Drafting is the language engineers, architects, and builders use to share ideas. You'll make drawings by hand and on a computer, learn how professionals review and correct their work, and see how drafting is used in real jobs.
Why it's worth it
Before anything gets built, from a bracket to a bridge, someone draws it so precisely that a stranger could make it without asking a single question. That's drafting. On this badge you'll draw a real part by hand, then draw it again in CAD, and get it marked up the way professionals do. It's a skill used by engineers, architects, machinists, and builders, and it trains your eye to see how things fit together.
Start this week
- Pick a simple object you can hold, like a wooden block, a door stop, or a shelf bracket, and measure it with a ruler.
- Ask your Scoutmaster for the name of a Drafting counselor, and contact them with a parent copied.
- Ask your counselor or a teacher which free CAD program to try, and do its first beginner tutorial.
- Practice a row of capital letters on graph paper, keeping them all the same height.
Requirements · 8
Every official requirement and part, numbered to match Scouting America, in plain language. Sign off against the official wording (opens in a new tab).
- Requirement 1
Set up two drawing sheets, each with a proper border and title block: one for your hand-drawn project (requirement 2), the other for your hand-lettering project (requirement 6)
Tip: Use a ruler and a sharp pencil to set up clean borders and a title block. Neat setup makes the rest of your drawing easier.
For example: Each sheet gets a border about half an inch in from the edge and a title block in the lower right corner with the drawing title, your name, the date, the scale, and the sheet number.
- Requirement 1a
Sketch each project drawing roughly first to figure out what paper size to format
- Requirement 1b
Fill in all key title block information using single-stroke vertical or slanted Gothic lettering
- Requirement 2
On the sheet you formatted for your manual project, make a pencil drawing fit for manufacturing and complete the title block, choosing one of these drawing types. Choose 1 of 3
Tip: Pick a simple object, like a wooden block or a bracket, and measure it carefully before you start drawing.
For example: Draw a shelf bracket in three views: front, top, and side, lined up with each other. Add dimensions in inches, a hole size with a note like "2X 1/4 DIA THRU," and the material in the title block.
- Requirement 2a
Architectural: make a scale drawing of a floor plan, an elevation, a landscaping plan, or a plumbing, electrical, or mechanical service plan. Dimension true sizes with an architect's scale, add key section views, notes, and building details, and neatly print a bill of materials for 3+ materials or parts
- Requirement 2b
Mechanical: make a scale drawing of a mechanical device or other interesting object, in isometric or orthographic (third-angle) views. Dimension true sizes with an engineer's scale, add key section views, notes, and manufacturing details, and neatly print a bill of materials for 3+ materials or parts
- Requirement 2c
Electrical: draw the schematic of a simple electronic or radio circuit using standard symbols for its components, and neatly print a bill of materials listing all major electrical parts
- Requirement 3
Make a computer-aided design (CAD) drawing fit for manufacturing and complete the title block, choosing one of these drawing types. Choose 1 of 3
Tip: Try a free CAD program and follow a beginner tutorial first. Then draw something you can hold in your hand.
- Requirement 3a
Architectural: make a scale drawing of a floor plan, an elevation, a landscaping plan, or a plumbing, electrical, or mechanical service plan. Dimension true sizes with an architect's scale, and add key section views, notes, and building details
- Requirement 3b
Mechanical: make a scale drawing of a mechanical device or other interesting object, in isometric or orthographic (third-angle) views. Dimension true sizes with an engineer's scale, and add key section views, notes, and manufacturing details
- Requirement 3c
Electrical: draw the schematic of a simple electronic or radio circuit using standard symbols for its components, and neatly print a bill of materials listing all major electrical parts
- Requirement 4
Redline review and revision
Tips for this section: Your counselor will mark up your drawings with a change to make. Revising a drawing is a normal part of professional drafting.
Example for this section: In a redline review, your counselor might ask you to change a part's material from steel to aluminum, add a hole, or change a quantity in the bill of materials. Make the change, mark it on the drawing with a revision symbol (like a small triangle with a number), and record it in a revision block.
- Requirement 4a
Give your counselor copies (paper or digital) of the drawings you made for requirements 2 and 3; your counselor will return them redlined with a change to make, such as a feature, material, or bill of materials quantity
- Requirement 4b
Make the redlined correction, mark it on the drawings with a revision symbol, and add a revision block
- Requirement 5
Discuss with your counselor how requirements 2, 3, and 4 differed, the benefits of using CAD for requirements 3 and 4, the software you used, and other software choices
Tip: Jot down notes as you work on each drawing about what was easy, what was hard, and what took longer.
For example: Compare honestly: "By hand, I understood every line but erasing was slow. In CAD, changing one dimension updated everything, but I spent the first hour learning the menus."
