Koh-I-Noor Rapidograph Technical Pen Set?

Question

http://www.dickblick.com/zz210/03/

What are the pros and cons (quality, quality of work, expense, etc. ) of having a Koh-I-Noor Rapidograph Technical Pen Set?

I know they are more expensive than disposable pens (like Microns). They were discovered at my work when we were cleaning. I am currently trying to figure out how to use them. Some of my co-workers don't know how to use them and just want to chuck them in liu of the Micron disposable pens.

Ultimately, I need to know if it is more feasible to use disposable pens or these refillable technical pens. We will be using them for fine pen and ink techniques.

Also, if you have any examples of work done with these kind of pens, I would appreciate it if you could show me.

Answer 1

I absolutely loved the Koh-I-Noor pens until each and every one of them clogged up and could not be cleaned even with the ultrasonic water bin at the art store--so my expensive set ($40 on sale, normally $60) was useless.

Microns are nice BUT they barely hold enough ink to make them worthwhile.

I've found cheap, waterproof pens at the art store that are all under $2.50 each that I use all the time now. My absolute favorite is the ITOYA Pigmented Ink Finepoint System in sizes .2, .4 and .6 (thickest line). They're a gray pen with the size printed on top, nice black ink, dependable.

The Uniball Vision Fine is another, a silver pen in one width (it will blob on some papers though). Good for filling in or doing thicker lines.

Pilot Precise V5 Extra Fine is my second favorite, they can be found at office supply stores by the box or by the individual.

The Pilot and the Itoya were both used almost exclusively to draw the Ferret Tarot, which you can see over here -- http://www.falconsmew.com/prodcut4_1.html
There's ten cards shown plus the cover card, but if you do a google search on the name of the deck you can find up to 8 other cards from it. Also, all my paper doll art on my site was done with the Pilot Precise V5 -- most of those are drawings from before 2005 so the newer ones (not yet up on the site, it badly needs updating) are with the Itoya as well.

Since the pens are waterproof I find that they don't loose ink when you erase the pencil guidelines on the paper (let it dry 24 hours first, just to be sure). The non-waterproof ones ended up loosing ink when you go over the lines with a kneeded eraser to get rid of the pencil marks.

Technical pens, expecially the ultra fine points, seem to not be reliable once ink is in them. Even if you clean the ink out after every use, and use the cleaning fluid to make SURE they're clean, you'll get every pen eventually not able to pass ink down through those very fine points. I was disappointed in my set, even after taking a lot of care to keep it in perfect condition. I stick to the disposeables now.

Answer 2

The biggest advantage over the Microns is that with careful cleaning and use, the Rapidographs will last, figuratively, forever. Any parts that do break or wear, can be replaced, without haveing to buy an entire pen each time the ink runs out. If any of my Rapidograph pens sits idle, and the ink runs completely dry, I can always clean it and replace the pennies worth of ink.

I don't know about your business, but the bottom line of my ledger is extremely important. A ten dollar pen that lasts fifty times longer than a three dollar pen makes good, economic sense for a small business owner.

That also is true of investing in several thousand of dollars in computer equipment and software, versus continuing to buy paper, pens, charcoal, conte' crayons, inks, paints, brushes, easels, drawing boards and other accoutrements of the design business.

In your specific case, however, if you only intend the occasional use of either of these pens, perhaps the disposable microns make more sense.

Answer 3

kohnoor rapidograph technical pen set