Mechanical AutoCAD Course

Lesson 1 • Navigating the AutoCAD Interface

Covers the ribbon, command line, toolbars, and status bar. Establishes baseline familiarity needed for all subsequent drafting tasks.

Lesson 2 • Workspace and Display Configuration

Teaches workspace switching, display settings, and crosshair customization. Directly supports efficient drafting habits throughout the course.

Lesson 3 • Units, Limits, and Drawing Scale

Sets up drawing units, precision, and limits for mechanical drafting. Correct unit configuration is foundational to accurate part geometry.

Lesson 4 • File Management and Templates

Covers creating, saving, and opening DWG files and templates. Ensures students maintain organized, recoverable project files from day one.

Lesson 1 • Drawing Lines and Polylines

Covers LINE and PLINE commands with segment control and closure options. Polylines are the primary geometry type for mechanical outlines.

Lesson 2 • Object Snaps and Tracking

Trains OSNAP modes and polar/object snap tracking for precise geometry. Snap accuracy is critical for mechanical drawings with tight tolerances.

Lesson 3 • Circles, Arcs, and Ellipses

Teaches all creation methods for circles, arcs, and ellipses. These shapes form the basis of holes, fillets, and curved mechanical features.

Lesson 4 • Rectangles, Polygons, and Splines

Covers RECTANG, POLYGON, and SPLINE for complex outlines. Provides tools for gaskets, flanges, and freeform mechanical profiles.

Lesson 1 • Offset, Mirror, and Array

Trains parallel duplication, mirroring, and rectangular or polar arrays. Speeds up repetitive mechanical patterns such as bolt circles and fins.

Lesson 2 • Selection Methods and Grips

Covers window, crossing, fence, and grip-based selection strategies. Efficient selection is prerequisite to fast, accurate editing workflows.

Lesson 3 • Trim, Extend, and Stretch

Covers boundary-based trimming, extending, and stretching of geometry. Essential for refining part profiles and adjusting feature dimensions.

Lesson 4 • Move, Copy, Rotate, and Scale

Teaches positional and transformational editing commands with reference options. These commands reposition and resize mechanical components precisely.

Lesson 1 • Layer Standards for Mechanical Drawings

Applies industry layer naming conventions for visible, hidden, center, and dimension lines. Standardized layers ensure drawing readability across teams.

Lesson 2 • Layer Creation and Management

Covers creating, naming, and organizing layers using the Layer Properties Manager. Proper layer structure is mandatory for professional mechanical drawings.

Lesson 3 • Linetypes, Lineweights, and Colours

Assigns linetypes, lineweights, and colors to layers and objects. These properties communicate object type and priority in mechanical drawings.

Lesson 1 • Linear, Aligned, and Angular Dimensions

Applies horizontal, vertical, aligned, and angular dimension commands. These cover the majority of dimensions found on mechanical part drawings.

Lesson 2 • Radial, Diameter, and Ordinate Dimensions

Covers radius, diameter, and ordinate dimensioning for curved and hole features. Essential for fully defining circular geometry on mechanical parts.

Lesson 3 • Text, Leaders, and Annotations

Creates single-line text, multiline text, and multileader annotations. Notes and callouts complete the documentation of mechanical drawings.

Lesson 4 • Geometric Tolerancing and Symbols

Inserts GD&T feature control frames and datum symbols using TOLERANCE command. Geometric tolerancing communicates precision requirements to manufacturing.

Lesson 1 • Design Centre and Tool Palettes

Uses Design Centre and Tool Palettes to access and share block libraries. Centralising content accelerates drafting and enforces drawing standards.

Lesson 2 • Creating and Inserting Blocks

Covers BLOCK and INSERT commands with base point and unit settings. Blocks reduce file size and enforce consistency across mechanical drawings.

Lesson 3 • External References and Xrefs

Attaches, overlays, and manages external DWG references. Xrefs enable collaborative multi-sheet mechanical projects with live drawing updates.

Lesson 4 • Dynamic Blocks and Parameters

Builds dynamic blocks with stretch, flip, and visibility parameters. Dynamic blocks replace multiple static blocks with a single intelligent symbol.

Lesson 1 • Viewports and Drawing Scale

Creates floating viewports and locks viewport scale for accurate output. Correct viewport scale ensures dimensions and geometry print at true size.

Lesson 2 • Creating and Managing Layouts

Creates named layouts, sets page size, and configures plot device settings. Layouts define the printed sheet for each drawing deliverable.

Lesson 3 • Model Space vs. Paper Space

Explains the distinction between model space geometry and paper space presentation. Understanding this separation is essential for correct scaled output.

Lesson 4 • Title Blocks and Border Setup

Inserts and configures title block templates with attributed fields. Title blocks provide mandatory project and revision information on each sheet.

Lesson 1 • 3D Workspace and Viewing Tools

Configures the 3D modelling workspace and navigates with orbit and ViewCube. Proper 3D navigation is prerequisite to accurate solid model construction.

Lesson 2 • Primitive Solids and Boolean Operations

Creates box, cylinder, sphere, and cone primitives and combines them with Boolean tools. Boolean union, subtract, and intersect form complex mechanical shapes.

Lesson 3 • Solid Editing and Feature Modification

Applies FILLET EDGE, CHAMFER EDGE, SHELL, and face editing to solids. Feature-level editing refines 3D models to match mechanical design intent.

Lesson 4 • Extrude, Revolve, and Sweep

Generates solids from 2D profiles using EXTRUDE, REVOLVE, and SWEEP. These commands convert mechanical cross-sections into full 3D geometry.