Technical Drawing

Technical drawing – precise drawing with a ruler, set square and compass, where straight lines and a consistent line weight matter. Below you’ll find technical drawing supplies, from rulers, compasses and leads to paper and a bag for your finished drawings.

Technical drawing supplies: what you need

Technical rulers and set squares

The KOH-I-NOOR set squares 45/177 with perpendicular and ridge and 45/141, as well as the 15 cm ruler, are made of clear polystyrene with a centimeter scale, so you can see what you’ve drawn underneath. If you’re starting with school geometry, the Spoko set includes a 30 cm flat ruler, a 16 cm set square with a center line, a 22 cm right-angle set square and a 12 cm protractor. Faber-Castell Sparkle flexi and Dots flexi rulers (15 or 30 cm) are flexible, shatterproof and have a scale for both right- and left-handers. You’ll find more rulers and templates in the technical rulers and templates category.

Technical compasses and leads

The LENIAR metal compass is 12 cm long, fits in a pencil case and has a built-in mechanical pencil with 0.5 mm lead instead of a standard lead. For a compass that takes standard leads, keep spare KOH-I-NOOR graphite leads to hand – 10 pcs, 1.95 mm diameter, 19 mm long, with a slanted point.

Pencil or mechanical pencil?

With a mechanical pencil, the line width is set by the lead diameter, so there’s no need to sharpen it. The metal MEPHISTO mechanical pencil with a rubber grip is also designed for technical drawing, and you can choose it in 0.3, 0.5 or 0.7 mm. It takes KOH-I-NOOR leads, 12 pcs at 60 mm long: 4132 HB 0.3 mm, 4152 0.5 mm and 4162 0.7 mm. If you prefer a classic pencil, the KOH-I-NOOR 1703/4 has an extra-hard no. 4 lead that leaves a fine line and is less prone to smudging. Softer sketching pencils are in the pencils and charcoals category.

Pens for inking your drawing

You ink over the finished pencil construction with a pen that has a consistent line width. For example, Standardgraph has a firm tip for drawing with templates, and the Pigma Micron tip is designed for working with rulers and templates. You’ll find the full selection by tip size in the technical pens and pencils category.

Paper for technical drawing and protecting your drawings

The Canson Graduate tracing pad (72 g/m², 40 sheets, A4 or A3) is transparent and dimensionally stable, so you can trace an original or layer design variants in pencil, ink or marker. For a clean final drawing, Canson Bristol A4 (180 g/m², 50 sheets) is a very smooth paper that stands up to repeated erasing. Carry finished work in a Clairefontaine nylon bag (40 × 55 or 59 × 75 cm) or store it in a Canson 61 × 81 cm portfolio. More papers are in the paper and drawing paper category, and you’ll find a firm surface for your drawing among our drawing boards.

Frequently asked questions

What supplies do I need for technical drawing?

The basic drafting kit is a ruler and set squares, a compass, a mechanical pencil or hard pencil, an eraser, a pen for inking and paper. For tracing and design work, add tracing paper.

Which ruler should I choose for technical drawing?

Transparent KOH-I-NOOR set squares made of clear polystyrene are designed for drawing straight lines, perpendiculars, angles and parallels. If you need everything at once, the Spoko set includes a 30 cm flat ruler, two set squares and a protractor.

Which technical compass is suitable for school?

The LENIAR metal compass is 12 cm long, has a built-in mechanical pencil with 0.5 mm lead and comes in a protective plastic case.

Which lead size should I choose for a mechanical pencil?

The MEPHISTO mechanical pencil is made for 0.3, 0.5 and 0.7 mm leads, and KOH-I-NOOR leads come in 0.3 mm (4132 HB), 0.5 mm (4152) and 0.7 mm (4162). Buy lead in the same size as your mechanical pencil.