Rotring Rapidograph
The technical pen that drew an even line of exact width.
The Rapidograph had a tubular nib with a fine wire inside, which drew a line of exact width. Architects and draughtsmen used sets of pens in different widths.
Technical pens were standard in drawing offices until computers took over at the end of the 20th century.
Materials: Plastic and metal, steel tube nib
Manufacture: Made in Hamburg from 1953.
The nib in the form of a thin tube.
The line width in millimetres, often colour-coded.
The red ring on the barrel.
Rotring launched the Rapidograph in 1953.
The nib is a thin tube with a movable wire inside, which keeps the tube open and releases the ink evenly. Line widths follow a standard series, including 0.25, 0.35, 0.5, 0.7 and 1.0 millimetres, and can be recognised by colour codes on the cap.