This is what my set looked like
Remember Rapidograph? I wasn’t a technical draftsman, but I worked in the cubicle next to them. Although I think there was a period of time when Rapidograph pens had a cultural cachet among people who weren’t artists. Like, people who kept poncey diaries.
Anyway, I had a hankering for one and went into my local art shop today. He said oh, I stopped carrying those when they went up to £30(!). They’re about £40(!!) now, he says.
Well, I found them cheaper online, but new ones not by much. And it’s a real risk buying used ones.
They draw such fine lines because the ‘nib’ is a tiny steel cylinder. Inside it is a fine wire attached to a weight. Periodically, you shook the pen so the fine wire bobbed up and down, which cleared the cylinder and kept the ink moving. A studio full of draftsman made the clack-clackity-clack sound at scale.
But the fine wire wore out eventually. And if you let india ink dry hard (and everyone did from time to time), rehabilitating the nibs became a chore. Sometimes impossible. The smaller the nib, the harder to resurrect.
I can’t for the life of me find my set of Rapidographs. Most people these days use fancy felt tips instead, but I’m kinda stubborn. The real thing has a feel to it.
Have a good weekend, everyone!
p.s. I thought my server was down for hours, but it looks like my VPN was to blame.
Posted: February 27th, 2026 under personal.
Comments: 9
Comments
Comment from thefritz
Time: February 27, 2026, 7:44 pm
Oooo, does this mean you’re making more Weasel art for us Dick winners!? (asking for a friend….)
Comment from QuasiModo
Time: February 27, 2026, 11:04 pm
Have a nice weekend! 🙂
Comment from Durnedyankee
Time: February 27, 2026, 11:14 pm
Daily Mail will tell you those are radio active.
Because they have the word radio in them.
In fact, I’ll bet you get radiation fog where you live!
Comment from Uncle AL
Time: February 27, 2026, 11:41 pm
That sounds like the way a Tintenkuli pen worked. That was my main writing instrument in Argentine elementary school, 1959-1961. It worked really well! When I got back to the U.S. they were unknown.
Comment from Deborah HH
Time: February 28, 2026, 12:32 am
I used Rapidograph for a while. I drew plats for a surveyor who wanted them drawn and hand-lettered in ink (think Charles Rennie Mackintosh lettering). Sometimes at lunch I would throw up. I was drawing on mylar, but still. I didn’t stay for long.
Re: dried ink. You can clean dried ink pens in 409 household cleaner. I don’t know what is in 409 that dissolves dried ink, but it works. Soak for a while, then twist the wire a little and soak in fresh 401. Works on dried up fountain pens, too. If you can find a bottle of Leroy Pen cleaner, you could compare the chemicals and maybe figure out what dissolves the ink in 409. Look for original 409, if it’s labeled that way. Other formulas might work, but I began using 409 in the mid-70s.
Comment from Durnedyankee
Time: February 28, 2026, 11:58 am
Rapido?
😳
🙄
😖
Hi! I don’t think we’ve met!
My name is Gavin Newsom.
Comment from mostly cajun
Time: February 28, 2026, 4:14 pm
Rapidograph pens and a Leroy lettering set – tools I started with AFTER I’d learned hand-lettering
Comment from S. Weasel
Time: March 2, 2026, 5:59 pm
Ammonia is the solvent for dried ink – I wonder if that’s the active ingredient in 409? Ammonia is very uncommon here, though.
I’m trying, Fritz. I haven’t done a single piece of artwork since lockdown.
Comment from Deborah HH
Time: March 2, 2026, 10:16 pm
Stoaty—I found ink pen cleaners but none listed the ingredients. 409 original does not have ammonia in it but uses a variety of ethanol products, and other chemicals to make it bind, and be foamy to stick on surfaces. I looked at cleaners for $$$ fountain pens which is $$$ but no ingredients listed. Combinations of Water, ammonia, Dawn dishwashing liquid, and isopropyl alcohol prevail. I forgot to mention using a tiny bulb syringe that came with my K & E Leroy pen cleaning kit. The syringe is super handy, but a hypodermic syringe would also work to force and draw solution through the pen.
I also found this: https://carpediemstore.com/technical-pen-cleaners
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