Fig. 46. the drawing tools you need
Then you will need (4) a rule, or scale as it is called; (5) a protractor; (6) a T square 20 inches long; (7) a 30 degree triangle 5 inches long; (8) some drawing paper[36] not less than 10 × 12 inches; (9) a couple of medium hard (HHH) lead pencils,[37] (10) a good rubber eraser;[38] (11) a bottle of Higgins’ India ink,[39] (12) a few thumb tacks, and (13) a drawing board about 12 × 17 inches. And now let’s see what these tools and other things are for and how they are used.
[36] Get a 2-ply bristol board with a medium or smooth surface.
[37] Koh-i-noor or Venus pencils are good ones.
[38] Get Faber’s red rubber Van Dyke.
[39] This is a prepared India ink but you can make your own by rubbing up stick India ink with water.
A pair of dividers is a tool having hinged legs, the free ends of which are pointed; they are used to take, mark off and subdivide distances.
The compasses are made like the dividers, but one end has a needle point and the other is hollow so that either a pencil or a drawing pen point can be slipped into it; this tool is used to draw curves and circles, either with a pencil or in ink.
A ruling pen is formed of two bowed steel blades having a screw adjustment so that they can be forced together or drawn apart and so make lines of varying widths. Not only is a ruling pen different from a writing pen but the ink that is used with it is thicker than an ordinary writing ink. This pen is used to make straight lines by running it along the edge of a rule or T square.