Ruling Pens

[Kaputnik]

I haven't posted in this sub-forum in a while, although I've been moderately active in "Art and Calligraphy", and occasionally post in the lounge.

It's not that I'm no longer interested in fountain pens; they are still my preferred writing instruments for actual writing. I have a rather large collection of them, of which four are currently inked. I just haven't had much to say about them, haven't even looked at buying any new ones in quite some time, or any other fountain pen paraphernalia, for that matter.

But I'm more focused right now on drawing and painting. When I draw in ink, I usually use a different sort of pen, generally drawing pens of the Pigma Micron or Copic Multiliner type. But this post is not about that.

The picture below is of some ruling pens that I've acquired in the past couple of years. I didn't know of these until I started painting in watercolor. They actually are not designed for that. They are a drafting instrument which are designed to put down ink in very thin straight or curved lines. The adjusting screw varies the gap between the jaws.

For watercolors, ruling pens are a recommended instrument for putting down masking fluid, which is used to keep the paint off of certain ares on the paper. Unfortunately, I have not had much success doing it this way, at least if I want to use it in very small areas. If I want to draw a line with it, I tend to get uneven blobs and gaps. If I want to put down little dots (as I recently did to indicate stars on a black background) I get big dots.

I've had the best results using brushes for masking fluid. Unfortunately, it tends to destroy the brushes. I have a cheap set of watercolor brushes which I've used just for this, so as not to damage my good ones. I've already killed two of the cheapies, though.

But the ruling pens are still interesting. The three on the left in photo are a modern Chinese set, bought on Amazon. The others were older ones, bought on eBay. The three on the right have the word "Germany" on the adjusting knobs. The two in the middle are unmarked. The German ones came with some spare parts, which is good, since the adjusting screw on one of the Chinese ones got stripped.

Anyone else have any experience with these? Any pointers for using them to put down masking fluid?

[Robalone]

Hi. These 'ruling pens' are lovely bits of old and obsolete tech … I have a few in those sets of 'draughtsmen' (sic) equipment.
They fall into the category of … perfectly fine tech that got comprehensively superseded by Rotring pens …..which then got superseded by the whole digital …thing. (*see film cameras , mp3 players , and to a large extent..fountain pens )

Using them for masking fluid is outside of my experience, but I would have thought that your cheapo brushes would be the way to go ….

Good work on the art pages 👍🏻

[calamus]

I remember these! I used them back in the pre-CAD days. Then they got superseded by those cigar-shaped bakelite Radiograph pens that I used to have a real love/hate relationship with. I bought one a couple of years ago on eBay and swapped out the nib for an Esterbrook nib for a while (who knew they'd be a perfect fit?), but the cap wouldn't go on over the larger nib, so for a while I used a plastic felt tip pen cap, which made a really ugly Frankenpen, so I broke down and bought another Esterbrook J for the nib (it was a 9314-B oblique stub), and put the Rapidograph back together the way God intended. But alas, not wanting the hassle of cleaning it after using it, it has remained unlinked ever since.

[Kaputnik]

Hi. These 'ruling pens' are lovely bits of old and obsolete tech … I have a few in those sets of 'draughtsmen' (sic) equipment.
They fall into the category of … perfectly fine tech that got comprehensively superseded by Rotring pens …..which then got superseded by the whole digital …thing. (*see film cameras , mp3 players , and to a large extent..fountain pens )

Using them for masking fluid is outside of my experience, but I would have thought that your cheapo brushes would be the way to go ….

Good work on the art pages 👍🏻

Thank you.

It's just that so many apparent experts recommend ruling pens as the best tool for putting down masking fluid, that I can't rule out operator error on my part.

Today, I tried an experiment, using some of the ruling pens with dip pen inks to draw some lines and curves. It took a little fooling around with the gap widths, but I got some decently consistent results. I think the pens themselves are okay.

Of course, masking fluid has a much different consistency that ink, but I'll do a bit more experimenting to see if I can figure it out. I've got the reverse sides of a bunch of pretty horrible watercolor paintings to experiment with, so nothing to lose.

[catbert]

Interesting video of ruling pens in use.

[catbert]

I remember these! I used them back in the pre-CAD days. Then they got superseded by those cigar-shaped bakelite Radiograph pens that I used to have a real love/hate relationship with. I bought one a couple of years ago on eBay and swapped out the nib for an Esterbrook nib for a while (who knew they'd be a perfect fit?), but the cap wouldn't go on over the larger nib, so for a while I used a plastic felt tip pen cap, which made a really ugly Frankenpen, so I broke down and bought another Esterbrook J for the nib (it was a 9314-B oblique stub), and put the Rapidograph back together the way God intended. But alas, not wanting the hassle of cleaning it after using it, it has remained unlinked ever since.

I used my Rapidograph with an Esterbrook nib for Inktober this year. An o-ring (now quite perished) extends the headroom in the cap to fit over the nib. Crude, but it works.

Rapidograph + Esterbrook 1.png

Rapidograph + Esterbrook 2.png

[Yazeh]

I've never used masking liquid. I found this video helpful. Maybe it helps you.




There's a detailed Chapters on their website.
https://www.jacksonsart.com/blog/202...masking-fluid/

What I know is with most "new" techniques, one has to practice, practice and make a lot of mistakes.

[Kaputnik]

I've never used masking liquid. I found this video helpful. Maybe it helps you.




There's a detailed Chapters on their website.
https://www.jacksonsart.com/blog/202...masking-fluid/

What I know is with most "new" techniques, one has to practice, practice and make a lot of mistakes.

That's a very useful video, thanks. I've saved it to my "Art" playlist.

As far as using the ruling pens goes, I think the main problem is that I'm just clumsier than she is. But I've done a little more practicing since my initial post, and gotten some results that were a bit better than my earlier attempts. Nothing worth showing here, just somewhat better success in getting the masking fluid to go where I want it to. Most of the time.

I have tried toothpicks, again, a bit of a control issue for me. Hadn't thought of an old toothbrush.

Her tips about using a brush are definitely worth trying. I assume that what she calls "washing up liquid" is what an American would call dish detergent. If that trick helps preserve the brushes, then it would be really helpful, although I'd still just use cheaper brushes and keep them for that use only.

And I'm curious to see if I can find masking fluid with a squeeze applicator like the one she shows. Wouldn't necessarily get it, but the only kinds I've seen come in little bottles that you dip your brush or whatever into. I've been using Winsor and Newton.

[EDIT] And I've found three brands with applicators, Schminke (which looks like the one in the video), Fineline, and Daniel Smith. The Daniel Smith comes with five applicator tips, and I might be worth trying. I know they make good paints. But for now, I'll just stick with what I've got.

[Lloyd]

Here's a mathematician using one on his compass.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=87uo2TPrsl8

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