# Are Blue Lines Out?



## cabinetman (Jul 5, 2007)

I wonder if anyone uses them anymore.








 







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## GeorgeC (Jul 30, 2008)

cabinetman said:


> I wonder if anyone uses them anymore.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


?? I have no idea of what you are writing??

George


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## woodnthings (Jan 24, 2009)

these?
http://images.search.yahoo.com/search/images?_adv_prop=image&fr=ytff1-tyc7&va=blueprints


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## cabinetman (Jul 5, 2007)

GeorgeC said:


> ?? I have no idea of what you are writing??
> 
> George


Blue lines are/were the method for producing scaled drawings. Done with an amonia solution made a drawing with blue lines, like this...
.
















 







.


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## GeorgeC (Jul 30, 2008)

Ah so. Blue line prints/drawings. Usually called blueprints.

George


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## Dave Paine (May 30, 2012)

I hope the ammonia machines have gone the way of the dodo.

I can still remember the awful smell when there was a leak at my old company.

I think the ammonia machines at the old company were replaced 20 years ago.

I recall the days when drawing numbers ended in "B", "C", "D" etc, and we stored full size paper drawings. The letter was the size of paper and so told the folks filing the drawings which drawer to use.


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## rrich (Jun 24, 2009)

cabinetman said:


> Blue lines are/were the method for producing scaled drawings. Done with an amonia solution made a drawing with blue lines, like this...
> .


It's called an Ozalid process. The machines also are used to develop transparent "Brown Lines" that are used to allow a draftsman to make changes that can be reproduced. 




Dave Paine said:


> I hope the ammonia machines have gone the way of the dodo.


Without those machines we won't be able to buy the 26 be ammonia necessary for fuming oak. And yes, the process really stinks!

There are lots of Ozalid machines in and arround court houses where land use records are kept. Many of these documents are still kept in their original, hand drafted transparent document. Although modern technology has started creeping into the land use record storage. The micro fiche and digital copies are usually only done from the "Current" backward a few transactions. The theory is that beyond a few changes of hands, the current record is based upon precedent.


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## liquid6 (Feb 15, 2011)

I come from the printing world. Bluelines to me are mockups of proofs included trim lines and so on.

I think they are, for the most part, done digitally.


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## GeorgeC (Jul 30, 2008)

Technology caught up with the reproduction process.

I just hope it does not catch up with other reproduction processes.

George


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## Woodenhorse (May 24, 2011)

Computer technology has made blue lines pretty much obsolete. There are a few (very very few) shops still using the process but most have switched to blackline (sort of like a big laser printer) or paperless. Online plan rooms are used for the bidding process, gone are the days of printing hundreds of plan copies to bid a project. If you are looking for someone to produce prints for you then look for a reprographic shop in your area. There are organizations like ARC, RSA and Repromax that have member listings available. ARC is actually a large corporation that buys up troubled repro companies and operates many facilities throughout the US.


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