Koh-I-Noor Rapidograph Pens

My in depth review of Koh-I-Noor Rapidograph Pens.




At one time, Koh-I-Noor Rapidograph Pens were the del facto standard in the industry when it came to a refillable technical/art pen. Used by artist, draftsmen and graphic designers alike here in the US.

I was first introduced to them by a local chain store where I live called Scrantoms. Now long gone. The only issue was that I had so many questions and no one had answers. This is back in the late seventies and there was no resource around called the internet. So I lived and learned and ruined a pen or two and because of that I packed then in a box never to see the light of day again until 2011.

I found them again this year and decided I wanted to learn how to use these. So I set off on a journey that was not all that productive for what I wanted. I found a lot of snippets but nothing in depth. I eventually learned how to use them but not without a lot of trouble.

So that is what this article if here for. For you people that were like me. I hope this will be your one stop for the info on these wonderful pens. Enjoy.

The first complaint I do not understand from all the articles I read about these pens is, why does everybody complain about the cleaning of them?  Is it because people buy into these without truly knowing anything about them?

I think it is because there is no proper documentation or usage description on websites. In the brick and mortar stores the ones doing the selling either fail to mention the cleaning or they are just ignorant of the product. It just comes with using the pen. It needs to be cleaned regularly.

It would be like complaining about buying a new set of cookware. Damn it's nice cookware but everytime I make a meal I have to clean the darn things.

The second complaint from people is that they clog "all the time". Well in the years past that was true. Listen up though people, this is 2011 and technology is a wonderful thing. Koh-I-Noor through the years have improved their inks. Now I'm not saying that they will "never" clog. You have to take care of them. What I am saying though is that with newer formulated inks there is a lot less chance of clogging happening.

I recommend the Ultradraw ink made by Koh-I-Noor which is described by them as...

"specially formulated to be non-clogging in technical pens and have a much longer open-pen time"


There are other version of inks they make, as well as different colors that can be mixed to make an endless variety of colors.

What makes these pens so different or better than say, a Micron or any other technical "felt tip" pen you may be asking?

Well the best way that I know how to describe them is that the rapidograph, because of the way it is designed, it lays down the ink onto the paper. The ink through gravity or capillary action basically beads up and gets placed onto the paper as you run the pen over the paper. The tip is stainless steel. It never wears down.

Where as a felt tip pen transfers or rubs off it's ink onto the paper as well as wearing down the felt tip.

Also you will always get a solid consistent un-wavering line with a rapidograph. A felt tip will always wear and or distort in time. Regardless how careful you are.

As of right now there are two types of rapidograph pens they sell. One is the original rapidograph with the white cap and barrel and the other is called the sketch pens that are brown. I own both and cannot tell a difference. I think it is a marketing thing.

Here is the sketch pen.

Here is the traditional pen.

If you notice, the bands between the pen cap and the pen body are different colors. The top one is light brown and the bottom one is a dark green. Trust me. You can't see it too good but it is green.


This ring serves two purposes. The color denotes the pen's tip width as well as it holds on the ink's reservoir cup. There are 13 different widths and you can see them all here at Koh-I-Noor's website.

Which leads us into the next picture, a disassembled view of the pen.

Here you will see the sum of the parts that make up a pen. Going from left to right...

• Pen cap - inside is a plastic ring that seals up the tip to help it from drying out. 
• Nib - the is what makes up 80% of the cost of the pen. the next picture will show a more detailed look at this. This is where the magic happens.
• Nib Collar - This connects the nib to the rest of the pen in addition to directing air to flow back into the pen as the ink flows out from the tip.
• Collar - as I explained above, it secures the ink reservoir and holds everything else to the pen body.
• Ink Reservoir - Fill with ink.
• Pen Body - Just a hollow tube to give the pen it's length.

Next we see and closer view of the NIB.

Once again you see from left to right, the pen nib, the metal wire plunger that goes down into the tip of the nib and the end cap that holds the wire into the nib besides regulating the flow of the ink into the nib.

To get to the point above you will have to use the nib key that is supplied with every pen and pen set that Koh-I-Noor sells. Here is a picture of what to do.

This pen that I am using to demonstrate with is a .80. as you can see the metal wire is quite thick at this width. As you go down to finer point widths that wire will become ridiculously thin. I am talking to almost the diameter of a human hair.

That is the point when most people find that they end up ruining their pens because as they try to put everything back together after cleaning they end up bending the wire and at that point all the pen is good for is spare parts. Luckily if this happens you can buy the nibs separately. Still very expensive but less than a whole pen.

In a future video I will show the cleaning of one my pens and a trick I learned by accident one day on how to get the finer wires back in a lot easier.

Filling with ink and starting the flow. 

To start using your pen all you need to do is jump right in and get your pen to this point...

