Working on a ply Piver Trimaran - new rudder arrangement.

Tuesday 20th of September
More than half way through the second week of AutoCAD. I feel as though I am on the cusp of gaining a degree of competence - but just when Chris asks us to do an exercise I seem to be slow or can't remember the key commands or else my mind gets a bit fuzzy on the dimensions! Still nothing like time on it to get better and I will have a practice tonight.

Then Chris said: "every year there are students who forget to save and back up their work". Well I won't let that happen to me I thought to my self. I will just finish the long board then work out where to save it to. A bit later and without physical input from me ( I have witnesses) my computer "spat the dummy" and I saw the blue screen of death, then a very blank screen. Not a great way to finish my first day's introduction to Autocad - though it can be argued it was a good lesson!

Reflection on the Drawing Exercise
While finishing my drawing (on Friday) I was thinking that when you have the choice, there is quite a bit of detail in the "ducks". For example some I used early on had their "beaks" bent down below the base, and when (as seemed to happen a lot) they all fell of the spline just as I was about to draw in my curve, they then indented the drawing paper, just to add insult to injury!

Other thoughts in no particular order: rounded tips to the "beaks" meant they fell off the spline easier than a flat tipped "beak". Non vertically aligned tips fell off easier. Not enough ducks meant asking for trouble. The thinness of the spline was critical - I had made a few thinned ones by hand sanding - the better technique is to use the sanding disk - carefully avoiding a flat spot by moving the curved portion of the spline against the sanding disc. Put your ducks on the outside of the curve (you get more on the spline and they are not in the way of drawing the curve.

It seemed to take me quite a while to get my curves both accurate and fair. Analysis showed I sometimes lost concentration and measured using my tick stick from other than the LWL (Load Water Line) at times.

I found it worth buying my own eraser guard (for working on Thursday and Friday) - note eraser not "rubber".

Enjoyed the All Black versus Tonga game on Friday night. Had a great bike ride on Saturday - from Mt Albert into town on the cycle track then down Symonds St and onto the waterfront then along the bays to Achiles Point, and back again up Queen Street.

Then had a lazy day reading and eating in the sun and got a bit sunburnt!

Our Tool box working diagram from Autocad WS

Toolbox picture