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How Do You Read An Architect Scale?

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Anonymous answered
I am drawing a floor plan for a class. The drawing is at 1/4 scale. The proposed site is 55' x 35'. Should my drawing at 1/4 scale be approximately 14" x 9"?
Arun Raj Profile
Arun Raj answered
An architect's scale is also known as the scale rule. It helps the architect quickly interpret the dimensions of a blueprint without having to wrack his brains on math. The architect's scale looks odd with three sides, having a different ruler on every side. You can read fractions of an inch like ½ or ¼ in the architect's scale.

First or all, find the scale on your blueprints. You will find it located on the bottom left hand corner of the page. For instance, ¼" can be interpreted as 1 ft. When you have done this, find the corresponding scale, on the ruler. The scale has a long mark to the left of a '0' which is the starting part of the feet, and many shorter marks to the right part of the '0,' which signify the inches. Align the ruler straight with the zero mark on the beginning of the part you want to measure. The foot measurement is the closest mark the line passes. Having counted the feet, move the ruler left to match the end of the line with the closest foot mark. The smaller 'inch' mark that the line meets up with is the inches that you need. The first measurement is an indication of the feet, and the second shows the inches.
Arun Raj Profile
Arun Raj answered
An architect scale is used for taking measurements from reduced scale drawings like blueprints. Once made of wood, the material used in architect's scale in present times is aluminium or rigid plastic. In Britain, architectural drawings are measured in standard units like millimetres and meters.

There are 3 sides to an architect's scale and there is a ruler on every side. One can read fractions of an inch in the architect's scale too. For example ½" can be read as one feet. To begin with, look for the scale on your blueprint. It is found on the bottom left hand corner of the page. After this, look for the corresponding measurement, on the ruler. The scale has a long mark towards the left of a '0' which is the beginning of the feet, and shorter marks on the right side of '0' which represent the inches. Keep the ruler straight with the '0' mark on the starting point of the part you want to take measurement of. The closest mark the lines pass through is the foot measurement.

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