pin  within  the  pen  just  touches  the  drawing surface.  Tighten  the  locknut  when  the  desired height  is  reached.  To  prevent  blotting,  you  should make this rough adjustment before you put ink into the pen. 11.  Remove  the  scriber  from  the  template. 12.  Remove  the  cleaning  pin  from  the  pen. NOTE:  To  prevent  the  ink  from  flowing straight through the pen, you should not remove the  cleaning  pin  of  a  Leroy  pen  No.  4  or  larger from  the  pen. 13. Fill the reservoir of the pen with drawing ink.  The  Leroy  pen  should  be  filled  with  ink in  the  same  manner  as  any  common  drafting inking instrument. The reservoir should be kept from one-fourth to three-fourths full; too low an ink level results in irregular lines. 14. If the cleaning pin was removed, reinsert it into the pen. 15. Wipe the lower tip of the pen with a cloth to  remove  any  excess  ink  that  may  have  been pushed  through  by  the  cleaning  pin. 16.  Draw  a  test  line  on  a  piece  of  scratch paper to ensure that the ink will flow smoothly. 17.  Gently  lower  the  pen  to  the  drawing surface after inserting the tail and tracer pins in their  proper  grooves. 18. Proceed with the lettering by moving the tracer  pin  in  the  grooves  of  the  characters, keeping the tail pin in the straight-guide groove. If  the  ink  does  not  flow  properly,  turn  the cleaning pin inside the pen and wipe the tip with a cloth; also, make any necessary minor adjust- ments to the adjusting screw to allow the ink to flow  properly.  Tighten  the  locknut.  When  you  will not  be  lettering  for  short  periods  of  time,  place the tip of the pen, still in the socket of the scriber arm,   on   a   piece   of   moist   cotton.   This   will prevent the ink from drying around the opening of the pen and will help the ink to flow properly when you begin lettering again. SPACING  AND  CENTERING The  rules  for  freehand  letterspacing  and  word spacing   also   apply   to   mechanical   lettering. Guidelines   are   not   necessary   for   mechanical lettering;  however,  when  you  are  making  more than  one  line  of  lettering,  you  may  draw horizontal  base  lines  at  intervals  to  help  you maintain the proper spacing between the lines. Spacing between lines of mechanical lettering is the same as for freehand lettering. When  lettering  must  be  centered  above  a certain  part  of  a  drawing,  or  within  a  certain space,  use  the  scales  along  the  bottom  edges  of the  templates.  Each  space  on  the  scale  represents the   center-to-center   distance   of   normal-width letters. For example, to center the words LEROY LETTERING  about  a  certain  line,  proceed  as follows: 1.  Count  the  letters  in  each  word  and  the spaces  between  words.  Result:  15. 2.   Considering   the   letter   I and  the  space between the words as half value for each, reduce the  total  by  one.  Result:  14. 3.  Divide  the  result  of  No.  2  above  by  two. Result:  7. NOTE:  If  there  had  been  an  odd  number  of half  values,  you  would  use  the  next  lower  number and   allow   more   space   between   words   than normally  required. 4. Set the zero of the scale at the vertical line about  which  the  lettering  is  to  be  centered  and mark off seven spaces to the left and right of zero. 5.  Start  the  L of  the  word  LEROY  in  the title at the left mark and continue to the end. The right edge of the G should fall on the mark to the right. MAINTENANCE   OF   MECHANICAL LETTERING  EQUIPMENT Pens  should  be  cleaned  thoroughly  with  water after use and stored properly in the lettering set case. Never wash them under running water in a sink. The pen and cleaning pin may accidentally be washed down the drain. If water does not clean a  pen  satisfactorily,  a  diluted  solution  of  ammonia may be used. Commercial pen cleaning solutions and pen cleaning kits are available. Caked or dried ink can be removed by soaking the pens overnight in  a  cleaning  solution;  however,  the  pens  may corrode  if  soaked  longer.  Cleaning  pins  should be  handled  with  care  because  they  are  fragile  and easily bent, especially the smaller ones. The  screw  that  holds  the  pen  in  the  scriber should never be screwed too tightly, as the fine threads tend to strip very easily. Templates should be cleaned after every use. Dirt and dried-on ink are very easily transferred onto  an  otherwise  clean  drawing.  You  must ensure  that  the  template  grooves  are  kept  free 3-40