Next, just take the ink reservoir and your bottle of ink and gently without squeezing the bottle put the bottle's tip into the reservoir and squeeze 4-6 drops of ink in without going past the little ring you will see on the reservoir.

That's all there is to filling it.

Now we have to get the ink flowing. Everyone says not to shake your pen up and down because you will ruin it.

From my experience that is not true. You won't ruin the pen, the wire is made to go up and down inside as you put the tip to paper and lift it off. I mean, it's job is to move the ink down the nib tip.

If shaken too vigorously though what you just might do is start leaking ink from around where the nib screws into the nib collar and that you don't want. So...

With the cap off and holding your pen point down, take your other hand and flick the nib collar (not the nib) just like of you were going to flick lint or a bug off your sleeve. Do this three or four times then gently try to write on a paper.

***Remember these pens work best when they are held as close to 90 degrees to the paper as possible.

If you still have no ink flow now you can very gently shake the pen once or twice. Listen carefully. As the ink begins to flow the wire plunger inside will start to change sound. That's good because it means the ink is almost there. Try writing again. If still nothing flick the tip 2-3 more times and by this time you will have ink.

Keep in mind, the smaller diameter the tip, the longer it will take the ink to flow. So keep at it and have patients. Doing this a few times and you will have the feel of your new pen and know what to expect.

Happy drawing!

Quick rundown on cleaning.


I will be doing a post and video on cleaning but I want to just add quickly a little info for those of you that at this point that might want to get some of these pens.

When the time comes to clean these pens you are going to wonder how to go about it. For normal cleaning of one that "is not" plugged or dried out, all you have to do is disassemble the pen like in the first picture.

Run all the parts under warm water except for the body. Keep rinsing until the water runs clear and set each part aside to dry for a couple of hours or over night if you prefer.

If you don't let it dry you have the chance of watering down your ink to the point of where instead of black you might end up with some varying shade of gray.

If you some chance you end up letting it get dried out or clogged, you do the above step PLUS you will have to go to the second picture step of taking apart the nib also.

Don't fret! They are made to be taken apart and cleaned if need be and once you do this for the first time you will see it is not a big deal.

If you are at this stage you are going to have to, after rinsing everything, soak all the parts in cleaning solution for anywhere from a couple of hours to overnight.

There are all kinds of solutions you can use. Koh-I-Noor makes their own called Rapido-Eze that you can dilute or use full strength depending on how dirty your pens are. I have also used Higgin's pen cleaner with great results too. With Higgins I add in a few cap fulls of ammonia also. I have also read that 409 cleaner works good too as well as rubbing alcohol.

Just keep in mind there these parts are all plastic and any cleaner that is too strong could break down or melt the plastic. I would not want to soak them in straight acetone for example or nail polish cleaner.

Just use your head and you will be just fine.

Another tool I advise is the Koh-I-Noor Pressure Pen Cleaning Kit. It looks like the bulb from a turkey baster that you screw your pen nib into and gently squeeze and release while holding the tip into cleaning solution.

I would get this for sure when you decide to buy your pen or pen set. It is a must and it also serves as a ink flow starter. I have never used it for this but the option is there if you need it. The included instructions show you how.

The last thing I would highly recommend to buy at the time of purchase of these pens is a good quality ultrasonic cleaner. The key words here is good and quality. That doesn't mean expensive. There are plenty of good quality reasonably priced ultrasonic cleaners on like amazon.com that will work great. Two minutes in one of these will save you hours of soaking.

Keep in mind. One good way of knowing if you have a good ultrasonic cleaner is if it starts to warm up the water. If it is producing the proper wave length and cycles, it will start warming.

Conclusion.


I guess as with everything new in life it is trial and error. Not to mention common sense. These pens are an expensive investment and with that they should be treated not so much with kid gloves but with care. Not only when you are using them to draw but with every aspect of their use.

Don't

• Be afraid to use them
• Be heavy handed and push hard, they have stainless steel tips, they WILL dig into your paper and ruin your art and you could get bits of paper inside the tip.
• Over fill them
• Pound them by their tips on your drawing surface.
• Drop them
• Store them tip down
• Leave them with ink in them for more than 2 weeks
• Let them dry out

Do

• Use them, they are wonderful
• Store them tip up
• Clean them regularly
• Dip the tip in cleaning solution and immediately put on the cap without wiping the tip if you will not use them for a couple of days (this helps keep the tip moist and not dry out)
• Use the bulb and ultrasonic cleaner at regular intervals to keep them super clean
• Clean them regularly (I know I said this already but it's important)

Last but not least I must stress that these are the only Technical Pens/Rapidograph Pens that are made proudly 100% in the United States of America. 


I for one thank Chartpak (the parent company) for keeping production of these fine artist tools right here at home. If they can do it why can't more of corporate America do it?


I hope this helps all of you who had questions about these fine pens and I hope I was able to give you some knowledge.

Now stop reading and get out there and draw something.