Chapter 9

A spool or isometric spool drawing:

An assembly of pipe and fittings
The last in a series of drawings made of pipe & fittings before physical
assembly (welding, threading…etc) begins
Contains a bill of materials required to assemble the spool.
 “simple drawing”

Spools are often done by the contractor, in cases where your company
does construction for outside companies, this means YOU will be doing
the spools for assembly on-site or in a shop and then transported to the
plant location.
There are two basic methods used to illustrate pipe spools:
 Double line
 Single line

 Easiest to interpret because they

closely resemble the actual appearance
of the pipe
 Basically double line piping drawings
 Notice the orthographic layout at right
used for double line spools
 Notice the use of centerlines and
hidden lines
 Require some visualization skills
 Centerline becomes the pipe & is
drawn as a thick line
 Centerline extensions are shown at Elbow using
elbows & flanges radius
 Elbows can be shown as either
radius (upper drawing) or square (see
lower right). This will be dependent on
company standards.
 As in Double Line, use only number
of views needed to fully describe the
assembly. Squared elbow
… There is a third type of spool drawings that some companies use:

 Pipe is drawn single line

 Fittings are shown double line
There are a couple of ways to dimension
spools and no matter which method is used,
it’s ALWAYS important to know the exact
lengths of pipe and the locations of any
branches on that pipe…
THESE ARE CRITICAL!

Guidelines for Dimensioning Spools:

 Provide overall lengths of the spool

 Dimension to each branch fitting in
the spool
Dimension each straight run of pipe
 Two or more fittings that are welded  The shortest dimensions should be
or joined are termed “fitting-to-fitting” placed closest to the pipe and overall
(FTF) and their overall length should dimensions should be farthest from
be dimensioned if no straight length of the pipe
pipe is involved
 In this class, we will use isometric spools for detailing
pipe and fittings.

 Used by many companies to illustrate the entire spool in a single

isometric view.
 Easier for pipefitters and welders to understand than orthographic
drawings or the “flat” spools.
 Represents clearer picture of the actual assembly of pipe and fittings
 Isometric Drawing is not drawn to scale
 Fully dimensioned and contains complete bill of materials
 Some companies use a specialized software to create isometric spools
and require only data entry. This software can generate a notated isometric
drawing, a bill of materials and a “travelers” list.

FYI: Travelers list: history of each weld and who made it.
 Type of three-dimensional drawing
 Developed using the three primary
dimensions of an object: height,
width and depth
 Combines the three dimensions
into a single view to provide a
pictorial representation
 Must be drawn on axes that
measure 30° from the horizontal
plane
Notice how ALL views of the pipe are used in determining the
isometric drawing.
 It’s the primary source for material
take-off
 It provides a detailed description of
the pipe’s routing and configuration,
from beginning to end…This is done by
using the drawing symbols, callouts,
coordinates & elevations provided on Plan View
the piping arrangement drawing
 Most companies prefer to draw
piping isometrics with the north arrow
pointing up and to the right. NEVER
show the north arrow pointing down!
Isometric View
Length dimensions and informational notes
or callouts are used on isometrics to define
the pipe’s exact routing through the facility.
The placement of dimensions on the
drawing establishes precise lengths
between fitting, valves, equipment
connections…etc.
Information such as coordinates,
elevations, nozzle projection, pipe size and
pound ratings are used to calculate lengths
of a run of pipe.
Dimensions are placed on isometrics that
indicate center-to-center, center-to-face
and face-to-face measurements
Dimensions can’t provide all the information required to describe a
piping isometric. Any information that’s pertinent to a piece of pipe
MUST BE conveyed on the isometric.
Notes and callouts are used to add significant information:
Notes:
Denote pipe size and pound rating of fittings, flanges and valves
Specify insulation type and thickness, locations for pipe guides,
anchors or supports
 Also used to specify information on offset angles
Callouts:
 stipulate instrumentation locations
 stipulate size
 stipulate specification breaks
 stipulate fabrication details
 At times the amount or size of the pipe that will be shown on a spool is
dependent on how big a piece of pipe the contractor can move… such
as, is it going to be moved to the site via a train boxcar or is it going in
the back of a truck?
If you know the size of the truck or railcar, you can calculate the spool
size from the isometric drawing

