Has anyone here ever used a quill pen?

[Fernan]

Has anyone on this forum had any experience using a quill pen?

 

I would be very interested in learning from your experience... tips on how to go about it... where you get good quality quill pens? How to judge the quality of a quill pen? Any kind of particular ink to use?

 

I found some in a museum in Montreal last weekend, but I am not sure they are that well made. They came with a small sample of dried matter to mix with water in order to make your own ink. I have not tried mixing the ink yet, but I did try writing with Rubinato black ink. Not easy... There is also the issue of the paper to use...

 

Maybe some day, I'll get enough confidence to join the snail mail list and start writing some letters with a quill pen, just for the feeling... Just like Montaigne, or Voltaire, or Victor Hugo... without having the pretention to be in their league...

 

 

Fernan

[Ernst Bitterman]

I've gathered feathers from geese in the park at moult time, mainly for arrow-making experiments, and had a go at making a few into quills. It's worth trying, but what I mainly learned is that this is yet another "primitive" technology that demands a lot of practice and skill to get right (try knapping some flint and you'll get an even better sense of that). It's not entirely unlike using a very flexy pen (dip or fountain), but it wasn't so rewarding an experience that I'm going to pursue it again with any zeal.

[Wildoaklane]

I don't have any experience with quills but when I got curious about it, I found this website. I don't know how to attach it as a link, so I'll just give the address. If you don't have any luck with it, I'll see what I can do about attempting the link. Good Luck and let us know how you do!

 

www.flick.com/~liralen/quills/quills.html

 

Cathy

[Have Fun]

Hello & Bonjour Fernan

 

Try this thread

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/in...mp;#entry556026

 

(can't do links like some people)

 

I found it very satisfying & easy to do all you need is a sharp knife ie craft knife & trim till you get a reasonable point. There are methods for hardening the tip but I haven't tried them. I still have the quill knocking around & reckon a quill should be tried by everyone.

 

Crows Feather was often used by the working class back in the day while the hoypoly used more esoteric feathers (plus ca change)

 

Just do it

 

[Sailor Kenshin]

I have a few quills. I think---can't recall, it was a while ago---that I cut at least one of them. Honestly, I liked the feel. Not as stiff as a dip pen yet not as squishy as a brush.

[GreenVelvet]

Maybe some day, I'll get enough confidence to join the snail mail list and start writing some letters with a quill pen, just for the feeling... Just like Montaigne, or Voltaire, or Victor Hugo... without having the pretention to be in their league...

 

You don't have to write letters with a quill pen to join the snail mail list! Most of us just use fountain pens.

[HedgeMage]

Growing up on a farm, I used to collect feathers for quillmaking. Goose is better than turkey, and chicken hawk feathers are very nice on the rare occassion they can be found (not as long-lasting as goose feather quills, but able to write better when cut very fine). Chicken feathers are terrible for quillmaking.

 

For a simple quill, you cut the feather at an angle and then slit a bit up the point. If you want to go crazy, you can drill or cut a small hole at the top of the slit to help the quill hold more ink. Don't overdo it or the ink will fall out in a big blot rather than flow.

 

Quill writing is kind of awkward compared to fountain pens, but it was a fun project when I was a kid.

 

--HedgeMage

[Rob G]

As a Civil War reenactor, I felt that I should be familiar with quills... I wrote with a few, and even made one, just so I could say that I did it. Am very glad that steel pens were in common use by then.

 

 

 

[Nabster]

I've got an ostrich plume around somewhere from when I visited an ostrich farm a long time ago.... this seeds an idea.

Edited August 28, 2008 by Nabster

[richardandtracy]

After I showed signs of an FP obsession one of my colleagues gave me a feather to use - initially as a joke. I took the joke further than he expected by using it all day for all my writing requirements, even into an internal meeting.

 

It was scratchy & slow. Having to dip the quill every few words was irritating and by the end of the day I needed to re-cut the point, as I wasn't using a hardened quill.

 

All I can say is, thank goodness fp's are available.

 

Regards

 

Richard.

 

[mjb30]

I've got an ostrich plume around somewhere from when I visited an ostrich farm a long time ago.... this seeds an idea.

 

Septuple broad nib anyone?!

[Paddler]

I am using quills now (last weekend and the weekend to come) at an American French and Indian War reenactment.

 

Quill making is definitely an art. Some would call it a black art. There are several places to go on the net for instructions on how to cut them. I definitely advise you to perform the extra steps to temper or harden the quill. If you don't, you will cut a nice nib on a feather shaft and begin writing with it. It will give you a nice, fine line. Then, after writing a few lines, the line it makes will become broader . . . and broader . . . and broader. By the time you reach the middle of the page, the tines will have splayed out and you will be making blobs. Time to cut a new nib. If you temper the shaft, using a Dutching tool or hot sand, the nib will last three or four times as long.

 

I am using Canada goose feathers that were molted and floating on a lake. Their quality varies. Some are thin-walled. Some are thick and flattened.

 

Depending on your handedness, you want feathers from the proper side of the bird. (I don't know which is which, as I am picking up molted feathers and don't know which way they curve when in place on the bird.) If you get them from the wrong side, they will be difficult to hold. When you hold one, you want the shaft to curve away from your hand. If they curve the other way, they will try to twist in your hand as you write. Further aggravation! :bonk:

 

Paddler

 

[Randal6393]

This is why anyone into using pen and ink should have a copy of Edward Johnston's Writing and Illuminating and Lettering in their library at home. The book discusses cutting quills, tempering quills, and making and installing an ink reservoir in a quill pen. Basic knowledge, from a man who used that knowledge every day. Of course, Mr. Johnston's repertoire of skills goes much further than cutting a quill pen.

