to text, and other graphic blocks such as risers, plumbing fixture
symbols, etc.

Dave Alexander

"Ken M" <kmo...@grgv.com> wrote in message
news:B33D7EB42278E292...@in.WebX.maYIadrTaRb...

[Peter Friedrich]

The above tactics work fine.... maybe a bit more calculation than needed...
dimscale is a good reference for a symbolic or schematic block.

I use a really small block inserted to the scale factor... 96 on a 1/8"
scale dwg.
BUT... to get really useful... A minimum size should also exist... (I have
noticed the problem in details... a tiny [1/2"] symbol representing a 3"
valve.)
On a detail... the valve should have a minimum scale of 4 (I think mine work
with that)... so if the dimscale = 1... the block should be scaled up to a
nearly true size. (if (< blocksize 4)( setq blocksize 4)) .. or some
such...

Then again-- that's only on a detail.

"Dave Alexander" <dalex...@pooleandassociates.bc.ca> wrote in message
news:3E32FE91E9C6AE22...@in.WebX.maYIadrTaRb...

[Ken Morris]

Currently that is how my system works. I have a 1=1 symbol that is
really small and the lisp routine scales the block up to the same scale no
matter what the scale of the drawing is. Just so happen that most of our
drawings our 1/8" so I made the block scale to a factor of 96 everytime the
block is inserted making the block the same size no matter what the dimscale
is. This is making the block about 7.5" long from end to end. I also just
for verification our company is planning on updating to the new building
mechanical package and to see what route they took with their schematic
blocks they too make the block the same size no matter what the dimscale is.
The block did not scale up or down depending on the scale of the dimscale.
Which is exactly how I have it set up now.

I still would like some more opinions from other companies on how their
system is setup.

Thank you very much Peter and Dave

"Peter Friedrich" <pfrie...@Monsen.com> wrote in message
news:3A7079A3ECF34F88...@in.WebX.maYIadrTaRb...

[Dave Alexander]

With new building mechanical package, the blocks are different. I think that
they are now "objects" which will show at the proper scale and detail
according to the view scale or plot scale of the drawing. You would have to
use the Mechanical Buildings system for block insertion. It is going to be
different for you.

Dave Alexander

"Ken Morris" <gate...@cfl.rr.com> wrote in message
news:63A49B006D9EDC57...@in.WebX.maYIadrTaRb...