Fig. 102.
Figure 102 shows a German pen, that can be regulated to draw lines of various breadths. The head of the adjusting screw is made rather larger than usual, and is divided at the under side into twenty divisional notches, each alternate notch being marked by a figure on the face. By this arrangement a uniform thickness of line may be maintained after filling or clearing the pen, and any desired thickness may be repeated, without any loss of time in trial of thickness on the paper. A small spring automatically holds the divided screw-head in any place. With very little practice the click of the spring in the notches becomes a sufficient guide for adjustment, without reference to the figures on the screw-head. Another meritorious feature of this pen is that it is armed with sapphire points, which retain their sharpness very long, and thus save the time and labor required to keep ordinary instruments in order for the performance of fine work.
An example of line shading in perspective drawing is shown in the drawing of a pipe threading stock and die in Figure 103.
Fig. 103.
Shading by means of lines may be used with excellent effect in mechanical drawing, not only to distinguish round from flat surfaces, but also to denote to the eye the relative distances of surfaces. Figure 104 represents a cylindrical pin line shaded. As the light is supposed to come in from the upper left-hand corner, it will evidently fall more upon the left-hand half of the stem, and of the collar or bead, hence those parts are shaded with lighter or finer lines than the right-hand sides are.
