My plotter pen adapter snapped mid-draft and I had to improvise for 3 hours

I was laying out a foundation plan at my desk in Columbus last Tuesday when the plastic adapter on my Rotring pen just cracked clean in half. Ink went everywhere, all over my vellum and my hand, and I didn't have a spare. I ended up wrapping the pen shaft with electrical tape and jamming it into the plotter carriage until it held tight, real jerry-rigged fix. It actually worked for the rest of the set, but now I'm paranoid it'll blow out again. Anyone else have a plotter fail on them at the worst possible moment?

2 comments

2 Comments

grant_palmer15d agoTop Commenter

Tape job worked for three hours, sounds like your fix was fine.

nathan_foster6015d ago

Electrical tape is a temporary fix at best, you're just asking for it to let go in the middle of a 42 inch roll. Running a plotter for 3 hours with that setup is asking for trouble, you got lucky it held that long. Better to just order a proper replacement adapter and have two on hand, one for backup. Those plastic parts are cheap for a reason.