Ames Lettering Instrument

Engineering Aid 3 - Beginning Structural engineering guide book
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Figure 3-42.-Laying off guidelines. character i in figure 3-42, view A. All ascenders are as high as the caps. The drop line indicates the lower limit of the lowercase letters. The descender is the part of the lowercase letter that extends below the body of the letter, an example being the tail of the character g in figure 3-42, view A. The vertical distance from the drop line to the base line is the same as the vertical distance from the waist line to the cap line. It is about one third of the vertical distance between the base line and the cap line, or about one half of the vertical distance between the base line and the waist line. Figure 3-42, view B, shows an easy way to lay out guidelines for caps and lowercase. Let the height of a capital be 1 1/2 times the distance “a.” Set a compass or dividers to distance “a,” and lay off distance “a” above and below the midline selected for the guidelines, The method locates the cap line and the drop line. Then set the compass or dividers to one half of ’’a,” and lay off this distance above and below the midline. This method locates the waist line and the base line. To help you keep your lettering vertical, it is a good idea to construct vertical guidelines, spaced at random along the horizontal guidelines. For inclined lettering, lay off lines inclined at the angle you wish your lettering to be slanted. (See fig. 3-43, view A.) Inclined lines are known as 29.275 Figure 3-43.-Laying off lines for lettering. direction lines and are normally slanted at a maximum of 68 degrees. Ames Lettering Instrument If you have many lines of lettering to do, you will find a lettering instrument, such as the Ames lettering instrument, shown in figure 3-43, view B, quite useful and timesaving. The top-left section of figure 3-43, view B, shows how to use this instrument in conjunction with a T square to draw properly spaced horizontal guidelines. You insert the point of your pencil through one of the holes, and the instrument slides along the T square as you move the pencil across the page. The enlarged drawing of the instrument in the lower part of the figure shows the details of how the instrument is used. Notice the three rows of holes in the circular disc of the instrument. The holes 3-29

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