How to become a Mechanical Drafter 2024

Mechanical Drafter Prepare detailed working diagrams of machinery and mechanical devices, including dimensions, fastening methods, and other engineering information.

Mechanical Drafter is Also Know as

In different settings, Mechanical Drafter is titled as

CAD Designer (Computer Aided Design Designer)
CAD Operator (Computer Aided Design Operator)
Design Drafter
Drafter
Drafting Technician
Mechanical Designer
Mechanical Drafter
Product Designer
Project Designer

Education and Training of Mechanical Drafter

Mechanical Drafter is categorized in Job Zone Three: Medium Preparation Needed

Experience Required for Mechanical Drafter

Previous work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is required for these occupations. For example, an electrician must have completed three or four years of apprenticeship or several years of vocational training, and often must have passed a licensing exam, in order to perform the job.

Education Required for Mechanical Drafter

Most occupations in this zone require training in vocational schools, related on-the-job experience, or an associate's degree.

Degrees Related to Mechanical Drafter

Training Required for Mechanical Drafter

Employees in these occupations usually need one or two years of training involving both on-the-job experience and informal training with experienced workers. A recognized apprenticeship program may be associated with these occupations.

Related Ocuupations

Some Ocuupations related to Mechanical Drafter in different industries are

What Do Mechanical Drafter do?

Develop detailed design drawings and specifications for mechanical equipment, dies, tools, and controls, using computer-assisted drafting (CAD) equipment.
Coordinate with and consult other workers to design, lay out, or detail components and systems and to resolve design or other problems.
Review and analyze specifications, sketches, drawings, ideas, and related data to assess factors affecting component designs and the procedures and instructions to be followed.
Compute mathematical formulas to develop and design detailed specifications for components or machinery, using computer-assisted equipment.
Position instructions and comments onto drawings.
Modify and revise designs to correct operating deficiencies or to reduce production problems.
Design scale or full-size blueprints of specialty items, such as furniture and automobile body or chassis components.
Check dimensions of materials to be used and assign numbers to the materials.
Lay out and draw schematic, orthographic, or angle views to depict functional relationships of components, assemblies, systems, and machines.
Confer with customer representatives to review schematics and answer questions pertaining to installation of systems.
Draw freehand sketches of designs, trace finished drawings onto designated paper for the reproduction of blueprints, and reproduce working drawings on copy machines.
Supervise and train other drafters, technologists, and technicians.
Lay out, draw, and reproduce illustrations for reference manuals and technical publications to describe operation and maintenance of mechanical systems.
Shade or color drawings to clarify and emphasize details and dimensions or eliminate background, using ink, crayon, airbrush, and overlays.
Produce three-dimensional models, using computer-aided design (CAD) software.

