Compass pen?

[ksskss]

I'm getting some compasses and one of them looks like it is used for ink. Does anyone have experience with these? What sort of ink do you use and what does the thread adjust? Can I use regular fountain pen ink. I'm referring to the compass in the upper left.

 

http://www.kenss.com/pens/compass.JPG

 

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Ken

[Ernst Bitterman]

I monkeyed around with one of those many years ago (my father's an architect, and it's the things he trained with). I think it prefers India ink but will certainly manage on sensible fluids-- it's fairly easy to clean, as you can run a pipe-cleaner between what acts as tines. The little set screw amends, within certain limits of the ink's surface tension, the width of the line.

[eilu]

Looks like a ruling pen. The distance between the two tines determines line width. You use an eyedropper-type mechanism to fill the pen; ink will be held by capillary action & surface tension. Do not overfill.

[I am not a number]

I used a similar set but had mixed luck* and reverted to getting a holder for standard pens that fitted in via a screw/peg system.

 

* For mixed luck you can read messy disaster, I just prefer to stay focused on the positives (nobody caught fire or exploded).

[Titivillus]

I'm getting some compasses and one of them looks like it is used for ink. Does anyone have experience with these? What sort of ink do you use and what does the thread adjust? Can I use regular fountain pen ink. I'm referring to the compass in the upper left.

 

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Ken

 

Yes it's an inking compass, used them for awhile and the make nice circles, you need to take a look at any good drafting book for explaination and suggestions for what the line should look like and what you need to adjust. Regular ink is fine or india ink is better- gets a richer line.

 

 

Kurt

 

 

 

[ksskss]

Thanks to all. Sounds like a messy adventure. So you don't just dip the 'nib' but use an eyedropper? Perhaps Noodler's HOD black might be a good choice.

 

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Ken

[duna]

Thanks to all. Sounds like a messy adventure.

 

it is. At school I tried to extract some circles (dipping the tines in india ink, a small amount) to ink technical drawings, messed up, and then splurged the money for a Rotring adapter ring to fit Rapidographs to a compass. I had a Kern compass (it should be here in my drawers buried somewhere) and for this compass Rotring made the adapter.

[Clydesdave]

It is used with India ink and acetate sheets to make a permanent drawing. The ink etches into the acetate and cannot be erased or altered. I don't know if the acetate could be used to make an actual blueprint from (I kind of doubt it). It's just a little bit before my time (I'm 51 years old), although I have designed using drafting machines and paper as opposed to computer aided drafting (CAD). I am amazed that anything ever got done!

 

Now that I think of it, maybe the sheets were made out of celluloid. Maybe even (dare I say it?) precious resin.

 

 

 

[Shangas]

I've seen those compasses before and I always wondered how they worked.

 

I learnt something today

[ANM]

India ink comes in bottles with a rubber stopper which has a pipette eyedropper which is used to put a couple drops of ink into the gap between the tines. The pen works sideways, not with one tine on top of the other or one following another around the circle. The screw does adjust the width of the line. Most sets have a similar pen on a straight holder for drawing ruled lines.

[ksskss]

It should be arriving in a couple of days so I'll post how it goes when I use it. I'm envisioning big blobs of ink randomly splattered in a circle... Baystate blue won't be my first choice ...

 

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Ken