Technical pen

A technical pen is a specialized instrument used by an engineer, architect, or drafter to make lines of constant width for architectural, engineering, or technical drawings. Technical pens use either a refillable ink reservoir or a replaceable ink cartridge.

Technical pen drawing devices in accordance with the standards, are drawing pencils according to DIN 15, which are used for technical or bound drawing with drawing rails and drawing machines by designers, technical draftsmen, cartographers, planners and architects. Colloquially, brand names of the manufacturer were often and are used, such as Rotring “Rapidograph” (shortened “Rapi”) or “Isograph” or Skribent.

With refillable or exchangeable ink cartridges and with fixed line weights, they replaced the previously used drawing pen with freely adjustable width. As a forerunner you can see the funnel spring and ink fountain pen with interchangeable springs (tube springs and flat springs of different widths).

Nowadays, technical drawings are mainly created with CAD programs on the computer, Technical fountain pen are only rarely in their original sense in use. Artists and graphic artists use it as a drawing device.

Early technical pens (ruling pens) consisted of a small pair of calipers, having one flat and one bowed leg holding ink between them. By adjusting the gap between the legs the width of the line drawn by the pen could be adjusted. Such pens, kept at a constant angle to the paper, were used for ruling lines, but not for cursive handwriting, nor for off-hand flourishes. The Graphos technical pen introduced in 1934 miniaturized the caliper principle and made the points easily interchangeable. The Sheaffer company produced an expensive drafting set which included such pens for use on linen prints. These sets were often presented to a draftsperson upon completing ‘time served’, which marked the end of the apprenticeship.

In the 1950s, fountain pens with cylindrical points became available, but they were complex instruments with tubes holding a tiny shaft. To release ink the shaft is depressed and a line of about the width of the exterior diameter of the tube can be drawn. Additionally, in later models, the tube had a small ledge that effectively narrowed its end, that—while maintaining the line thickness—made the tube thicker along most of its length and also protected ink from spilling while drawing along the edge of a rule, set-square, T-square or other template (the ink had no immediate contact with the template’s edge). Some special, more expensive nibs were equipped with tubes made of tungsten or with their tips made of synthetic precious stones, to slow their wear on hard surfaces.

In the 1960s, the pen’s design evolved to feature tubes of ink that were filled with a Pasteur pipette or from a narrow spout on a special bottle of ink. Such pens frequently came in sets of various sizes, and several pen points which were installed into the holders that also contained a filled fountain, which in turn would be screwed into a handle. The construction and number of parts varied depending on the company, and the parts were not cross-compatible in most cases. Some later designs (like the Staedtler MarsMatic700) had specially designed channels to allow better air flow in between the wall of the external grip and the point assembly. This made ink flow more reliable. The general drawback of this group of pens is that they have to be frequently and carefully cleaned to remove all ink from the tubing, otherwise it would set and could not be removed.

In modern drafting pens, it is common that pen points of various line widths are aligned. The line width is based on the conventional “standard” and the line width for drawing defined in the international standard ISO 128 (English version). In 1988 the international standard drafting pen ISO 9175 (German version) was defined.

Recently, CAD is often used for drafting, drawing dental pens as handwritten writing instruments are no longer being used since using a large printer called a plotter in the output of drawings, but lines of uniform and uniform width It is used as a writing instrument to draw a frame line for manga from subtracting and also as a writing instrument for drawing inorganic painting as it is.

Technical information:
A full set of pens would have the following nib sizes: 0.13, 0.18, 0.25, 0.35, 0.5, 0.7, 1.0, 1.4, and 2.0 mm, which correspond to the line widths as defined in ISO 128. However, the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) called for four pen widths and set a colour code for each: 0.25 (white), 0.35 (yellow), 0.5 (brown), 0.7 (blue); these nibs produced lines that related to various text character heights and the ISO paper sizes.

Text (produced by an ISO stencil template for use with the technical pens) of 5 mm in height has a stroke or line thickness of 0.5 mm, and so requires a brown-nibbed 0.5 mm pen. If this text were used in an ISO-sized document (e.g. A0), and the document were reproduced at half its original size (A1), the text would be rendered 3.5 mm high with a stroke thickness of 0.35 mm—the yellow-nib size. Thus, changes to reductions or enlargements can be made easily as everything is in proportion. This worldwide standard (excepting Canada and the United States) ensures that drawings can always be legible even after microfilming, photocopying, and faxing.

The main drafting sets of four nibs came in two kinds: Gold and Silver. The Silver was for rough tracing paper, and the Gold was for plastic film (velograph or durables). Drawing boards changed as a result of technical pens—a hard (not spongy) surface was required, and when plastic film was used, the static attraction between plastic cursors, T-squares, set-squares etc. meant that as one lifted the edge from the film, the film would rise through static attraction and the ink would blot. The solution was to stick down a plastic sheet (Osalid) that attracted the film more strongly than the drafting instruments. The tracing paper or velograph sheet would be placed on the Osalid sheet stuck onto the drawing board and the air brushed away. Brushing charged the surface, and the film would then be taped taut (but released at the end of each working day to allow for overnight temperature expansions and contractions).

