AutoCAD Tutorial: Calculate scale and sheet size By Ellen Finkelstein This tutorial is unusual, because you don’t need AutoCAD to do it. You draw full size in AutoCAD. But before lon, you !ay need to set the sca le of te"t, di!ensions, and other ob#ects that need to be the riht size after you $lot on a sheet of $a$er. %n a lare drawin, such as a drawinof a house, you ob&iously need to scale down to fit it on a sheet of $a$er. For s!all ob#ects, you !iht scale u$. You can add te"t and di!ensions in $a$er s$ace and a&oid scalin. Yo u can also use annotati&e te"t and di!ensions, but you still need to choose a scale. 'et’s say you ha&e a drawinof a house. The drawinis ()* feet wide by (+feet hih. -o!e ty$ical scales for an architectural drawinof a house in the nited -tates are (/012(3 and (/412(3. Follow these ste$s5 (. Calcu late the $ lotted si ze of the wi dth at (/ 012(3 . ()*3 " (/0 2 06 7(/01 . +. Calcu late the $lotte d size o f the h eiht a t the sa!e scale. (+3 " (/0 2 61. 6. Te st this size on a size D shee t 8601"+ +19. %t’ s too s!a ll. T est it on a siz e E sheet 8001"6019. %t would #ust fit, but allowinfor a title block and !arin would !ake it too tiht.
The !aterial known today as fiberlass was de&elo$ed in the (>6’s, as an insulation
!aterial. %t is used in !any industrial and co!!ercial a$$lications fro! boat and &ehicle
body co!$onents, construction co!$onents, safety and s$ort e=ui$!ent, hea&y duty
containers and others.
Fiberlass is a co!$osite structural !aterial that consists of fiber reinforce!ents 8ty$ically
lass9 that are bound toether in a resin !atri". Glass fiber has a hih tensile strenth, and
will not break, si!ilar to a reinforcin bar in a concrete !i". The resin acts like concrete, as it $erfor!s well in co!$ression. Toether, the lass fibers and resin are ood in both
co!$ression and tension, creatin a sturdy !aterial.
Fiberlass has a hih strenth7to7weiht ratio, resists war$in and is resistant to corrosion. %t
insulates fro! heat, cold and electricity, works well in e"tre!e te!$eratures, and easily yields
to be !ade into co!$le" sha$es. Bein a ther!oset !aterial, &ersus &inyl bein
ther!o$lastic, it is not affected by te!$erature chanes.
Fiberlass fenestration is bi in Euro$e and rowin in the -, while in Canada it is still
considered a no&elty. As such, few !anufactures offer this $roduct, costs are hih co!$ared
to traditional alternati&es such as &inyl and alu!inu!, but =uality should be hiher as well.
Aluinu window cross section 0 note the theral "rea(#
Alu!inu! needs little introduction. %t is the !ost abundant !ineral in the earthNs crust. There
is e&idence of its use fro! as early as 6 B.C., but it was not until (444 that an econo!ically
feasible $rocess was de&elo$ed for !odern, co!!ercial $roduction. Today, it is used
$ractically e&erywhere 7 fro! industrial to household $roducts, in a&iation, !arine and
!ilitary uses. %t is the latter that brouht alu!inu! to the buildin industry. After + the
!anufacturin industry looked for new a&enues for their !aterials, and found a $erfect !atch
with the buildin boo! of the ti!e.
For a brief $eriod 8fro! the !id *Ns to the early 4Ns9, alu!inu! fenestration reined
su$re!e. 'ooks were =uestionable at best, ha&in a N!ilitary issueN a$$earance, but as the
nu!bers rew and $rices dro$$ed it beco!e the standard of that era.
a&in an e"cellent strenth7to7weiht ratio, corrosion resistance and bein easily for!ed
into co!$le" sha$es and $rofiles, it is an easy !aterial to work with. %t does not rot or defor!,
so it’s life is &irtually unli!ited and needs no !aintenance sa&e for $eriodical cleanin.