Qualities of Good Mechanical Drafter

Near Vision: The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).
Visualization: The ability to imagine how something will look after it is moved around or when its parts are moved or rearranged.
Mathematical Reasoning: The ability to choose the right mathematical methods or formulas to solve a problem.
Oral Comprehension: The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
Oral Expression: The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
Written Expression: The ability to communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand.
Fluency of Ideas: The ability to come up with a number of ideas about a topic (the number of ideas is important, not their quality, correctness, or creativity).
Originality: The ability to come up with unusual or clever ideas about a given topic or situation, or to develop creative ways to solve a problem.
Speech Clarity: The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.
Speech Recognition: The ability to identify and understand the speech of another person.
Selective Attention: The ability to concentrate on a task over a period of time without being distracted.
Written Comprehension: The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
Problem Sensitivity: The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing that there is a problem.
Deductive Reasoning: The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.
Inductive Reasoning: The ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events).
Number Facility: The ability to add, subtract, multiply, or divide quickly and correctly.
Flexibility of Closure: The ability to identify or detect a known pattern (a figure, object, word, or sound) that is hidden in other distracting material.
Category Flexibility: The ability to generate or use different sets of rules for combining or grouping things in different ways.
Information Ordering: The ability to arrange things or actions in a certain order or pattern according to a specific rule or set of rules (e.g., patterns of numbers, letters, words, pictures, mathematical operations).
Visual Color Discrimination: The ability to match or detect differences between colors, including shades of color and brightness.
Finger Dexterity: The ability to make precisely coordinated movements of the fingers of one or both hands to grasp, manipulate, or assemble very small objects.
Perceptual Speed: The ability to quickly and accurately compare similarities and differences among sets of letters, numbers, objects, pictures, or patterns. The things to be compared may be presented at the same time or one after the other. This ability also includes comparing a presented object with a remembered object.
Far Vision: The ability to see details at a distance.
Speed of Closure: The ability to quickly make sense of, combine, and organize information into meaningful patterns.
Arm-Hand Steadiness: The ability to keep your hand and arm steady while moving your arm or while holding your arm and hand in one position.
Control Precision: The ability to quickly and repeatedly adjust the controls of a machine or a vehicle to exact positions.
Memorization: The ability to remember information such as words, numbers, pictures, and procedures.
Time Sharing: The ability to shift back and forth between two or more activities or sources of information (such as speech, sounds, touch, or other sources).
Auditory Attention: The ability to focus on a single source of sound in the presence of other distracting sounds.
Depth Perception: The ability to judge which of several objects is closer or farther away from you, or to judge the distance between you and an object.
Hearing Sensitivity: The ability to detect or tell the differences between sounds that vary in pitch and loudness.
Manual Dexterity: The ability to quickly move your hand, your hand together with your arm, or your two hands to grasp, manipulate, or assemble objects.
Wrist-Finger Speed: The ability to make fast, simple, repeated movements of the fingers, hands, and wrists.
Trunk Strength: The ability to use your abdominal and lower back muscles to support part of the body repeatedly or continuously over time without "giving out" or fatiguing.
Dynamic Strength: The ability to exert muscle force repeatedly or continuously over time. This involves muscular endurance and resistance to muscle fatigue.
Spatial Orientation: The ability to know your location in relation to the environment or to know where other objects are in relation to you.
Multilimb Coordination: The ability to coordinate two or more limbs (for example, two arms, two legs, or one leg and one arm) while sitting, standing, or lying down. It does not involve performing the activities while the whole body is in motion.
Gross Body Equilibrium: The ability to keep or regain your body balance or stay upright when in an unstable position.
Sound Localization: The ability to tell the direction from which a sound originated.
Glare Sensitivity: The ability to see objects in the presence of a glare or bright lighting.
Peripheral Vision: The ability to see objects or movement of objects to one's side when the eyes are looking ahead.
Night Vision: The ability to see under low-light conditions.
Response Orientation: The ability to choose quickly between two or more movements in response to two or more different signals (lights, sounds, pictures). It includes the speed with which the correct response is started with the hand, foot, or other body part.
Rate Control: The ability to time your movements or the movement of a piece of equipment in anticipation of changes in the speed and/or direction of a moving object or scene.
Gross Body Coordination: The ability to coordinate the movement of your arms, legs, and torso together when the whole body is in motion.
Dynamic Flexibility: The ability to quickly and repeatedly bend, stretch, twist, or reach out with your body, arms, and/or legs.
Extent Flexibility: The ability to bend, stretch, twist, or reach with your body, arms, and/or legs.
Stamina: The ability to exert yourself physically over long periods of time without getting winded or out of breath.
Explosive Strength: The ability to use short bursts of muscle force to propel oneself (as in jumping or sprinting), or to throw an object.
Static Strength: The ability to exert maximum muscle force to lift, push, pull, or carry objects.
Speed of Limb Movement: The ability to quickly move the arms and legs.
Reaction Time: The ability to quickly respond (with the hand, finger, or foot) to a signal (sound, light, picture) when it appears.

Tools Used by Mechanical Drafter

Architects' scales
Backlit digitizers
Compasses
Computer aided design CAD multi-unit display graphics cards
Cutting plotters
Desktop computers
Electronic scales
Estimating keypads
Flexible curves
French curves
Graphics tablets
Handheld calculators
Large-format digitizers
Notebook computers
Plotters
Print servers
Protractors
Sonic digitizers
T-squares
Three-dimensional laser digitizers
Three-dimensional motion controllers
Triangles
Wide-format document scanners

Technology Skills required for Mechanical Drafter

1CadCam Unigraphics
Adobe After Effects
Adobe LiveMotion
Autodesk AutoCAD
Autodesk AutoCAD Civil 3D
Autodesk Inventor
Autodesk Mechanical
Autodesk Revit
Bentley MicroStation
Bentley Navigator
Bill of materials software
Computer aided design and drafting CADD software
Computer aided design and drafting software CADD
Dassault Systemes CATIA
Dassault Systemes SolidWorks
Document management system software
ERP software
ESRI ArcGIS software
Extensible markup language XML
Graphic presentation software
McNeel Rhinoceros 3D
Microsoft Access
Microsoft Excel
Microsoft Office software
Microsoft Outlook
Microsoft PowerPoint
Microsoft Project
Microsoft Word
Motion graphics software
Non uniform rational b-splines NURBS software
Piping and instrumentation design PID software
PTC Creo Parametric
PTC Pro/Cable
Rapid prototyping software
Reverse engineering software
SAP software
Scanning software
Siemens Solid Edge
SofTech CADRA
Three-dimensional scanning software
Trimble SketchUp Pro

US Universities

How to become Mechanical Drafter in 2024