Ruling pen
Drawing instrument
A ruling pen is a drawing instrument for drawing with ink or with other drawing fluids. Originally used for technical drawings in engineering and cartography together with straight rulers and French curves, it is today used for specific uses, such as picture framing or calligraphy. Drafting compasses are also sometimes provided with ruling nibs.
01Description
A ruling pen contains ink in a slot between two flexible metal jaws, which are tapered to a point. It enables precise rendering of very thin lines. The line width can be adjusted by an adjustment screw connecting the jaws. The adjustment screw can optionally have a number dial.
02History
In the Soviet Union, ruling pens were widely used by women for eyebrow hair removal, being used as tweezers.
Sources and credits
This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Ruling pen”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.
Images, from Wikimedia Commons:
- Anker compass adjustable pen side.jpg by Slashme, CC0
- Reissfeder 1.jpg by Fantagu, Public domain
- Holding-a-ruling-pen3.jpg by No machine-readable author provided. Xavier121 assumed (based on copyright claims)., Public domain
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