Why Is There No Architect Nibs

[minddance]

We have 'music' nibs in the standard line of Japanese pens. Why is there no Architect's nib?

 

Are architects or architecture less regarded than music/musicians?

 

Do architects really use/need an architect's nib and do musicians really use/need a music nib?

Edited August 16, 2020 by minddance

[hari317]

We have 'music' nibs in the standard line of Japanese pens. Why is there no Architect's nib?

 

Are architects or architecture less regarded than music/musicians?

 

Do architects really use/need an architect's nib and do musicians really use/need a music nib?

All very good questions.

We also dont have obliques in the lineup. Do they really have to rotate the pen to use an oblique nib?

[Parker51]

Well, to be practical, except for old architects who have retired and some, but not most architecture students, It is not done free hand with a sketch pad and pen. Professional architecture is done with a computerized design system.

And architecture today using simple tools also isn't a "hobby" for but a very few people.

 

Music however, is often is done by hand by individuals of all ages. Writing it with the aid of a computer is actually not something required and by some is considered in appropriate.

And writing music today using simple tools is something done as a "hobby" by many people.

 

Basically, it is a matter of potential sales.

[Astronymus]

Usually school or university is the last time modern architects would draw a plan by hand. And even there most is done via CAD. Faster, more precise, easier to correct, cleaner.

[MusterMark]

I also wonder if it has something to do with the finicky nature of the architect grind. Ive been looking to get one myself and am holding off onto I can get it ground in person post-COVID. Ive heard that your writing angle makes a big difference in how smooth it feels. So maybe its more difficult to produce architect nibs at scale than music nibs?

[ENewton]

I doubt that most music nibs are used for music. I suspect that they are used primarily by people who want a new way of laying down a lot of ink on the page, for whatever kind of writing they do.

 

I'd be interested in knowing what the typical use cases are for architect nibs, outside of architecture.

[PAKMAN]

When my daughter was taking drafting, I offered her all my old drafting tools. She snickered and told me that every thing was done by computer now. She never, even once, had to draw something on a piece of paper... So no, there's probably no call anymore for architects nibs.

[hari317]

In the pre CAD days, how and for what purpose were the architect nibs used? Thanks.

[Astronymus]

No one knows for real.

[BaronWulfraed]

Even pre-CAD I never saw one... All the students taking drafting classes (not me, my goal was comp sci) used Rapid-o-Graph type pens (I emphasize "type" as Koh-i-Nor, rOtring, and Faber-Castell all made incompatible versions of them) and lettering guides http://www.mccoys-kecatalogs.com/KELeroy/3245-15L/3245-15L.htm This was circa 1972

Edited August 16, 2020 by BaronWulfraed

[hari317]

Yeah the staedtler and rotting drawing sets of the 70s which I have used ( hand me downs) had only one implement for ink which was a "ruling pen". There was a compass attachment and an independent Ruling pen. Then you had the drawing pens which made perfect monolines.

Edited August 16, 2020 by hari317

[Karmachanic]

Also known as arabic/hebrew nibs,

[BaronWulfraed]

Yeah the staedtler and rotting drawing sets of the 70s which I have used ( hand me downs) had only one implement for ink which was a "ruling pen". There was a compass attachment and an independent Ruling pen. Then you had the drawing pens which made perfect monolines.

My (unused) art supply cabinet has both a Koh-i-Nor Rapidograph 3 pen set, and a 7 pen set. I have a generic pen holder for use with compass (and at least two, if not three moderately higher end sets of compass/divider with lead holders and "tweezer" ruling pens). I must have something like eight complete sets of water colors (two of which came with "fanny pack" carrying cases for supplies). Over six sets of colored pencils (Derwent Studio [hard], Water-Soluble, Pastel; other makes).

[Black Spot]

architects use mechanical pencils. They also use felt tip pens like Touchmark or Copic. Not far form where I live there is a Archtecture supply store.

and then there is this.

http://www.buildingcollector.com/2011/01/architectural-pen-set.html

[taimdala]

When my daughter was taking drafting, I offered her all my old drafting tools. She snickered and told me that every thing was done by computer now. She never, even once, had to draw something on a piece of paper... So no, there's probably no call anymore for architects nibs.

That's a shame! I took drafting classes in college and *loved* learning architectural hand. It's made my handwritten print so much more legible and over the years, I've been able to maintain the legibility.

 

If there is an analog value to the architect grind, it is this: writing, either all caps or upper and lower case, looks neater with the grind *when coupled with* architectural hand.

 

Otherwise, I think of it as yet another variation of a broad nib, useful for showing off shading and sheen. As such, I've been considering getting one done for myself. I just have to purchase a TWSBI with a broad enough tip that will take the grind well.

[ParramattaPaul]

True confession. I retired for the first time in 1987 and decided I wanted a second career, I spent a year studying architecture before moving on to mechanical engineering. AutoCad had a big foothold then, but engineering and architecture schools still taught 'board (manual) drafting/ before moving on to CADD.. Long story short, I ended up with three cases of drafting tools (pens, rules, triangles, templates -- the lot) in short order by virtue of being employed as a technical illustrator and draftsman while still studying. I have have two CADD programmes on one laptop and haven't touched a manual tool in the last 25 years.

Edited August 16, 2020 by ParramattaPaul

[Cyclohexene]

Did architects even used the pens with architect grind to draw, or was the usage restricted to annotations? I imagine neat, uniform lines are more preferable for professional drawings compared to ever changing line widths.

[ParramattaPaul]

Did architects even used the pens with architect grind to draw, or was the usage restricted to annotations? I imagine neat, uniform lines are more preferable for professional drawings compared to ever changing line widths.

I don't believe there were architecture grind nibs - a least not in the 20th Century. I was given a set of second hand German drawing instruments when I was a teenager. The pens in that set were thumbscrew adjustable for line width (different types and widths of lines for different purposes). and filled with an eye dropper. They took some skill and experience to use properly. The Rotring drafting pens in different widths is what I used in architecture and engineering schools in my day.

 

[ParramattaPaul]

The thumbscrew adjustable pens:

 

[ParramattaPaul]

Note the ship pictured at the back of the room. This is where and by whom the engineeing drawings for RMS Titanic were done.