Whenever I was doing some drafting (old days! before CAD) I could NEVER ink my drawings with a ruling pen without at least one line smearing under the T-square edge or drafting machine rule. And one smear like that ruins the whole drawing. Even using Rapidograph pens I sometimes got into trouble that way. I have always marvelled at draftsmen who could ink huge, detailed drawings without flaws.
Thank you! I've seen drafting sets all my life, and could guess what everything was except the ruling pen! Now I want to try using mine to do some pen striping on one of my metal crafting projects! XD
When you do, do you have to use water to thin it out? Can you use a brush to. Put it in, or do you just dip it in? I'm kinda new to masking fluid and it was the reason I got a ruling pen.
The line doesn't seem as sharp or consistent as if it was drawn with a paint marker. Unless some are going for that effect. And the effort that was put in thinning the paint. I will pass.
I had never heard of a ruling pen before today. A friend mentioned it and when I asked what it was she directed me to your video, which I found wonderfully informative. I think I need to get a ruling pen and start practicing with it!
I am grateful for your thorough teaching on all things ruling pen, cork back ruler, paint mixing, and testing consistency. The extra tips about using it for fine gold leaf adhesive are great.
This is the best video I've seen in ages! Great presenter, informative, good detail, excellent camera work and no distracting background music. Awesome job! I'm subscribed!
Thanks so much for this demo, my ruling pen came free with some masking fluid I bought and it has lain in a draw for 2 years. I had no idea how to use it. I just used it for the first time and it’s going to be a great asset.
Ruling Pin? Is my hearing shot already? I'm only 93. Listen! We used these pens in the old days with India ink and we loaded them easy peasy with an ink well. Has the world gone nuts while I took a snooze? We did pencil drawings and then ink tracing paper and then chemical blueprints. Bango! Only took 197 hours. What's the big rush today? Whataya gotta go down to the malt shop and do the twist? Then the design was a waste of time anyway. Now, I use a pencil and paper. My pencil has a built-in erasure in case I make a mistake. Ain't used it yet, but maybe someday it'll come in handy.
Thanks for the tutorial! FWIW, ruling pens and compass pens were once commonly included with standard drafting kits along with other tools like sturdy short and tall pencil-lead compasses. You might be able to pick these kits up very inexpensively at places like estate sales or garage sales.
In this day and age I would never ever use that Ruling pen. Having to mix paint and slot into that little gap... no way not happening. That shit is hella hella old school. It would suck to be a draftsman back in the day. But great informative video on the curious subject of ruling pens.