Feather Quill Pen and Ink Set
Feather quill pens are an invaluable tool for calligraphy, though they should be handled carefully as they can be pressure sensitive.
Prior to the nineteenth century, most writing was done with quill pens by hand. This set contains a feather pen, bottle of ink and six nibs – an ideal way to start using quills!
Quills
Quill pens are beautiful writing instruments, as well as being invaluable tools for anyone interested in handwriting or calligraphy. While it takes practice to master them, once you do you’ll find yourself creating stunning texts in ways you never thought possible!
Scribes employed large feathers from geese, swans, or turkeys – such as goose, swan, or turkey – to fashion their pens. Once removed from their source feathers they would remove their barbs before hardening the shafts with heat – traditionally this was accomplished by pouring hot sand down its hollow shaft to harden it further.
Once the feather’s calamus has hardened, it can be cut into a pen nib by cutting. A scribe then carefully shapes its tip in an time-consuming process that results in smooth and pointy nibs that effortlessly glide across paper to produce fine lines of text. He or she must take care not to overwork its tip as this could wear down quickly and become uneven over time.
Nibs
The nib is the end of a quill pen or dip pen which contacts paper to deposit ink, and its size and shape will determine what style of writing results from using it.
Before quill pens were developed, reed or bamboo pens were the primary writing instruments used for papyrus and other delicate surfaces. Unfortunately, their points did not last very long and required frequent sharpening to remain effective.
Quill pens could write 50 to 150 words before needing re-dipping; this ranged depending on nib size, viscosity and writing style.
Metal pens were introduced around 1800 as an easier, more stable solution than fragile quills for writing large amounts of text with rapid speed; they became particularly popular among legal or administrative professionals as well as Congressional personnel who required large volumes of written work without needing fine writing skills. Metal pens also tend to be easier than using reed or bamboo dip pens.
Ink
Ink is a fluid that imparts color and other characteristics onto paper, often used for writing or painting. Modern inks may be pigment or dye based, water-soluble or waterproof and vary greatly in terms of transparency and lightfastness.
Pigments and dyes are dispersed into solvents to be combined with vehicles/varnishes/resins/binders to form ink with specific properties, like flow and lubricity; waxes may offer toughness/durability/toughness while driers provide rapid drying mechanisms while stabilisers prevent any potential clumping or fading issues.
Inks for pens can be created with various natural ingredients, including lampblack ground with glues or gums, extracts of various plants or animals, cephalopod juices such as the cuttlefish to produce sepia effects and more recently synthetic materials such as acrylic emulsions; these more reliable inks do not provide as much flexibility or permanence than their animal product counterparts.
Tips
Quill pens may initially seem difficult to use, but with practice they become highly rewarding. They work well with all kinds of bottled ink and especially excel at creating calligraphy. When using one make sure to monitor any build-up of ink on its nib – any excess could quickly clog and alter your writing! For best results use water after every use to rinse out its nib.
Be sure to purchase a pen with an easy writing point so it will be straightforward and effortless. Be mindful when pressing down on the quill as these are pressure sensitive structures which could result in messy writing if too much pressure is applied to them.
Start out testing your pen with thicker paper before progressing to conventional paper, gradually. When switching over, be sure to dry off the nib after every use as metal can quickly rust if left wet for too long.
