I gather that this is an architects pen, but I can find nothing about it on the internet.
My late father was an architect and we found this amongst his tonnes of clutter.
Does anyone know anything about it?
tuna
Mar 25, 18 5:46 pm
If I were to guess, I'd think it were a retractable orifice reamer cleaner. It allows the user to clean out orifices from different sizes of pens without changing tools.
kjdt
Mar 25, 18 6:04 pm
it's an old ruling pen. The reservoir was filled with ink, and the dial was adjusted to widen or narrow the size of the gap between the blades, which adjusted the line weight by regulating the width of the ink bead. Surface tension caused the ink bead to stretch across the tiny gap.
You can still buy these - some calligraphers use them.
Fordy81
Mar 25, 18 6:59 pm
Thanks kjdt
Do you know if it has any value?
kjdt
Mar 25, 18 8:24 pm
Most likely not much. It's obsolete, but not rare. Sometimes you can even still find these brand new in old stock in stationery stores. I have a few sets of old ruling pens and accessories that belonged to relatives - anybody who went to engineering school or studied drafting up through the 1950s or so had them. Some old pen nibs have gold in them - but otherwise old drafting tools aren't generally valuable -at least not yet.
I gather that this is an architects pen, but I can find nothing about it on the internet.
My late father was an architect and we found this amongst his tonnes of clutter.
Does anyone know anything about it?
If I were to guess, I'd think it were a retractable orifice reamer cleaner. It allows the user to clean out orifices from different sizes of pens without changing tools.
it's an old ruling pen. The reservoir was filled with ink, and the dial was adjusted to widen or narrow the size of the gap between the blades, which adjusted the line weight by regulating the width of the ink bead. Surface tension caused the ink bead to stretch across the tiny gap.
You can still buy these - some calligraphers use them.
Thanks kjdt
Do you know if it has any value?
Most likely not much. It's obsolete, but not rare. Sometimes you can even still find these brand new in old stock in stationery stores. I have a few sets of old ruling pens and accessories that belonged to relatives - anybody who went to engineering school or studied drafting up through the 1950s or so had them. Some old pen nibs have gold in them - but otherwise old drafting tools aren't generally valuable -at least not yet.