Thoughts on having exploded diagrams in design notebooks

I was thinking about exploded diagrams in design books but think they’re a lot of work particularly with screws and nut needing to be put in the notebook. I’d like to know if you think it’s worth the time to draw such diagrams.

If you want to make exploded diagrams, do CAD and explode it using the CAD program.

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I do orthographical projection drawings (a front, top, side, and if the build is asymmetrical maybe a couple other views), and after the diagrams I am going to include a CAD image showing a perspective of the entire mechanism. I say the drawings are worth it. It looks really neat compared to photos and you stand out to the judges. I do orthographical views because they are very easy to draw, fast, and are probably less complicated than exploded diagrams for most builds. And like @M8R said, if you really want exploded diagrams, CAD is a great resource.

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If it is useful for your team to recreate your product, then yes, it is a good engineering practice. However, do not lose sight of being consistent with your design process and document that journey well.

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