Line Shading


Mechanical drawings are made to look better and to show more distinctly by being line shaded or shaded by lines. The simplest form of line shading is by the use of the shade or shadow line.



In a mechanical drawing the light is supposed, for the purposes of line shading or of coloring, to come in from the upper left-hand corner of the drawing paper; hence it falls directly upon the upper and left-hand lines of each piece, which are therefore represented by fine lin

s, while the right hand and lower edges of the piece being on the shadow side may therefore, with propriety, be represented by broader lines, which are called shadow or shade lines. These lines will often serve to indicate the shape of some part of the piece represented, as will be seen from the following examples. In Figure 97 is a piece that contains a hole, the fact being shown by the circle being thickened at A. If the circle were thickened on the other side as at B, in Figure 98, it would show that it represented a cylindrical stem instead of a hole.



Fig. 97.


Fig. 98.


Fig. 99.


In Figure 99 is represented a washer, the surfaces that are in the shadow side being shown in a shade line or shadow line, as it is often called.



In Figure 100 is a key drawn with a shade line, while in Figure 101 the shade line is shown applied to a nut. The shade line may be produced in straight lines by drawing the line twice over, and slightly inclining the pen, or by opening the pen points a little. For circles, however, it may be produced either by slightly moving the centre from which the circle is drawn, or by going over the shade part twice, and slightly pressing the instrument as it moves, so as to gradually spring the legs farther apart, the latter plan being generally preferable.



Fig. 100.


Fig. 101.


Fig. 102.


Figure 102 shows a German pen, that can be regulated to draw lines of various breadths. The head of the adjusting screw is made rather larger than usual, and is divided at the under side into twenty divisional notches, each alternate notch being marked by a figure on the face. By this arrangement a uniform thickness of line may be maintained after filling or clearing the pen, and any desired thickness may be repeated, without any loss of time in trial of thickness on the paper. A small spring automatically holds the divided screw-head in any place. With very little practice the click of the spring in the notches becomes a sufficient guide for adjustment, without reference to the figures on the screw-head. Another meritorious feature of this pen is that it is armed with sapphire points, which retain their sharpness very long, and thus save the time and labor required to keep ordinary instruments in order for the performance of fine work.



An example of line shading in perspective drawing is shown in the drawing of a pipe threading stock and die in Figure 103.



Fig. 103.


Shading by means of lines may be used with excellent effect in mechanical drawing, not only to distinguish round from flat surfaces, but also to denote to the eye the relative distances of surfaces. Figure 104 represents a cylindrical pin line shaded. As the light is supposed to come in from the upper left-hand corner, it will evidently fall more upon the left-hand half of the stem, and of the collar or bead, hence those parts are shaded with lighter or finer lines than the right-hand sides are.



Fig. 104.


Fig. 105.


Two cylindrical pieces that join each other may be line shaded at whatever angle they may join. Figure 105 represents two such pieces, one at a right angle to the other, both being of equal diameter.



Fig. 106.


Figure 106 represents a drawing of a lathe centre shaded by lines, the lines on the taper parts meeting those on the parallel part A, and becoming more nearly parallel to the axis of the piece as the centre of the piece is approached. The same is the case where a piece having a curved outline is drawn, which is shown in Figure 107, where the set of the bow-pen is gradually increased for drawing the shade lines of the curves. The centres of the shade curves fall in each case upon a line at a right angle to the axis of the piece, as upon the lines A, B, C, the dotted lines showing the radius for each curve.



Fig. 107.


The lines are made finer by closing the pen points by means of the screw provided for that purpose. The pen requires for this purpose to be cleaned of the ink that is apt to dry in it.



In Figure 108 line shading is shown applied to a ball or sphere, while in Figure 109 it is shown applied to a pin in a socket which is shown in section. By showing the hollow in connection with the round piece, the difference between the two is quite clearly seen, the light falling most upon the upper half of the pin and the lower half of the hole. This perhaps is more clearly shown in the piece of tube in Figure 110, where the thickness of the tube showing is a great aid to the eye. So, likewise, the hollow or hole is more clearly seen where the piece is shown in section, as in Figure 111, which is the case even though the piece be taper as in the figure. If the body be bell-mouthed, as in Figure 112, the hollow curve is readily shown by the shading; but to line shade a hollow curve without any of these aids to the eye, as say, to show a half of a tin tube, is a very difficult matter if the piece is to look natural; and all that can be done is to shade the top darkly and let the light fall mostly at and near the bottom. An example of line shading to denote the relative distances from the eye of various surfaces is given in Figure 113, where the surfaces most distant are the most shaded. The flat surfaces are lined with lines of equal breadth, the degrees of shading being governed by the width apart of the lines.

































Fig. 108.
Fig. 109.
Fig. 110.
Fig. 111.
Fig. 112.
Fig. 113.




Line shading is often used to denote that the piece represented is to be of wood, the shade lines being in some cases regular in combination with regular ones, or entirely irregular, as in Figure 114.



Fig. 114.







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