Calligraphy Pen Set: Cut Reed and Quill Pens with Ink Springs (Johnston, 1906)

Take a reed or fine hollow cane about 8 inches long. Cut one end off obliquely and shave away the soft inside with the knife laid flat, leaving the hard shell. Lay the nib back up on the slab and, knife vertical, cut the tip off square. Slit the middle of the tip with the knife point, then lengthen the slit to about 3/4 inch by twitching a pencil upward under the nib, pressing the left thumbnail on the back about 1 inch from the tip so it does not split too far. A very stiff pen may get an extra slit each side. Finally cut the tip off at about 70° to the shaft, removing the first rough slit. Ours: reed straws.

Cut a turkey wing quill down to 7 or 8 inches and strip the barbs off the shaft. The nib usually has a slit about 1/4 inch long; lengthen it to 3/8 inch in a very stiff pen. Pare the sides until the tip is a little narrower than the width wanted. Lay it back up on the glass slab and cut the extreme tip off with the knife slightly sloped, its edge at about 70° to the shaft. Cut very little at a time. Check under a magnifying glass that both half-nibs end on one straight line, with a sharp, oblique chisel edge.

Cut a strip of very thin tin (or clock spring softened by heating and slow cooling) as wide as the nib and about 2 inches long, and fold it into a spring. Spring its short loop into the pen so it holds itself in place. The long loop, kept rather flat, holds the ink under the nib, with its point about 1/8 inch from the end of the nib. Too curved and it holds only a drop; quite flat and it draws the ink away from the nib.