 

If you pick up a wing feather and hold it as if you were holding a pen, the feather will settle itself into position. The far end of the feather (the one away from the quill) will either curve out over your shoulder or whack you in the cheek. If your pen is whacking you in the cheek, strip the barbs off the quill and cut the quill about seven inches in length. No longer looks like a feather but no longer gets into your mouth while you write either. I find the balance is better if you strip the barbs off and do that to all quills that I want to write with.

 

Must agree with Richard. Have used quills, dip pens, and fountain pens. Have tweaked up tips and cut and recut quills. Of the three types of pen, I know which one I prefer to use for the most part. Any guesses as to what I prefer?

[Sailor Kenshin]

I've got an ostrich plume around somewhere from when I visited an ostrich farm a long time ago.... this seeds an idea.

 

Go for it! And show us pictures, of course.

 

[Maria]

Dear Paddler,

 

I am of the assumption, that for a right handed writer, the right side of the bird's wing feather cluster would be curved to the right.

 

I am not an expert on vintage writing, however, if there are left side quills, I am wondering if it would be an excellent choice for left handed writers. (?)

 

My father told me stories, that when his father began to write, it was forced upon them to write with the right hand. For those so inclined to be left handed, they were beaten into writing with the right hand.

 

Perhaps today, quills that bow, for left handed writers can be available now; the right or straighter quill feathers for the right handers.

 

Respectfully,

Maria

 

I am using quills now (last weekend and the weekend to come) at an American French and Indian War reenactment.

 

Quill making is definitely an art. Some would call it a black art. There are several places to go on the net for instructions on how to cut them. I definitely advise you to perform the extra steps to temper or harden the quill. If you don't, you will cut a nice nib on a feather shaft and begin writing with it. It will give you a nice, fine line. Then, after writing a few lines, the line it makes will become broader . . . and broader . . . and broader. By the time you reach the middle of the page, the tines will have splayed out and you will be making blobs. Time to cut a new nib. If you temper the shaft, using a Dutching tool or hot sand, the nib will last three or four times as long.

 

I am using Canada goose feathers that were molted and floating on a lake. Their quality varies. Some are thin-walled. Some are thick and flattened.

 

Depending on your handedness, you want feathers from the proper side of the bird. (I don't know which is which, as I am picking up molted feathers and don't know which way they curve when in place on the bird.) If you get them from the wrong side, they will be difficult to hold. When you hold one, you want the shaft to curve away from your hand. If they curve the other way, they will try to twist in your hand as you write. Further aggravation! :bonk:

 

Paddler

 

[Sailor Kenshin]

My father told me stories, that when his father began to write, it was forced upon them to write with the right hand. For those so inclined to be left handed, they were beaten into writing with the right hand.

 

They tried that on me, too. Geez, I must be old.

 

[zquilts]

Odd you should post this- I wanted to find out how to carve a quill to use for writing. I tried everal large feathers - one was a vulture - but had poor results !

[Paddler]

Dear Paddler,

 

I am of the assumption, that for a right handed writer, the right side of the bird's wing feather cluster would be curved to the right.

 

I am not an expert on vintage writing, however, if there are left side quills, I am wondering if it would be an excellent choice for left handed writers. (?)

 

My father told me stories, that when his father began to write, it was forced upon them to write with the right hand. For those so inclined to be left handed, they were beaten into writing with the right hand.

 

Perhaps today, quills that bow, for left handed writers can be available now; the right or straighter quill feathers for the right handers.

 

Respectfully,

Maria

 

Maria,

 

I don't know what is available for purchase, right or left. I have seen cut quills for sale, but the sellers don't mention handedness. Perhaps they don't even know.

 

I do some archery from time to time (just plinking in the back yard). I make my own arrows. Suppliers of fletching (feathers on the back of the arrow) specify right or left feathers. It makes no difference which you use for an arrow, as long as you don't mix the two. This is where I became aware of the difference between the feathers from different sides of the bird.

 

When I went to school, the teachers tried to make everybody write right-handed. When they ended up with a few real left handers, they let them be lefties.

 

Paddler

 

 

[RevAaron]

Just to be a nerd, I kept an owl down feather we found in the woods hiking on my son's first camping trip. He's a few days short of 10 weeks now, and was 7 weeks for his first (short) camping trip. I keep meaning to write a haiku, his name on some birch bark with Noodler's (thank gawd for cellulosic inks!) in my excuse for calligraphy script, etc. Something nerdy like that.

 

I was reading one of those presidential pens threads recently, and the site usually linked to in those threads. Eagle quills were mentioned as a favorite of Abe Lincoln. I was curious- can you buy those? It'd be fun to try it out to see what the qualitative differences are. More/less flex, thicker walls, more/less ink retained, etc?

 

Does anyone know those differences are, or where one might be able to buy raw eagle, swan, etc feather/quills

 

Aaron

[Shangas]

My father told me stories, that when his father began to write, it was forced upon them to write with the right hand. For those so inclined to be left handed, they were beaten into writing with the right hand.

 

There are all kinds of stupid, crazy reasons why this is so, I've heard everything from "conformity" to "The left hand is the tool of Satan" (I kid you not).

 

The real reason why kids were made to write with their right hands is because if you wrote with your left, your hand would smudge the ink as it wrote across the page.