Rotring Variant
Sunday, 31 October 2010
I met Eiko Bron in the early eighties, when he still lived in Amsterdam. Nowadays he lives in Australie. From there he sent me a package with Rotring pens, after he had read in this blog that i was running out of 0.5 mm Variants:
The main reason why i still use Variants is that are from the days before Rotring began using the DinA4 scale for all of their pens. The “Deutsche Industrie Norm” dictated pens to have widths as 0.13 and 0.18 mm, while before that it was simply 0.1mm, 02 mm, etcetera. A few years ago pens with these widths were taken in production too again, but that was too late for me. Because i used these pens for comic lettering, especially the 0.3 mm was essential. And suddenly all i could buy were 0.25 and 0.35 mm pens! I bought all pens that i managed to find in the Benelux and i think i have enough for the rest of my life. But i did not buy much 0.5 mm Variants. Recently i discovered that i have only one left.
In the package that Eiko sent me were three 05mm pens: one Variant (!!!), one Micronorm (also taken out of production long time ago, and the second best pen after the Variant), and one pen of a brand called Stano. I have never seen this branche, but i have seen several other Rotring imitations like these. I have quite a collection of this stuff and i will gladly write about this in the near future. But tonight i am going to test all of the pens that Eiko sent me.
Here is picture of a 0.5mm Variant that i found on the Net:
And here is another picture of the beatiful Variant:
I tried to make a scan of two Variants still in their original package but all i got is this:
As you can see on the price tag, the head of these pens costed 23.60 guilders back in the mid-eighties.
I used the Variant pens not only for lettering, but also for drawing and writing. But since a few years i started to use all kind of writing utensils for drawing and writing, usually the pen that is most close by. But for lettering i still only use Rotring pens. With two and a half half new 0.5 mm Variants the end of my lettering carreer is postponed at least another year, thanks to Eiko.
Comments:
Marieanne
2012-05-05 14:43:54
I don’t know if you are still looking for this size pen, but nibs do turn up on e-bay. i was lucky enough to find a set of 8 Variant pens, varying sized nibs, at a charity shop a few years back for £4.50
Vero
2012-12-24 08:54:10
Hello! how do you clean Rotring Variant?
thanks
Frits
2013-01-01 16:58:17
@vero: i take the head carefully apart and then clean all the parts with paper tissues and warm water.
chris
2013-08-19 21:14:16
just bought 30+ variants, isographs, varioscript (?) on a market for €4. Still gloating, love the Rotring. Seems to be lot surfacing on the 2nd hand market in UK.
Floyd
2015-04-08 15:40:45
Hello guys…good day I have Rotring Variant Tech Pen Set with the original box.I think this is a vintage pens.
I found it from our storage 30-20 years seating there till I found it totally kept secured on a bag with an Engineering stuffs…this 2015.
Floyd
2015-04-08 15:45:21
Hello guys…good day I have Rotring Variant Tech Pen Set with the original box.I think this is a vintage pens.
I found it from our storage 30-20 years seating there till I found it totally kept secured on a bag with an Engineering stuffs…this 2015. I’m trying to sell it.
Peter
2015-06-25 15:43:39
I have a 0.5 Rotring Variant, but the plastic cartridge that holds the ink has cracked. Is it possible to use a rapidograph cartridge as a replacement? If not, what should I do?! Thanks.
Dave
2020-07-16 00:18:06
Hi I came across one of these after buying a lot and was wondering if you know of any that are double ended? One where there are two nibs and reservoirs per one pen? Its been a real pain trying to find out any info about it.
frits
2020-07-16 10:29:02
Hello Dave, yes, you can two nibs & reservoirs on one pen.I don’t like it because of the weight but the pens were
designed to be able to do that.
Dave
2020-07-16 18:51:48
Hi I came across one of these after buying a lot and was wondering if you know of any that are double ended? One where there are two nibs and reservoirs per one pen? Its been a real pain trying to find out any info about it.
