pen island

February 16, 2008 6:07 PM

Graphic artist question: can anyone tell me how the old K&E Barch-Payzant lettering pens work? Do they hold a nib of some sort, or if not, what is the function of the knurled knob?
posted by fish tick to media & arts (3 comments total)

the ones i am familiar with are 2 leaves that taper nearly to a point, and can ink lines of variable width using the knob to adjust the gap between the points of the leaves.

does that make sense?

these days, about all they get used for by old school artists is to hold 'hand-rolled cigarettes' when they are too short to hold in your fingers.
posted by KenManiac at 7:25 PM on February 16, 2008

Cool- much more elegant than hemostats! But does the adjustment actually significantly vary the line width, or is it more related to the surface tension of the ink?
posted by fish tick at 7:31 PM on February 16, 2008

uhhh, yes.

it works because of the surface tension, but there is a pretty good range of size. like from 1/4 inch down to really thin 1/4 point or so.

smaller lines can be inked much longer; that is to say there is a limited amount of ink available.

they are pretty cool to ink with, simple, essential. takes a few tries to get the perfect weight of line, but simplicity has its price.

hemos are cool too, but one of these lets the world know you're a graphic arts geek!
posted by KenManiac at 7:59 PM on February 16, 2008