Tool Talk
- Thread starter jo proffi
- Start date
I'm not sure it's just practice.
My grandmother, born in the 1860s, at the close of a long life was still writing long multi-page letters in superb copperplate using a nib pen, so all the thin and thick strokes were just so. She even flourished the capitals and the signature But the thing I found more remarkable was that there were never any errors or cross-outs or revisions.
There are two skills now lost.
My grandmother, born in the 1860s, at the close of a long life was still writing long multi-page letters in superb copperplate using a nib pen, so all the thin and thick strokes were just so. She even flourished the capitals and the signature But the thing I found more remarkable was that there were never any errors or cross-outs or revisions.
There are two skills now lost.
With the advent of writing letters, etc, on the PC, we've become lazy and think nothing of editing and correcting what we've just written.
I also think back and admire the typists who mostly clunked away with very few errors - all day!
I also think back and admire the typists who mostly clunked away with very few errors - all day!
Back when Alpine Affaire was in Ringwood I remember at one time they had for sale in the showroom an excellent R16. In the glove box was a beautifully handwritten ledger dating and detailing all the maintenance performed by the previous owner.
This is not realy automotive based, but for the last few years I've been frustrated with pencils, or more specificly, sharpening them.
All the sharpeners I buy at office works seem to just snap the leads off, and I end up with a very short pencil before i get one that doesn't break.
I remember when I was in primary school, the teacher had a hand cranked sharpener on their desk. Our pencils always came out top notch. And if we wanted to be assholes we'd grind someones pencil down to a few cm or so.
So, after finding out the brand, I ened up buying a NOS boston ranger 55 off ebay, all the way from the states.
Not especially cheap, but absolutely fantastic. To say I'm chuffed would be an understatement.
I had to mount it on a bit of scrap hardwood, as without mounting it is totaly unusable.
It takes two hands, one to crank and one to hold pencil.
Now all my pencils have a much more acute angle than a cut from a regular blade sharpener, are ridiculously sharp, and the satisfaction of grinding away by hand is just priceless.
View attachment 239953View attachment 239954
must be catching, we got one of these....
not cheap, but sharpens 'em to something dangerous, without breaking the lead every second time...
Bob
Enjoy this lot. My Staedtler is there.
That matches the one screwed to my desk! (Would you like a pic of my Graphos set?)
None of these convenient gadgets, or clutch pencils for that matter, can draft as well as a quality pencil sharpened with a very sharp knife.
None of these convenient gadgets, or clutch pencils for that matter, can draft as well as a quality pencil sharpened with a very sharp knife.
there's some Rotring tubular pens in the cupboard somewhere.... they had a little weight and wire in 'em to clear the tube. We still use 2mm clutch pencils here, 2B leads though, none of those razor blade substitute 2H ones !! Never liked the later 0.5mm pencils.
Bob
Bob
I cleaned those Rotring pens with an ultrasound device, the same as jewellers use. It looks like this one:
www.worthpoint.com
The Graphos does superior and finer lines than a Rotring can manage, and you clean them by opening up the nib and wiping. Hence the filthy rag tied to desks. I don't think they are now made as Rotring supplanted them. You needed a set square etc with a square cut edge or ink went under. They took a little skill for very thick or ultra-thin lines.
KOH-I-NOOR RAPIDOGRAPH ULTRASONIC PEN POINT CLEANER | #136229022
I AM RETIRED AND STILL TRYING TO CLEAN OUT MY ATTIC!,THIS WEEK AND NEXT I WILL BE LISTING VINTAGE DRAFTING SUPPLIES. My father was a mechanical draftsman for 50 years, and I was also in the drafting/e
www.worthpoint.com
The Graphos does superior and finer lines than a Rotring can manage, and you clean them by opening up the nib and wiping. Hence the filthy rag tied to desks. I don't think they are now made as Rotring supplanted them. You needed a set square etc with a square cut edge or ink went under. They took a little skill for very thick or ultra-thin lines.
fine lining basic tool is bow pen, these are, I believe, the upmarket version - yep, the hole is for loading. Age is a mystery, could easily have belonged to his father !
Here's a modern version...
Bob
Here's a modern version...
Bob
There's one of those here too! Pre-Rotring. It was used for thick lines. As infrequently as possible, I might add.
Also in the obsolete drawer is a collection of plotter pens of different sizes. You put on as many as needed (usually two in my case) and the plotter selected what was needed. They are similar to Rotrings. You had to watch the plot carefully in case a pen got naughty. There is also a felt pen set for rough drafts.
I have the plotter too and can't remember how to drive it. It understood some print language or other, with a collection of Z80? chips for intelligence. I used AC to run it. The last time was in 2000, when it was already obsolete.
Also in the obsolete drawer is a collection of plotter pens of different sizes. You put on as many as needed (usually two in my case) and the plotter selected what was needed. They are similar to Rotrings. You had to watch the plot carefully in case a pen got naughty. There is also a felt pen set for rough drafts.
I have the plotter too and can't remember how to drive it. It understood some print language or other, with a collection of Z80? chips for intelligence. I used AC to run it. The last time was in 2000, when it was already obsolete.
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A while ago I could have bet you with two HP 712 RISC HPUX units (fabulous compact things) and an Apollo Aegis/Unix graphic workstation. I'm fond of Aegis.
Nobody wanted them so out they went with a DECwriter. There is a SCSI server box I must discard. I now subsist on six (!!!) respectable Linux boxes (much faster than the HPs) and an old 386 thing with Autocad on it, just in case. Switches can connect a system to the desktop monitor.
Sadly I have a mental block where recognising obsolescence is concerned. There is an 8 inch floppy drive somewhere. Why is there a drawer full of unused drafting gear? There are draftsmen today who have never drawn.
Nobody wanted them so out they went with a DECwriter. There is a SCSI server box I must discard. I now subsist on six (!!!) respectable Linux boxes (much faster than the HPs) and an old 386 thing with Autocad on it, just in case. Switches can connect a system to the desktop monitor.
Sadly I have a mental block where recognising obsolescence is concerned. There is an 8 inch floppy drive somewhere. Why is there a drawer full of unused drafting gear? There are draftsmen today who have never drawn.
Back in about 1990, I used to frequently use a plotter in my job. We used to print out transparencies for the boss to use with the overhead projector. And then there was this big ancient (it was old even back then) thing called a "Plockmatic".
If I remember correctly, the Plockmatic it could collate and staple multipage documents of up to 30 pages.
Ah yes, I remember fondly, the clack, clack of the teleprinter, and the inky, messy thing that was the offset printer.
If I remember correctly, the Plockmatic it could collate and staple multipage documents of up to 30 pages.
Ah yes, I remember fondly, the clack, clack of the teleprinter, and the inky, messy thing that was the offset printer.
there's a LaserJet 4Si, yep, with network card and duplex add-on, in the garage that's listed for the tip, anything with a cord on it [or batteries] here goes to the tip without charge. It'll be a struggle to extract, it weighs in at about the same as a brick dunny.... Cost a fortune in it's day !
Bob
Bob
Are you sure that computer hardware should go to the tip? Maybe ask the museum first. 
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