Feather quill

[matt76]

what sort of feather is the best feather to use to make a quill pen

[andy hughes]

Historically, quill pens were made from goose feathers.

[Bonzo 2000]

I think swan quills also feature, but I wouldnt like to try extracting one from a live beast

[Ewood27]

Feathers from the right wing were more favoured than from the left, because the natural curve of the feather is better for a right-handed writer. Some calligraphers still use quill pens at times, because nothing else quite produces the same quality of lettering.

[Ray the DJ]

In medieval days scribes would take a flight feather from any large bird they could lay their hands on. No particular bird was favoured.

[New Forester]

Goose works well, but as Ray says any bird large enough will do, such as swan and turkey, and presumably buzzard, raven, eagle, heron etc. My mum's a calligrapher, and I give her goose or turkey feathers when I get the chance. In fact she did wonder whether left or right feathers were supposed to be better -- I'll pass on what you say, Ewood27.

[neilnewsh]

i think u should try dodo feathers, but apparently there kinda rare nowadays. try ebay you can find loads of stuff on there!!!