Learn to successfully navigate CAD drafting projects with this comprehensive guide on positioning kitchen fixtures. This article provides a step-by-step approach to placing and arranging range, fridge, and sink in a drafting project without overlapping lines and maintaining a uniform distance from the walls and counter.
Key Insights
- The article explains how to position the range one inch away from the wall and the counter to avoid line overlapping in drafting projects. The rotation of both the range and fridge is set to zero degrees for insertion.
- The fridge and range are set using a tracking command that sets both x and y positions simultaneously. This ensures both are one inch away from the wall, maintaining uniformity in the design.
- For the kitchen sink, the article demonstrates the use of grip edits to rotate the sink block and align it with the wall and counter. The sink is positioned 12 inches down from the counter and the midpoint of the sink aligns with the midpoint of the construction line.
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Let's Continue with Our Kitchen Fixtures. If we look at the handout, we will see that the range and the fridge are on the bottom wall, and the kitchen sink is on top of this counter.
Let's start by talking about the range. Remember, it is one inch away from this back wall, and that's where we have the insertion point, based on our original drawing. Also, I don't want it to touch directly against this counter, which is common in many drafting projects, as you don't want lines overlapping when you can avoid it.
It would be confusing to know where the counter ends and the range begins if the lines were right on top of each other. So instead, we'll place the range one inch away from the counter and one inch away from the wall. The range and the fridge will both be inserted without rotation, so we will reset our rotation to 0 degrees.
We will still place it on screen, with the insertion point checked and a scale factor of 1. Let's browse for our range and click Open. I don’t want to place it directly on the endpoint, as that could be confusing, but I also don’t want to place it too far over on the midpoint.
Instead, I’d like to place it along the line somewhere here. However, notice when I get close to the line, the endpoint snap or midpoint snap appears, and I don't want to place it on either of those points. Instead, let's press Shift + Right-click and use Nearest. Nearest allows us to select any point along this line, snapping directly to it. Make sure you're using Nearest only when you know exactly what you're going to do next.
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Now, I know the range is one inch away from the back wall, but we also want it one inch away from the counter. To do that, we can use Tracking. Let's go to Move.
I'll move the range, press ENTER, and use Tracking. Press T, R, A, Enter. From this top corner, click.
I'll move it one inch to the left, press ENTER, and then press ENTER again to lock it in. Now, I can move it to the orange line, the counter line, using Shift + Right-click Perpendicular, and click. Now the range is perfectly one inch away from the yellow line, using the Nearest option and the insertion point, and one inch away from the orange line, which is the counter, by using Tracking.
Press CTRL S to save. Now let’s bring in the fridge. Let’s browse, find "Fridge, " or in this case, it’s "Refrigerator."
Click Open, and this time I’ll place it right here on the screen. Now, I could have placed it along the wall, but instead, we’ll use a tracking command that allows me to set both the X and Y positions at the same time. Let’s go to Move, select the Refrigerator, and press ENTER to lock it in.
Again, I’ll use Tracking. Press T, R, A, Enter, but I’ll be specific about which point I choose. This time, I’ll select the bottom endpoint and move one inch to the left, press ENTER, and press ENTER again to finish. Now I can select the bottom endpoint of the range. The range was one inch away from the wall, so the fridge will also be one inch away from the wall.
Press CTRL S to save. Now let’s bring in the kitchen sink, and we can use the same workflow with multiple steps instead of always trying to perfect our options. Let’s browse, find "Kitchen Sink, " and click Open. This time, I’ll place it here on the screen.
The first thing we need to do is rotate the sink. We could use the Rotate tool, but this time let's rotate using grip edits. I’ll select the sink, see the grip, click it to activate, right-click, and select Rotate. I want to rotate it to this direction, which is a negative 90-degree or 270-degree rotation.
I’ll type 270, press ENTER, and now I can move the block again using grip edits. If I click on the insertion point grip, remember this activates Stretch, but when I stretch a block, it’s basically moving it. Now I can use Shift + Right-click Nearest and place it along the wall.
On the handout, we can see that the sink is 12 inches down. Let’s use Offset, press ENTER, type 12, press ENTER, and offset from here to here. Press ENTER. It just so happens that the midpoint of this sink perfectly lines up with the midpoint of the construction line, but for this example, let’s use a different Nearest point and Perpendicular. Let’s go to Move, select the sink, press ENTER to lock it in.
We’ll move it from Shift + Right-click Nearest along this top line to Shift + Right-click Perpendicular to the orange line. Now, we’re not completely finished. This orange line is still there.
We need to remove it, and this is a great opportunity to use the Selection Window. If I start somewhere on this wall and move to the right with the selection window, remember it will only select objects fully enclosed in the blue window. When I click outside, it will only select the line.
We can press the Delete key, use Zoom Extents, and press CTRL S to save. And that’s it for our physical geometry, which includes our countertop and fixtures. In the next video, we’ll begin working on our annotations.
See you there!