Things to keep in mind when drawing spools:

 Valves are often not shown in spool
 If a straight run of pipe in an
drawings … check your company
orthographic spool drawing doesn’t
standards … in this class you will
show in your principal view, show it in a
include valves in spool drawings.
partial orthographic view…and always
 Spools end at a flange or field weld project this view 90° from the main one
 Show NORTH on a spool drawing  When making an isometric spool,
unless otherwise specified by your choose the view that shows the least
company number of line crossings
 Draw an orthographic spool with a
single view that shows all straight
lengths of pipe and all fittings
1. Spools are often drawn “not-to-scale”
2. All straight lengths of pipe are shown in proportion to one another
3. Some companies prefer NOT using scale on spools and rely totally on
written dimensions (that means those written dimensions need to be correct
& accurate!), other companies want spools drawn at a certain scale
4. Whether NO SCALE or TO SCALE, the written dimensions are the MOST
important part of the spool and they MUST be accurate.

In instances where installation is not “on-site”, spools MUST be tagged.

This means that each individual spool piece is given an identification number
or MARK.
The “marking” or “tagging” method is determined by the company standards.
Typically this “mark” or “tag” is the pipe specification (like A15) plus a number
or letter to identify the spool.
The marks or tag numbers usually show up first on the isometric drawing.
  B.O.M.
 Material list of the spool drawing
Contains vital statistics of all components needed to construct the
spool

On some CAD systems, all of the pipe and fittings are automatically
tabulated as you draw and the BOM is generated by the computer without
you having to do any of the calculations.
 serve to identify a piece of
pipe or a fitting on the spool
drawing and associate it to a
description in the B.O.M.
 Item number is found
inside a circle on the drawing
with a leader line pointing to
the part
 The same number appears
in the bill of materials that
also contains a detailed
description of the part

 Item numbers should be aligned when possible to create …use a guideline

when possible to locate all the item symbols on
Information grouping: an ordered arrangement or aligning of any type of
text or symbols on a drawing

Main thing to remember when making ANY

drawing is that it has to be interpreted by other
people.
In the case of spools, a pipefitter will be following your
graphic and written instructions to build the pipe
assembly.
The assembly of pipe and fittings will be easier IF
your graphic and written instructions are easy to read
and convenient to find on the drawing.
 technical description of the pipe or fitting containing any codes,
ratings and specifications required for the accurate identification
of the component
information in a material description may be used by pipefitters,
purchasing agents and cost estimators
Common method is to show pipe (lowest schedule number and
smallest diameter first), then common fitting, followed by flanges
and finally, odd fittings
Make sure the information in the bill of materials is
complete…follow the guidelines set forth by your company
 Spool drawings are some of the least complex in process pipe drafting
 Spool drawings can be the MOST important as far as accurate
interpretation is concerned.

 Never measure spool drawings as they are seldom drawn to scale

ALWAYS read the dimensions shown on spool drawings…some spools
aren’t always drawn proportionally so may be deceptive in their
representation…READ the DIMENSIONS, don’t rely on just the drawing!
 ALWAYS check the squaring-in lines and planes for correct
interpretation of the direction of odd-angle bends.
 Read ad check the items in the bill of materials… especially quantities
and material descriptions
 Check the pipe dimensions on the drawing with corresponding pipe
lengths in the bill of materials
 Thanks for viewing this Tutorial.

Any questions, comments or complaints can be registered at the next

class meeting, via email or drop by my office.

Email: rstrube@mail.accd.edu
Parisher, Roy A. & Robert A. Rhea. 2002. Pipe Drafting and Design. 2nd
Ed. Gulf Professional Publishing_Butterworth-Heinermann.

Shumaker, Terence M. 2004. Process Pipe Drafting. The Goodheart-

Willcox Company, Inc. Tinley Park, Illinois.