Need An Ink For Drafting Vellum

[sexauerw]

The technical pen comes with a little wire in the tube. The wire protrudes slightly from the bottom of the tube and is attached to a weight at its top. This means that it moves up and down each time the pen touches and lifts from the writing surface, making it self-cleaning. Fountain pens have no such similar mechanism. Once particulates have dried and clogged the feed, a fountain pen is in big trouble.

[sexauerw]

And, drafting inks are not water soluble. The pigment is a particulate that is ground very fine and is simply suspended in the aqueous solution. Once dry, it will not dissolve.

[Sandy1]

.......

 

I stand corrected, then; you know far more about inks than I do - but would be interested to learn more about why they would not be suitable. Not saying that you're wrong, of course, just seems that if this ink can flow down a tube of I.D. 0.18mm or even less, and it is water soluble...

 

I do know from experience that if left for too long (several months) unattended in a technical pen, they can (but do not necessarily) dry out and stop it from working, but soaking in water clears them.

 

Is it a viscosity issue, or do they contain nasties of some type?

Hi,

 

As Member sexauerw mentioned above, draughting pens are a self-cleaning wire-in-a-tube arrangement, known as a 'stylographic' pen.

 

The flow-through 'nozzle' design can handle particulate pigmented inks as it does not have the channeled capillary feed+slit of an FP.

(The FP as we know it had to wait for particle-free dye-based inks; and only recently, the nano particle FP inks were introduced - whose permanence is outstanding - best of both types?)

 

Also the liquid media of draughting ink is different - shellac, solvents, polymers, etc. - that would attack or clog an FP's channel feed, but are necessary for strong adhesion to the writing surface, line quality, to keep the pigment particles evenly distributed/suspended (liquid state colloid), etc.

 

The well-regarded Richard Binder has an entry about stylographic pens on the richardspens dot com site with history, great illustrations and photos. (Just search 'stylographic'.)

 

As fortune would have it, an NOS vintage stylographic pen is currently offered on eB@y - Item 180867227496.

 

Bye,

S1

Edited June 3, 2012 by Sandy1

[beak]

.........

 

Thanks for all the details. I hope it was noted that I said 'investigate' these inks, not 'use' them, just so that I don't look like a twit!

 

I was familiar with the wire cleaning system of tech pens, but I don't think the wire ever touches the paper - it would not last long if it did, surely? The wire comes into play only when one shakes the pen gently (horizontally), the weight causing the wire to move back and forth inside the tube/nib.

[Tweel]

The wire actually does protrude, and is harder than the tube, so that over time it will protrude more and more, and begin to snag on the paper.

[Tweel]

I have a ton of drafting paper,,well it is true vellum, not any type of blend.

 

I want to play around with using fountain pens on it, but I have had a hard time finding an ink that will not smear.

If you have more than one brand, try them all. Some are very friendly to fountain pen ink, and others are virtually like waxed paper (although they work great with india ink -- I'm looking at you, Albanene!).

[beak]

The wire actually does protrude, and is harder than the tube, so that over time it will protrude more and more, and begin to snag on the paper.

 

Bit of a side issue this, but for what it's worth, the above contradicts itself; if the wire snags when the tube is worn down, then it does not protrude when the pen is in working condition.

[Tweel]

No, when a technical pen point is new, the wire does protrude a little bit (check with a magnifying glass). The weight inside acts as an ink valve, and when you put the point to paper, the wire is pushed up and opens it. As the tube wears away and the wire protrudes more, it does tend to snag.

 

That's probably due to some combination of factors, e.g. the wire (which starts out finely polished) developing a sharper edge due to wear, and the longer lever arm of the wire pinning it more effectively against the inside of the tube under side-force. But whatever the reason, the bumblebee can fly (honestly, I'm not making this up!).