One of the early tasks assigned to woodshop class decades ago was a weekly hour devoted to mechanical drawing using draftsmen’s tools. It was purportedly the bane of many a student, especially when power shop tools awaited their attention. Who could deny the siren call of lathes, table saws and jointers over an impersonal mechanical pencil and drawing board?

The specific student task was to measure and draw a small three-dimensional ell-shaped block, then render it into a one-dimensional drawing of a particular view — top, front and back, left and right sides, or angled. It was a wo...