When pen plotters became widespread, a special variety of point assemblies was produced. These had the basic characteristics of the standard pen nib, but the tube was much thicker to strengthen it against quick lateral movements. Only the tip of the tube had the desired, line-size width. They fell out of use as plotters were replaced with ink-jet printers.

While the Rapidograph style of pen is still widely used by artists, the use of computer-aided design (CAD) has largely replaced the need for manual drafting. Also, the development of felt-tip, ink-based pens has provided cheaper, lower-maintenance disposable tools that sell much better than traditional technical pens.

Drawing tools:
Drawing board technical drawing tools, such as set squares, shape templates, text stencils and French curves are used to make consistent marks on the paper. A technical pen can be attached to a compass to produce circles.

Drawing support:
Paper:
Standard-compliant drawings are usually made on natural high-transparency paper in accordance with the DIN-ISO 9961 standard. These papers, which can be used for normal storage for at least 10 years, differ in their surface finish, they are produced in smooth or matt.

Depending on the basis weight of the paper, faulty lines can be removed up to four times without the drawing becoming unusable. These corrections should be made according to the papermaker’s specifications. Usual are special erasers or pencils, also common is the planing of the dried ink with razor blades, glass fiber pens or special scrapers. To remove straight lines, a special ink planer was developed.

The originals are duplicated as blueprints or photocopies.

Slide:
For processing card originals or e.g. the circuit design of printed circuit boards, transparent PVC plastic films (Astralon or Sicoprint) or coated Mylar films were used as a drawing medium, which are mechanically resistant and resistant to moisture. These require the use of special film showers that dissolve the plastic surfaces. For the use of such a dissolving ink (eg K-ink) suitable ink fountain pen must be used. The plastic parts of these pins are made of non-dissolving ABS plastic and the metal parts are partially protected with a gold layer (example Foliograph, later Isograph F by Rotring made of gray plastic).

The originals processed in this way are further processed by means of contact copy to photographic film or by foil copy (so-called astral copy).

Ink:
An ink is according to the standard ISO 9957 an aqueous liquid whose color is given by the finest black soot dust. This ink must be waterproof, temperature insensitive and lightfast. A shelf life of at least two years with unopened original packaging is assumed.

Outside of this standard also colored showers were offered. Blue color can not be copied (eg with a blueprint), so it is not possible to make reproducible references to originals. There were also the releasing tusche for plastic drawing films for design work in different colors.

In the late 1970s, there were latex-based inks, which were offered for film. This could – more bad than right – Reprofile made of polyester be designated.

If ink is used instead of ink, the term ink pen is not allowed.

Other Uses:
Ink pens are also used in pen plotters to plot (plot) a machine plot (eg, a technical drawing created by CAD) on paper or film.

Also common was the use in calipers and in labeling devices.

Accessories:
Due to the minimum length and diameter of the punctured markings standardized in DIN-ISO 9175, ink pens are integrated in a whole system of other tools and aids, collectively called rippers. The length of the tip, for example, prevents undercutting of the ink under rulers and stencils, as accessory manufacturers have been able to develop a suitable taper in their tools. The predecessor of this standard, the DIN 6775, designated suitable devices with a test mark. The Micronorm sign was a hyphenated and underscored lowercase letter m.

This symbol was not included in the current standard and has therefore been obsolete since June 1990. However, it had proven itself in practice and was probably used later.

Typefaces:
There are templates in different sizes for the respective line weights for the standard fonts specified in DIN 16 and DIN 17. There are also non-standard typefaces. In the early 1980s, electrical labeling devices were introduced to the market, in which ink fountain pen could be inserted and entered via an alphanumeric keyboard, size and text to replace the time-consuming labeling with stencil.

Character templates:
For standard-compliant display of symbols there are special drawing templates. For example, circuit diagrams for electrical planning or electrical and pneumatic circuits, furniture in standard dimensions of different scales, shape and position tolerances, sanitary objects for planning in the construction sector and chemical structural formulas. Instead of circles, circle templates with graduated diameters are used for the faster display of partial or full circles. There are also templates for drawing ellipses, but they only cover a given range of the mathematically possible.

Use with compass:
The ink fountain pen usually have a thread on the front end. In the circle boxes of the upper class were special shots with the corresponding mating thread for attaching a Tuschefüllers. These shots, in addition to the most common two-legged compass, can also be used in special forms such as a case zero compass and a bar compass with radii up to about 120 centimeters. Often, however, internal threads on compasses and external threads on ink pens of different manufacturers may not be compatible.

Razor Blade:
Another useful accessory when drawing on tracing paper and other non-absorbent materials is a razor blade. This can be very small effectively remove “snotty noses” that can arise when placing the rapidograph. However, do not apply too much pressure, otherwise the delicate paper will be damaged. Larger areas are also possible, but such corrections are always visible.