- Requirement 6
On the sheet you set up in requirement 1, with no template or lettering guide, use single-stroke slanted or vertical Gothic lettering to explain briefly what you see as CAD's biggest benefit in one industry (aerospace, electronics, manufacturing, architecture, or another), drawing on requirements 2-5
Tip: Practice a few rows of each letter on graph paper before writing your explanation. Slow and steady keeps your lettering even.
For example: On the sheet you set up in requirement 1, write a short paragraph about how CAD helps one industry, like architecture, in single-stroke Gothic capitals between light guidelines, with letters about 1/8 inch tall and even spacing between words.
- Requirement 7
Drafting in the workplace. Choose 1 of 2
Tips for this section: Ask an engineering, architecture, or manufacturing office if you can see how they make drawings.
- Requirement 7a
Visit a business that uses drafting in its work, ask to see examples of what it produces, its drafting areas, and the tools used, and find out the following
- Requirement 7a1
How much drafting there is done by hand versus with CAD, and if CAD is used, which software and how and why it was picked
- Requirement 7a2
What drafting services are offered, who uses the designs and how; discuss how drafters work with others in the drafting area and elsewhere in the business
- Requirement 7a3
How important drafting is to the business's final product or service, and how it contributes to it
- Requirement 7b
Learn about the drafting trade using sources you find yourself, like the library or the internet (with a parent or guardian's permission), and discuss the following with your counselor
- Requirement 7b1
Drafting tools of the past and why and how they were used; which are still used and how that has changed with newer tools; and which are becoming obsolete
- Requirement 7b2
Media used in earlier times and how drawings were used, stored, and copied; how CAD has changed the media, and how that affects storing and copying drawings
- Requirement 7b3
Whether changes in media have created new uses for drawings and other design outputs, and briefly how new media are used in the industry today
- Requirement 8
Name three careers that use drafting skills; for one of them, research its training, education, certification, experience, and costs, plus job outlook, starting pay, and advancement; discuss with your counselor what you learned and whether the career interests you
Tip: Talk with someone who drafts for a living, or look up drafting jobs and the training they require.
Places to visit
Ask an adult to set it up, and go with your family, den, patrol, or crew.
An engineering, architecture, or manufacturing office
See drawings on screens and on paper, and how a design moves from a drafter to the people who build it.
How: Ask your counselor whether they know an office that welcomes visitors. An adult arranges it, and you go with a buddy or your patrol.
A high school or community college CAD lab
Try professional software and see student projects, from house plans to machine parts.
How: Have an adult contact the technology or engineering teacher and ask about a short visit or open house.
Where it can lead
- Drafter or CAD technicianTurns engineers' and architects' ideas into detailed drawings; often a two-year degree or certificate.
- Mechanical engineerDesigns machines and parts and checks the drawings drafters produce.
- ArchitectDesigns buildings and leads the drawings contractors build from.
- MachinistReads technical drawings and makes precise parts on mills and lathes.
Ask yourself
- What did you notice about your object only after you tried to draw it exactly?
- Which felt more natural to you, drawing by hand or in CAD, and why?
- How did it feel when someone marked up your drawing with corrections?
- Where in your daily life do you see things that started as a drawing?
- What would you like to design and draw next?
Good questions to ask your counselor or someone who drafts for a living
- What do you draw most often in your job?
- How did you learn drafting, and what training did you need?
- Do you still sketch by hand before you open CAD?
- What's the most common mistake on drawings you review?
- How do you make sure someone reading your drawing builds it right?
Helpful reads
- Earning a merit badge, step by step, From picking a badge to getting the final signature: how to find a counselor, set up meetings safely, work the requirements, and keep your progress., Youth · Families · 6 min read
- Contacting counselors, experts, and organizations, Email and phone scripts, who to ask for, how to follow up, and how to say thanks, with a parent copied every time., Youth · Families · 7 min read
- Choosing your next merit badge, How to pick a badge you'll actually finish: start with what you care about, balance Eagle-required and just-for-fun badges, and make the most of camp., Youth · Families · 6 min read
For leaders & parents
- Check whether a local school or library has computers with CAD software Scouts can use.
- Invite an engineer or architect to bring real drawings to a meeting.
People & places that can help
- Merit badge counselor — Talk with them early; they can explain what's expected.
- School technology or shop teacher — May have drafting tools, CAD software, and tips to share.
- Local engineering or architecture firm — A good place to see professional drafting in action.
- American Design Drafting Association (opens in a new tab) — The professional group for drafters, with career and certification info.
- SkillsUSA (opens in a new tab) — Student competitions in technical drafting, architecture, and CAD.
- ASME (opens in a new tab) — The engineering society that writes many of the standards technical drawings follow.
Pairs well with
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Tips, examples, and questions are ideas from experienced leaders, not extra requirements. Your unit leader or counselor decides when a requirement is complete.