Anthony
2021-04-21 10:26:25
I’m intrigued and a bit puzzled that your 0.5 Variant has a yellow ring. In my little collection of Variant nibs it’s the 0.2 that’s yellow – the 0.5 is red (or reddish-brown – very similar to the 0.4,which in itself seems odd. Clearly there are quirks in Rotring colour – coding practice beyond my understanding!).
frits
2021-04-21 19:37:36
Ha, Anthony! The colours changed over the years and over the various types. The first generations of Variant are my favourites. But on my desk i have all the variations mixed up. There is no difference in quality, as far as i can judge.
Harry
2021-08-06 00:21:03
The first generation of Variant (my set bought in 1968 and still working) had a metal clip to retain the wire inside the nib. The second generation had a plastic retaining cap which was much easier to operate when dismantling and cleaning.
The ring colours of the black Variants never changed and are:
0.1 Red
0.15 White
0.2 Yellow
0.3 Grey
0.4 Brown
0.5 Beige
0.6 Blue
0.8 Green
1.0 Lilac
1.2 Orange
To answer an earlier question the reservoir from a maroon coloured Rotring Isograph is the same as the Variant reservoir but not sure that the reservoir from a maroon series Rapidograph will fit.
Solana
2022-02-08 01:16:53
Hi!
My father was an architect and he didn’t let us touch the rotrings. Im an artist and now they are with me. Iv’ cleaned them but the trace is unstable, short and stops. I would like to know if you have some advice to give me. Most of them are variants some older than others.
Thanks!
Solana.
Zoe Mason
2022-08-28 22:23:58
Hi I have a set of four variants passed on to my daughter who is off to do illustration at Uni. How do we clean them without breaking them? I am soaking them in water overnight currently. I am reluctant to take apart incase I break them??
Harry Wood
2022-08-29 00:00:46
Hi Zoe, Cleaning can be difficult if you have never done this before. Cleaning is best done by totally stripping the nib down however I would suggest that you practice on the larger nibs first. Please do not try to strip down anything below a 0.2. You never said the nib sizes that your daughter had but if there are four I’m assuming 0.1 to 0.4. Start with the thickest nib.
Remove the reservoir and dispose of old ink. Use the circular red tool and unscrew the nib from the body. On the back of the nib there will be either a wire or plastic cap to retain the needle – squeeze the sides of the clip or cap together and remove. Carefully withdraw the needle. I use the needle to remove any dried ink in the metal tube part of the nib. Now wash all parts thoroughly and dry before reassembling. Care must be taken when cleaning not to bend the wire and that it finds its way into the tube without bending. Clean any dried ink from the reservoir with a cotton bud and use fresh ink. For 0.1 and 0.15 nibs remove …
Harry Wood
2022-08-29 00:10:49
Continued- for 0.1 and 0.15 nibs remove the nib from the body but do not remove the needle. Hold the nib under running water and try to force the water down through the tube. If the pens are badly clogged you could use Rotring cleaner or an ultrasonic cleaner if you have one.
Once the pen is cleaned and reassembled you should be able to slightly hear / feel the needle moving up and down in the tube when you shake the pen.
Hope this helps.
Regards
Harry Wood
2022-08-29 14:31:52
Continued- for 0.1 and 0.15 nibs remove the nib from the body but do not remove the needle. Hold the nib under running water and try to force the water down through the tube. If the pens are badly clogged you could use Rotring cleaner or an ultrasonic cleaner if you have one.
Once the pen is cleaned and reassembled you should be able to slightly hear / feel the needle moving up and down in the tube when you shake the pen.
Hope this helps.
Regards
Harry Wood
2022-08-29 14:43:29
Continued- for 0.1 and 0.15 nibs remove the nib from the body but do not remove the needle. Hold the nib under running water and try to force the water down through the tube. If the pens are badly clogged you could use Rotring cleaner or an ultrasonic cleaner if you have one.
Once the pen is cleaned and reassembled you should be able to slightly hear / feel the needle moving up and down in the tube when you shake the pen.
Hope this helps.
Regards
Eiko
2010-11-01 11:48:07
Staedtler isn’t bad either… It may have been Ger Rijff who told me that vinegar is the best way to clean the capillary ink heads (no blobbing!) and capsules…
More on Stano here: http://www.trademarkia.com/stanocs-73545140.html