Editing Quill (section)

==Description==
[[File:Pen and nibs, quill (AM 1965.105-7).jpg|alt=Picture of a quill nib.|thumb|218x218px|A nib cut from a bird's quill]]
[[File:3quills.jpg|thumb|Feathers in stages of being made into quills|218x218px]]
The shaft of a flight feather is long and hollow, making it an obvious candidate for being crafted into a pen. The process of making a quill from a feather involves [[Curing (chemistry)|curing]] the shaft to harden it, then fashioning its tip into a [[Nib (pen)|nib]] using a [[Penknife|pen knife]] or other small cutting tool.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Douglass|first=Paul|date=1950-10-01|title=How to Make your Own Goose Quill Pen|url=https://doi.org/10.1080/00119253.1950.10743022|journal=Design|volume=52|issue=1|pages=21|doi=10.1080/00119253.1950.10743022|issn=0011-9253}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Making a Feather Quill Pen|url=https://medievaljourney.com/2014/12/27/making-a-feather-quill-step-by-step-tutorial/|access-date=2021-08-03|language=en-US}}</ref>

A quill pen is in effect a hollow tube which has one closed end, and has one open end at which part of the tube wall extends into a sharp point and has in it a thin slit leading to this point.

The hollow shaft of the feather (the ''calamus'') acts as an ink reservoir and ink flows to the tip through the slit by [[capillary action]].

In a carefully prepared quill, the slit does not widen through wetting with ink and drying. It will retain its shape adequately, requiring only infrequent sharpening; it can be used repeatedly until little of it remains.