Plastic Dip Pens

I have several of these They are very cheap and OK for use but they don’t sit in the hand as comfortably as home made wooden ones.

Wooden Dip Pens

I make these wooden dip pens on my lathe. I make some to fit my own hand, but I make others thicker, thinner, longer and shorter for sale. I have sold lots of these through Frome Country Market on a Thursday morning. Customers choose a pen that fits them.

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Glass Dip Pens

These can either be one piece or a separate nib and barrel joined by a metal tube. I have one of each kind. The barrrels have a beautiful coloured spiral. The nibs are entirely glass! They are lovely to write with.

Goose Quills

We have some geese on our smallholding, so I collect quills when they moult. I cut the ends with a penknife (origin of the term). Actually, I often use a razor blade or scalpel.

These dip pens produce lovely scratchy writing. The nib can be cut to a thick end if you want to do some calligraphy.

Nibs

Mapping nibs

These are very fine nibs that can be used to draw fine details on maps and other drawings.

Drawing and writing nibs

General purpose nibs can be used for drawing or writing. I generally use them to produce line and wash watercolours. The drawing is usally done with waterproof indian ink and then watercolours can be added on top once the ink has dried. It is also quite fun to do coloured ink drawings which will then smear as water or watercolour is applied on top of the drawing.

Calligraphy nibs

These nibs come in a variety of widths. The line varies from thick to thin according the the way the pen is moved over the paper. They can be used for pen and wash as well as calligraphy.

Glass nibs

The first glass pen I bought has a fixed nib, but the other two have a metal sleeve for the glass nib so that it can be replaced. The tip of the nib can be ground with very fine emery paper to thicken the nib if needed.

Goose Quills

Cut these with a very sharp penknife. They cost nothing, so experiment with the shape of the nib to see what suits you.