How to Make Calligraphy Quill Pens

Tailor your own quill pen for individual calligraphy works.

Monks and other scribes and clerks have used the quill pen since medieval times to write and copy handwritten documents. The usage continued through the 17th century for business, correspondence and even schoolwork. Calligraphy remains as an art form from this rich history. Although modern pen nibs are now metal, you can still make your own calligraphy quill pen from a feather with same historical process. With some practice, you can create a nib shape that suits your calligraphy style.

Things You'll Need

• Large feather
• Metal bucket
• Sand
• Hotplate
• Paper towels
• Craft knife
• Wooden cutting board

Instructions

1. Trim the barbs from one side of the feather. The barbs are the extensions that grow from the feather’s shaft and form the plume. The cut side of the feather will become the bottom of the pen. Trimming the feather keeps the barbs from scratching the back of your hand as you write.

2. Place a metal bucket half full of sand on a hotplate. Heat it to a stable 140 degrees. It is important to the tempering of the quill pen that there is no temperature variation in the sand.

3. Temper the feather by plunging the writing end into the sand to the point where the barbs begin to grow. Leave the feather there for about five minutes so that it comes to the same temperature as the sand. Remove the entire bucket from the hotplate and place on a fireproof surface such as concrete or bare earth and allow it to cool completely.

4. Pull the feather out of the sand, wipe it off and lay it on a wooden cutting board bottom side to the wood. Remember that the bottom is the side without barbs.

5. Slice off the end diagonally, removing about a quarter inch. Angle the slice at about a 45-degree angle so that the bottom sticks out farther than the top.

6. Hold the feather in the same position and insert a knife blade into the shaft with the sharp edge pointing up. With a cranking motion, pull the knife handle upward with the blade still holding the feather against the cutting board. Cut a slit in the top of the feather’s shaft about a quarter-inch long.

7. Turn the quill over so that the slit you cut in the previous step is against the wood. Cut another quarter-inch slice from the end, angling it so that the slit sticks out farther than the opposite side of the shaft. There is now a crude nib on the pen.

8. Taper the nib on either side of the slit to taper toward it. Leave small, equal parts of the shaft on each side of the slit in the nib.

9. Insert the knife inside the shaft and scrape to clean it and flatten the end of the nib. Scrape the cut ends of the feather lightly to smooth all cut surfaces. You could even use an emery board for this.

10. Dip the nib into ink and create your calligraphy. You can sharpen it when you need to by repeating Steps 5 through 9.

Tips & Warnings

• Feathers from large fowl such as turkeys, swans and geese work best for quill pens.

• If you do not have ready access to real birds, you can find feathers in craft supply shops.

• You will probably have to cut the nib several times in the beginning to get the proper length for what you want the pen to do. The hardness of the writing point will vary depending on the feather itself, the length of the slit and width and angle of the nib point. Square off or change the angle of the shaft parts on either side of the slit to achieve different writing styles.

References

• New Hampshire Historical Society: The Quill Pen
• Medieval Writing: The Quill Pen
• Flick: Cutting Quill Pens from Feathers

Resources

• School Family: How to Make a Quill Pen