Historically, someone who produced engineering drawings from ideas and specifications was known as a  draughtsman, with the 'man' in draughtsman referring to the species rather than the gender.
   

The site name "Draughts'man" is taken from this era.
   

In that same historical period the "draughtsman" was a highly skilled and much respected employee who, in addition to producing accurate readable drawings was technically qualified and very much a part of the design process in the Drawing Office.
From the UK alone, consider a few technical landmarks ... Stephenson's Rocket (birth of the railway?)
The Forth Railway Bridge (how long has that been in use?) The Jet Engine (revolutionised air travel?)
The Hovercraft, The Harrier Jump Jet all came from a Drawing Board.

Modern Britain has completely forgotten it's industrial roots and today, tends to look down on engineering as a serious and rewarding profession, and salaries in the engineering trade reflect this.
  
How would the modern world manage without the jet engine?
  
The draughtsman/drawing office is an integral part of a highly skilled and proud profession with a history second to none, so let's get back up there and be rewarded as the major players we are.  
     

For a watch to function correctly, ALL components, no matter how small or unnoticed, have to be working
together or the very much noticed, hands and face, serve no useful purpose at all.

Today, most draughtsmen are working with CAD software, and are known by many new names, so, in an attempt to include everyone concerned in the production of drawings, be they electrical, mechanical, civil, architectural, automotive, jig and tool, male or female, long or short etc. the term 'drafter' will be used by this web site to encompass all
  .
The site hopes to help improve the life of the daily drafter by becoming a common point of reference for all those things associated with the trade.
It will pass on relevant news items, personal experiences of available products and services, shortcuts and tips, where to find those useful things you never knew existed, technical information from trusted sources, somewhere to show your credentials to the U.K. (or anywhere else for that matter) and all for free.

Hopefully, by becoming a known place for drafters, and anyone interested in the production of drawings, we can benefit each other from pooling the considerable knowledge we all have.
   
draughtsman.co.uk will continue to evolve and expand so please keep visiting, and communicating, with the site that is written entirely for the benefit of the drafter, by a working drafter.
  
      

happy drafting