Costs 7 alu!inu! windows are the chea$est in the fenestration fa!ily. Ke&ertheless, a oodalu!inu! window could be !ore e"$ensi&e than a $oor &inyl one. owe&er, these days it is
@inyl has been the world’s !ost &ersatile $lastic since its in&ention in the early (>+s. Fro!
its first use as olf balls and shoe heels, &inyl is found today in al!ost all industrial
a$$lications. Rnown as $oly&inyl chloride, or @C, it offers e"cellent resistance to che!icals
and corrosion, and as u@C, it withstands the da!ain effect of the @ enery of the sun.
Bein easy to sha$e into co!$le" $rofiles, offerin su$erior ther!al characteristics and
ha&in ood strenth to weiht ratio, &inyl has beco!e the de7facto !aterial for the
fenestration industry. %t can be easily !achined and welded, can be e"truded in colours or
$ainted, and all that in a $rice fa&orably co!$etin with traditional !aterials such as steel,
alu!inu! and wood.
A &inyl $roduct is $ractically indestructible and will outlast any other !aterial used in the
industry. %t needs no !aintenance and can be easily cleaned to look like new. e fully aree
that the $rettiness is last on the &inyl attribute list, but itNs hih functionality !akes u$ for that.
@inyl has e&ol&ed fro! bein an al!ost unthinkable window !aterial into holdina$$ro"i!ately 4S of todayNs !arket. e belie&e that no other !aterial co!es close to this.
Kot far back 7 in the early >’s it was nearly i!$ossible to con&ince a ho!eowner to use
O$lastic windows’. %t is the iad of the fenestration industry 7 ca!e for! nowhere and took the
!arket in a stor!.
The !aterial is an oil by7$roduct, so it’s $rice !ay be affected by oil $rice fluctuation.
owe&er, co!$ared to other fenestration !aterials that are enery intensi&e, &inyl has low
e!bodied enery, so its !anufacturin $rocess consu!es little enery. %t can be recycled,
thouh if du!$ed in a landfill it will take !uch loner to disinterate than wood.
@inyl is an e"cellent insulator, both for hot and cold. %t is stable, and is easy to $roduce and
!achine. As such, &inyl co!$onents are found in al!ost any window or door, e&en in wood
or fiberlass. e belie&e that 8ood9 &inyl windows offer the best insulation &alues, ha&in
!ost weather stri$$in lines co!bined with air ca&ities 7 honeyco!b like fra!e.
To dress down &inyl, !anufacturers of other !aterials $oint to it’s weakest characteristics 7softness, co!$arati&e !echanical weakness and hih e"$ansion / contraction rates. All are
correct, but i!!aterial 7 at least in a hih7end &inyl window5
• -oftness 7 &inyl can take !ore abuse than any other !aterial. -cratches can be easily
re!o&ed usin a razor blade and so!e s!oothin. This is not the case with other
!aterials, where a dent or a scratch are there to stay.
• echanical weakness 7 as all &inyl windows are !ade with air ca&ities. The walls in
between the ca&ities reinforced the section sa!e as a honeyco!b structure. Further,
any decent window !anufacturer reinforces the sections with a steel section dri&en
throuh the ca&ity. %t is trans$arent to the ho!eowner, but uses the strenth of steel
with the look and war!th of &inyl.
%n retrofit a$$lication the &inyl softness is a blessin 7 houses shift, so the &inyl
absorbs !ost of to $rotect the lass, which is the riid $art.
• E"$ansion rate 7 it !ay !ake a difference if a sinle window s$an will e"tend to say
ten feet. %n reality, such is rare in residential a$$lications the e"$ansion in real life has
no effect on the final $roduct $erfor!ance. Further, windows are lazed usin settin
blocks 7 neo$rene s$acers, which absorb any such stress. The sa!e settin blocks areused in any window, so this is not a $rocess $eculiar to &inyl only.
The only setback of &inyl windows is their a$$earance bulky by nature. To o&erco!e that,
newer windows are now !ade fro! toned down $rofiles, allowin a softer looks.
@inyl can be e"truded in any colour. owe&er, in !ost a$$lications the outside is either co7
e"truded or $ainted in different colour.