Brand names:
Under the brand “Rapidograph” different models of the company Rotring are sold, which developed the first ink fountain pen. From her house comes the model “Isograph”.

In addition to the world market leader Rotring, other manufacturers of drawing tools also offer ink fountain pen. Staedtler distributes its pens under the name “marsmatic”, while Faber-Castell and Aristo still offer comparable pens in the German-speaking market. In other countries, there are providers, which mostly only supplied their local market.

The leading market position of the manufacturer Rotring has meant that ink fountain pen in the English-speaking world colloquially “Rotring” or “Rotring pen” are called.

In the GDR inking devices were manufactured until the early 1980s exclusively by the company Cleo writing instruments (now Cleo Skribent GmbH, under the mark Skribent) then there was also a series of ink pens with the name lin’s 9 plus, from the Fountain pen Heiko was produced in Wernigerode (Combine Markant).

Operation:
Rapidograf is a fairly fragile tool, so for its durable work requires care and careful handling.

The line should be held carefully, holding the rapidogram tipped down perpendicularly or at a slight angle to the surface. The angle of inclination at which normal carcass feeding is possible depends on the size of the tip. Unlike handles, the rapidogram can be freely moved along the surface of the paper in any direction.

You can not shake it very much and put pressure on the instrument, as with shaking, mascara can get into the channel, through which air flows. In a clogged air channel, a vacuum is created, and this prevents the even supply of carcass. In this case, there is a risk of damaging the thin tip.

Selecting paper:
Hot-pressed cardboard is the best basis for Rapidograph drawings: its surface is smooth and hard, but it is well absorbent, therefore the lines drawn are clear and precise.
Cold-pressed cardboard has a rougher surface, and the pattern is less clear.
Bristol paperboard is only suitable for working on a sketch.
Watercolor paper is advisable to use if it is subsequently proposed to study the drawing with watercolor or diluted ink

Choice of mascara :
The usual mascara consists of a mixture of water and soot, it must be heat-resistant and light-resistant. You should buy mascara, specially designed for Rapidography. It is more liquid and flowing, if used correctly, it does not clog the channel of the rapidogram, it dries quickly. There are also waterproof types of carcasses that are not smeared and do not contaminate the surface for painting.

Storage :
If the dressed rapidogram for a long time lies idle, the ink in it will necessarily wither. Therefore, the rapidogram must be washed before putting it into the case. Do this carefully. In order not to damage important details, it is best to rinse the parts in a container of water. Then the dismounted rapidograf must be dried, not allowing any mechanical particles (including dust) to fall on its parts. In this case, do not remove the needle (hair) from the tip!

In some Rapidographers, water is poured into the cap. It does not allow the carcass to dry out.

The arising malfunctions and their elimination :
Cessation of feeding carcass:
Occurs because air bubbles get inside the pen. In order for the pen to start writing again, it is necessary, by holding it with the tip down, to slightly tap on the upper part of the case. If the carcass feed does not resume, place the tool horizontally and shake gently. If this time there is no mascara, then turn the rapidograf tip up and gently knock them on a hard surface. If all the described actions did not help, then in all likelihood, the mascara simply ended with ink or it was very much clogged. It is also possible that the resource of the rapidograph is exhausted: if the needle is extremely worn out (hair, rod), the rapidogram first places blots, and then ceases to work at all. Do not remove the needle thinner than 0.3 from the tip of the Rapidographs – it’s almost impossible to insert it back, and you can safely throw out the Rapidograph.

Line break :
Occurs because of insufficient pressure on the handle or lack of mascara in the cartridge.

Flows:
Appear if the tip of the rapidogram is dirty or damaged.

The tip scratches the paper:
Perhaps because of the wear of the tip or very strong pressure on it, as well as incorrect selection of paper for drawing.

maintenance:
0.1mm or 0.2mm or even thinner tip pen is very fragile, be careful not to collide with other objects when using it. If the pen bending and can not be restored, the pen that is considered scrapped.

If there will be one or two months or more do not use the stylus pen, especially the pen tip pen, apply warm water dip tip, if the ink can be better. Make sure the pen has no ink, wipe the net dry naturally, then put away for use next time. This is because the tip of the stylus pen is very thin, if not for a long time easily blocked by dry ink.

In case of needle pen can not be the case of water, should be wiped with warm water after wipe dry nib, test whether the ink can flow out. Repeated several times if still not out of ink, can be taken to the glasses line, please use high-frequency washing machine wash tip. If you still can not, you can try to dismantle the pen head cleaning, but 0.1 mm needle pen tip as fine as hair, after the demolition is likely to be unable to be replaced, not easy to try.

After the proportion of pupils in drawing departments dropped day by day, it was more difficult to repair the stylus because many agents had already withdrawn their service stations.