[NFB-Science] Drawing Tools for Intro to Engineering Design

[Gene Kim]

Hey Nick,

I realize you mentioned you were looking for non-tactile drawing methods,
but I had someone recommend me the Sensational Blackboard. I'm told it's a
low-cost rubbery board that you can place ordinary printer paper on and
draw with an ordinary pen so that both you and sighted peers can feel/see
what's been drawn. I personally used the Draftsman in high school, which is
a bit more expensive and uses plastic film rather than paper.

Best of luck!

Kindly,
Gene


On Mon, Sep 21, 2020 at 8:59 AM Lloyd Rasmussen via NFB-Science <
nfb-science at nfbnet.org> wrote:

> For what it's worth:
> Studying electrical engineering at Iowa State University from 1965 until
> graduating in 1969, there was a requirement to take an engineering
> graphics
> course, applicable to all engineering students. I did not do close to
> everything my sighted counterparts did, but I was using a raise-line
> drawing
> board, sometimes called the Sewell drawing kit. It used the thin mylar
> sheets, and was only 8.5 x 11 inches in size. I think this is still
> available, and realize that the limited dimensions are part of the problem.
> I have always been totally blind. Some people like Abraham Nemeth were
> much
> better at visualizing things than I have ever been. In the graphics course
> I
> learned about the various kinds of projections. My "masterpiece" was a
> perspective projection of a cylinder. I think an instructor helped me to
> do
> this, using a compass, protractor and other tactile tools. I have no idea
> how I would draw such a thing today.
> You have come to the right place to ask questions. We don't have all the
> answers, and you will probably come up with some of them yourself if you
> are
> persistent. Your instructors should be willing and able to accommodate
> your
> disability, and you have to be in the middle of the process. Your
> education
> needs to work for you.
> How are you going to communicate with your sighted coworkers when you
> enter
> your first jobs? What kind of information will you need to communicate?
> How
> will they communicate with you? I think that 3D printing and other 3D
> modeling techniques are going to be helpful to you, and reducing them to
> paper or a flat screen may become a little less important going forward.
> I know I have raised more questions than I have answered. As blind people
> we
> are all pioneers, and one of our strengths for life can be resourcefulness
> and creativity.
>
> Lloyd Rasmussen, Kensington, MD
> Senior Staff Engineer, National Library Service for the Blind and Print
> Disabled
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: nspohn0--- via NFB-Science
> Sent: Monday, September 21, 2020 9:56 AM
> To: 'NFB Science and Engineering Division List'
> Cc: nspohn0 at gmail.com
> Subject: [NFB-Science] Drawing Tools for Intro to Engineering Design
>
> Hi all,
>
>
>
> What tools do blind people use for drawing? I am taking intro to
> engineering
> design and I have to do things such as sketching, multi-view drawings, and
> isometric drawings. Is there something other than a tactile drawing board
> or
> is a tactile drawing board what people use? I am interested in hearing
> about
> all tools that are out there.
>
>
>
> Regards,
>
> Nic
>
>
>
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