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{Hoping this is an acceptable area to post this} For those in range of a PBS station, I hope you caught the second part of Nova's "A to Z" two part series yesterday. https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/series/a-to-z/ (If you missed it -- it might stream from that link). There were some interesting points... Like papyrus/reed-pen combination allowed for fairly rapid writing, so Rome had a high degree of scrolls available via libraries. But after the empire fell apart, lost ready access to papyrus. Parchment making was slow and costly (equivalent of four large pages per hide), AND required such a slow hand to write that scribes would be lucky to get two pages copied out per day! And the cost of having a scribe spend a year on a book was equivalent to buying a small home.

Ignore the pen at the top of the picture, it was an easy one to figure out. The quill at the bottom has a number 2 nib, double bands top and bottom, and the extension at the opposite end as the nib screws in and out. For a basic test, I dipped it, but did not flex too hard because the nib is untuned and is a bit toothy yet. Unsurprisingly, the sac is toast, it is very hard. The body (the length between the section and the screw in extension) is 3 and 5/16th long. The length from nib tip to tapered end is 8 inches long. The base is gold veined black marble with green felt underneath with the Waterman label.

Hi folks, I made a pen by trimming a turkey feather that a bird recently deposited in my yard. What kind of ink is best for this kind of writing? My fp inks tend to pour off the nib onto the paper and run out quickly. Is there something better? Thanks.

So apparently there's an up side to moving: not only did I find a long-missing Esterbrook, but three more pens surfaced: a Berol Fontaine, a transparent green Sheaffer Student, and a crow quill with a brass ferrule and nib mounted thereon. Anyone know if someone's sorted out a way to refill the Fontaine? It was supposed to be disposable, but I can't realistically bring myself to actually throw a fountain pen away... Anyway, I managed to prise the end cap off, and it looks like there's a cartridge of some sort in there, but I can't tell if it's affixed on the business end or not.

Around late July, I found this thread on here: https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php/topic/146143-metallic-gold-dip-pen-ink/ Being a crafty type person I had to try it, and thus started my dive into dip pens, and mixing ink for them. Specifically from the PearlEx Powdered Pigments. This is my current set of colors, along with my sample writing of them: I got so into making colors out of the powders, it was ridiculous. And then I started getting into customizing my dip pen holder, until I figured out and found the pieces to be able to make my own holder that holds feathers. So now I also own a small collection of feathers (with a plan for it to get bigger) and a wonderful dip pen holder. As well as a few extra because, what the heck I have so much fun with this, why don't I try and make some to sell on my Etsy. (Still working on that last part.) My first Feather and Holder of this kind. Got new Feathers.... And then got the new holders and started making combinations and ones to sell: And then finally today I figured out that the same trick I use to make the powdered pigment inks, I can actually use with my fountain pen inks. So now I've got a white-shimmer lavender and a gold-shimmer green: And through all of this I've been constantly referencing these boards and checking out things about dip pens, how to care for them, how to deal with them, and I just wanted to finally share all that I'd managed with them.

Greetings to all you pen pals, I hope this is an appropriate place to ask my question. For me a pen can have the magic of a wand and the power of the sword. I have designed and developed my own feather quill pens that I call LightScribes. I am very happy with the final outcome, they are gorgeous and make me very proud. I am just working on the nib attachment a little more and am considering using a magnet to make it nice and click click slick. I know that stainless steel, copper and aluminium does not stick to magnets. in your knowledge, what metals are nibs mostly made from? I would be really grateful for any guidance. Thanks Alex http://www.leviathanscribes.com

Hello I just got those quills!!! the blue quill is marked with ( BLANZY NO 1651 ) it's able to change any size of nib with it the green and off-white nib is changeable too, the nib is marked with (SP) inside a circle made in USA the brown wood is marked with gilbert & einazi ....and some more words I couldn't recognize it, changeable nib. actually I have no idea about them, hope to know more in the future.

In the late 1920s, Sheaffer produced a flat top fountain pen model with a black screw-in quill at the bottom end of the barrel and a ringtop cap. This model was a direct forerunner of the Balance model which followed shortly thereafter, as my article Origin of the Sheaffer Balance discusses. Though the flat top quilled pen is scarce, there is a truly rare model in the same family. This model, which does not appear in any known catalogs or other Sheaffer materials that have come to light to date, also represents an important piece of evidence in the early evolution of the Balance. I've recently acquired a new-old-stock example of this pen: http://home.comcast.net/~kirchh/Misc/K74TC%5BFTQ%5D_1.jpg This model likely came just after the ringtop quilled flat top model (which was only listed in Jade in its one appearance in the 1928 catalog), but prior to the addition of the symmetrically-tapered Balance items, which first were offered at the end of 1928. At the time, most Sheaffer models did not have names; this pen's model symbol was K74TC, a designation used for the true Balance of the same girth which likely followed almost immediately. --Daniel

This question concerns a feather quill, rather than a fountian pen, but I'm pretty sure the concept regarding the tines is similar enough. Sometime today it would seem that the tines on my nib have become crossed. I've never had this happen before and I'm not exactly sure how I can repair it. Simple finger pressure won't work. Any ideas? Cheers!

Perhaps some blasphemy to FPN but I was recently looking at expanding my small collection of FPs and I discovered some quills that appear to be just so intriguing. So I was just wondering if anyone has any quills or any advice on buying them.