Faber Castell TG1 System Technical Drafting Pen Set Spotlight

Vintage Faber Castell find: the TG1 System Technical Drafting 4-Pen Set. While computers might have pretty much replaced analog drafting tools in this century, artists can still use much of their remaining stock for sketching, drawing , and illustrating tight renderings. Technical pens yield lines of uniform weight and consistency, so they can be quite useful for ruling comicbook panels, drafting technical blueprints, and even doing some lettering. Possible drawbacks include: high maintenance and cleaning requirements prior to long storage coupled with the difficulty in finding spares or replacement parts in case of damage. It can be oddly satisfying to draw with such well constructed precision drafting tools meant to be used for a lifetime, but they also require great care when cleaning and refilling them (not to mention that you do not want to drop any of these pens on the floor ever!).
According to the seller, this new old stock (NOS) drafting pen set dates back to the 1970s. Nowadays you are more likely to find Koh-I-Noor or Staedtler technical pens in US stores or online. Faber Castell drafting pen set sightings tend to be rather rare stateside (only have seen them at a Pearl store once before), and they seem to pop up more frequently in British websites.
Included accessories: adaptor for using drafting pens with templates (left), and threaded drawing cone removal tool (right). The set's sturdy plastic molded tray doubles as a pen stand and accessory organizer. This plastic shell tray is far more rigid and durable than the thin polystyrene trays used in pencil tins these days. The translucent box cover lid can be removed and used to elevate the whole pen stand.
The screw top of the pen cap design includes a hygro element to protect against the accidental drying of ink in the pen nibs. The top of each pen cap is light blue when dry but turns dark blue when moistened with a few drops of water. This moisture control feature should keep a high relative humidity around the double seal of the pen cap.
This set consisted of the following pen nib sizes: 0.25, 0.35, 0.4, and 0.5 mm. Really like the translucent yellow plastic used on the nibs as opposed to the opaque plastic nibs used in other brands. This should make it easier to check for ink residue when flushing the nibs clean.
Illustrated sheet with use and clean up instructions and written instructions on the back in multiple languages. Once I get a fresh ink bottle, I will probably test the 0.5 mm pen first (the ink included in this set was made in the USA and bottled in Germany 3 to 4 decades ago, so I do not think it would be prudent to fill the pens with it). Ink filling and subsequent required cleaning can be a messy process, so it is somewhat understandable that these drafting sets of refillable technical pens were partially replaced by disposable versions before the advent of AutoCAD. The Faber Castell TG1 System Technical Drafting Pen Set makes a nice addition to a drafting tools collection. For their maintenance-free modern day version for artistic exploration, you might want to try a set of Copic Multiliner SP pens.