Ty$ical cross section is bo"y, where the C-A s$ecifies an outside wall of .;P and internal
wall .0P. The standard is &oluntary and is followed only by hih end !anufacturers, whereat low end you !ay find lower or inconsistent &alues.
The low costs, $o$ularity, and ease of $roduction are &inyl’s biest curse. The industrye&ol&es at a fast rate, so !achinery beco!e obsolete fast. Buyin a basic, non auto!ated
$roduction line 8welder, router and !iter saw is all that is9 costs less than a used car, and a
chea$ one at that. Add to that the rate of !icro !anufacturers oin under, where their
!achinery is resold for $eanuts, so e&ery !an and his uncle can han u$ a shinle and
beco!e !anufacturers, sort of. ThatNs what we call cottae industry.
Further, one can buy &inyl $rofiles fro! $ublic !olds, !eanin worn obsolete !olds used to
their ca$acity, where $recision and $roduct finishes are a far cry fro! sa!e used by real
!anufacturers. sin such $rofiles &ia si!ilarly obsolete, none calibrated !achines,
co!bined with no7na!e hardware and no7na!e lass, result in seriously cri$$led windows.
owe&er 7 $roduct is chea$. Considerin that no7na!e hardware would last for few years
only and re$lace!ent $arts cannot be found the $roduct beco!es useless.
As with any other $roduct, only !ore so, you et what you $ay for. There is little brand
reconition in this industry, so it is easy to be !isled by Ubuy direct fro! !anufacturerP hy$e.
%t is wise to adhere to the bier na!es, where the $roduct !ay by !ore e"$ensi&e, but
su$erior in e&ery other way. %t is always wise to scrutinize the seller and the $roduct, or else
one !ay et stuck with a $oorly functionin $roduct so!eti!es worse than the one #ust
re$laced. This issue is $eculiar to the &inyl window industry as other $roducts wood andfiberlass ha&e no cottae industry factor.
inyl 5yts
Bein the !ost $o$ular !aterial, it is sold by !ost window co!$anies. e are a!azed by the
creati&ity of the sales $itches we hear5
• @irin &inyl 7 no e"truder uses recycled &inyl in windows. :ecycled &inyl is used to
!ake sho$$in bas and fleece $ants, not windows.
• owder &s. ranules 7 the raw !aterial is offered in both for!s. There is no ad&antae
of one for!ulation aainst the other.
• 'ead in !aterial at least in Korth A!erica, lead is not used in &inyl windows. %t
used to be found in low7end &inyl $roducts, as colour stabilizer, but was lon re$laces
The !ost desired $roduct, with the ulti!ate look, fro! hu!ble to e"otic s$ecies, and allowin
for indefinite desin &ariations, $atterns, and o$tions.
A ood wood window is an e"cellent $roduct in both a$$earance and features, will last and $erfor! for a &ery lon ti!e, but it co!es at a $rice. %t could be easily three or !ore ti!es the
$rice of a co!$arable &inyl window, and it needs constant !aintenance.
A chea$ wood window is a disaster in waitin, as !any frustrated ho!e owners ha&e noticed
that when the chea$ builder’s window enter their second decade and cru!ble. To be fair 7
ho!e owners !uch contribute to wood windows early failure, as such windows need !uch
u$kee$ and !aintenance, which is hardly e&er done.
ood windows are not for e&erybody, and are considered lu"ury to$7end $roducts. E&en the
best wood window still re=uires onoin !aintenance and constant $aintin, so the cost of the
window does not end at the $urchase $rice. -i!ilar to buyin a lu"ury car 7 the ser&ice and
$arts carry lu"urious $rice ta as well, so costs do not end with $urchase.
a&in the natural look and aura, the best all7wood window will not $erfor! as well as a
lowly &inyl or fiberlass window. ood in not stron enouh to carry !odern double lazed
ther!al units. To kee$ the desired delicate fine looks 7 rather than the bulky looks of &inyl 7 it
uses lihter and narrower sealed units, less so$histicated hardware and fewer weather
stri$$in. All that, and the need to constantly !aintain the outside of the window, has ushered
a new breed of hybrid windows. Today, all hih7end !anufacturers offer either &inyl or
alu!inu! layer 8ca$$in9 on the outside. This eli!inates the need for !aintenance and also
reinforces the window.
