Dis-assembling a Rotring ArtPen

[inkysmudges]

I've seen pictures of a dis-assembled ArtPen and read that it's easy to do but ...

 

I've gently tried to coax one apart (it's in need of a serious cleaning) but no joy and I'd rather not trash it out of sheer ignorance so ...

 

Anyone have pointers they'd care to share, or perhaps a URL or two? I'd certainly appreciate it.

 

 

[Blorgy]

QUOTE (inkysmudges @ Mar 31 2007, 09:42 PM)

I've seen pictures of a dis-assembled ArtPen and read that it's easy to do but ... I've gently tried to coax one apart (it's in need of a serious cleaning) but no joy and I'd rather not trash it out of sheer ignorance so ... Anyone have pointers they'd care to share, or perhaps a URL or two?  I'd certainly appreciate it.

I pulled out the nib and feed together. Surprisingly little force was needed, although I used rubber to get a better grip on the nib and feed.

 

After removal of the nib and feed, look at the inside of the section which is irregular, not cylindrical. When the nib and feed are put back into the section, the nib should fit into grooves which are visible inside the section.

Edited April 4, 2007 by Blorgy

[inkysmudges]

Just a pull straight out? That's cool, I can do that.

 

In my experience it's _under_ the nib -- the wee space between the nib and the feed -- that a lot of gunk can build up so if you don't mind me asking does the nib itself come away from the feed assembly easily once you've pulled all that from it's casing?

Edited April 1, 2007 by inkysmudges

[Blorgy]

After the nib and feed have been removed, they separate very easily.

[StevenS]

Mine slides apart very easily - and the slotted design of the inner feed makes it easy to put back together. These are made of tough modern plastic, so don't be afraid to soak in cold water to loosen any ink gunk (well, it never hurt mine!) and it should pull out easily.

 

good luck!

[inkysmudges]

Thanks guys, this worked great! I can't believe it's so easy.

 

One thing I noticed when putting it all back together is that the round opening where everything slides back in has a flat spot: that's where the flat section of the nib (where the writing is) should go.

 

So, if you slide the nib+feeder unit in gently and aim the nib flat into the opening flat you get it right every time, in other words you hit the recessed notch at the back that Blorgy talked about (which is hard to see). Easy peasy!

 

Now if someone would come up with a flexy nib for these babies we'd be in heaven. Not that I'm complaining about the wet nail of a nib the ArtPens have now.

[Blorgy]

QUOTE (inkysmudges @ Apr 4 2007, 06:22 AM)

So, if you slide the nib+feeder unit in gently and aim the nib flat into the opening flat you get it right every time, in other words you hit the recessed notch at the back that Blorgy talked about (which is hard to see).

I edited my first post and I removed the comment about the notch.

Edited April 4, 2007 by Blorgy

[DilettanteG]

Have you tried the EF sketch nib? I've only used the Lettering Pens with thick nibs, but I'd be intrested to know what kind of feedback the EF gives.

[inkysmudges]

I'll be picking my EF up tomorrow so I should have a prelim report by early evening or so.

 

So far I've got a Sketch F and a Calligraphy 1.5 both of which I like. Got to give it to Rotring: the Artpens do exactly what they're supposed to do, offer a great variety of ink possibilites (shellac and acrylic based inks which are totally verboten for regular FPs), and it takes about a blink and a half to disassemble them for a thorough and complete cleaning. All of this for less than $20. As a buddy of mine used to say, "Good value!"

[inkysmudges]

Ok, got the Artpen "Sketch" EF yesterday and inked it up right away with a French brand of india ink called "Nan-King Intense India Ink" by Lefranc & Bourgeois. I know, I know "thou shalt not put India Ink in a fountain pen", yadda yadda yadda. Hey, it's an Artpen, it loves these little challenges.

 

Same basic behaviour as the Sketch F in that it has a very stiff nib but lays down nice wet lines. Generally speaking the line width was noticeably narrower than the F (see below).

 

That said I have to agree with the general consensus that the Artpens tend to be a bit "fat": the Artpen Sketch F would probably be rated as a Medium nib by most folks, and not surprisingly the EF is rather more like your typical Fine nib in terms of line width.

 

The Sketch EF does feel a very little bit toothy. A couple minutes doing the paper bag treatment and the nib was smoother ... but I think I'll do a little more to see if I can't get that slick glide that the F nib has.

 

One of the things I like about the Artpens is that the nibs lend themselves very nicely to "back writing", my term for writing with the "top" of the nib by spinning the nib over so that the writing on the nib faces the page (ala Richard Binder's Itali-Fine nibs).

 

With a cooperative nib this "back writing" gives you two line widths and is extremely convenient, especially for pen-drawing types like myself. Anyway the EF is a great "back writer", lays down a very nice, fine, wet line using the back of the nib (a lot of pens tend to leave dry, scratchy lines when you do this). This alone is worth the price of admission IMHO.

 

FWIW I did a little side-by-side test comparing the Sketch nibs against the line widths of my Kohinoor Rapidographs using Kohinoor Ultradraw ink on regular laserjet printer paper:

 

- Sketch F (regular) is about a Rapidograph #2 (.60 mm)

- Sketch F (back-writing) is about a Rapidograph #0 (.35 mm)

- Sketch EF (regular) is slightly finer than a Rapidograph #1 (.50 mm)

- Sketch EF (back-writing) is slightly wider than a Rapidograph #00 (.30 mm)

 

I did notice that the Sketch EF seems particularly susceptible to the type of paper you are using. On a moleskin the EF and F lines were almost the same. On the printer paper the EF was noticeably narrower.

 

One slight bummer about my EF is that it seems to have a slight "bleed out" problem, you know where you're writing or drawing along and everything is great and then all of a sudden the pen starts gushing ink, as if it had just been dipped in an inkwell or somesuch. I've seen this before and a good cleaning usually clears up the problem. Fingers crossed that that'll be true here too.

 

Well, there you have it. Love those Artpens!