-er&ice could be an issue with wood windows, where lazin sto$s !ay da!ae when
re$lacin a sealed unit, so a full sash re$lace!ent is needed, at a $rice to !atch. ardware
re$lace!ent !ay be e=ually difficult, as screws need to be reinstalled at the sa!e $lace, with
little roo! to o dee$er or sideways. hat it really !eans is that unlike other !aterials, with
wood windows you will need to et back to the !anufacturer for ser&ice. %n the $ast decades
so!e of the wood window !akers seized to e"ist, so re$lace!ent lass 8full sash9 and
$ro$rietary ser&ice $art are no where to be found.
ood windows can be stained or $ainted, !uch de$ends on the s$ecies used. nlike other
!aterials, all wood windows will be finished on site.
Bein a wood window does not necessarily !ean it is hih end. There are !iserable lookinwood windows, e&en at the hih $rice le&el. 'ook for #oints that do not !eet, nail heads show,
tracks and accessories &isible, to na!e #ust a few.
Fenestration beca!e a hih7tech industry, at least with the constant inno&ations and new $roducts and features that were considered futuristic #ust a short while ao.
here traditional windows were !ade of a sinle !aterial throuhout, we ha&e now
hy$henated !aterials 7 wood with fiberlass, &inyl or alu!inu!, &inyl with alu!inu! ad so
on. All that is ood, till you try and define which is the !ain $roduct and which the add7on5
is a wood and &inyl window a &inyl ca$$ed wood or wood &eneered &inylQ
Both are correct. There are wood windows with a &inyl 8or alu!inu! or fiberlass9 outside,
and &ise &ersa. This brins u$ a new =uestion5
• &hould one "uy a window ade "y a ,inyl window a(er/ where thewindow has a "eautiful wood layer inside/ to "e selected fro a long list ofspecies/
• or/ should you "uy fro a wood window anufacturer/ where the outside iscapped with ,inyl4
There is no correct answer. %t de$ends on the buyer, where the brain rihts ac=uired with a
hih end wood window brand are no doubt hiher than sa!e fro! a lesser known &inyl brand,
whether as ood a window and sa!e inside wood finish.
hat it really !eans that !aterials will !eet so!ewhere in the !iddle. A hih end &inyl
window, e=ui$$ed with all latest technoloies and ca$$ed inside with wood, would be a better
buy than itNs wealthy cousin 7 wood window with &inyl ca$$in.
%t is a no brainer both ways. -o!e buyers would not be cauht dead with &inyl windows,
hy$henated or not while others will weih the looks and characteristics and will decide
accordinly.
Steel
An honorable !ention. e would ha&e ne&er been here if it was not for the world fa!ous
:usco -teel indows. -ee !ore in the about us section.
%n the early +th century, steel beca!e a widely acce$ted and $o$ular !aterial for window
fra!in. %t was stron, interated well with other buildin syste!s, and was readily a&ailable.
These $ro$erties were also critical to the de&elo$!ent of lass curtain walls for hih7rise
Kew !aterials are bein de&elo$ed fo$r the !ilitary, auto!oti&e and a&iation industries. As
with other industries, no doubt the fenestration industry will benefit fro! such ad&ances. Add
to that recyclin awareness, reen buildin codes and dwindlin resources of currently used!aterials, so we !ay see a si!ilar re&olution as was with the &inyl #ust three decades ao and
now the fiberlass at itNs heels.
e now see lass characteristics that were considered unattainable #ust a few years ao. e
use sealants that did not e"ist in the 4Ns. Fra!e !aterials are sure on the way.
Kew co!$osite !aterials are already bein used in the industry, !ade of recycled and oranic
by7$roducts. e already offer sa!e in so!e of our lines. %t is yet to see it will catch or not,
but watch this s$ace for !ore de&elo$!ents. :ead !ore about the fenestration of to!orrow.
