Making Handmade Calligraphy Pens

I recently found myself with the opportunity to make a couple of dip pens as gifts, so I thought I'd make a quick tutorial on how to make a dip pen for anyone else that might try this fun exercise. I'd made one before, but it had been a while and I had scavenged a few pieces from an old pen to make that one, so I decided to have another go, this time from scratch.

I had mostly in mind what I was looking for, but it took me a little to find all the components.

The Handle- Easy, I knew I wanted to carve it out of some sort of hardwood

The Nib- Gave me a little trouble, but I eventually found a pack of two at Hobby Lobby for a pretty reasonable price.

The Nib-holder- This gave me the most trouble. I knew it had to be a thin metal tube just big enough to accept the nib and hold it tightly, but it also needed to look nice and be something I could work with. I finally found a stainless steel ferrule off of an old fishing pole that was the perfect diameter and was long enough to yield two one-inch long nib-holders. A hacksaw and some sanding later and I had myself a couple of very serviceable nib-holders. Almost any 1/4" thin-walled pipe should work, but just make sure it fits your nibs well.

---

From here the first step was to pick the wood for the handles. I chose seasoned Osage Orange because of its durability and bright color when finished.

I split this  blank out of a fairly straight-grained ten-inch section of firewood. A few quirks in the grain do add character to the pen later, but make it a little harder to shape, so pick a piece with the proper balance.

Next up was rough-shaping the handle with a hatchet, knife, and then belt sander. I unfortunately broke the first blank at this point, but was able to salvage a long enough piece to continue. I thinned it down to near final proportions, making sure to leave a stub on the business end to receive the nib-holder.

After I had the general shape I wanted, I started doing the fine shaping with a sharp, fine knife and rough grit sandpaper.

This is the fun part of the build, as the final shape of the pen comes into view. It's also the most time-consuming part of the project—expect to spend up to half-an-hour smoothing out nicks and knots in the wood and getting a smooth, graceful profile.

Now for the other time-consuming part; forming the shape of the handle tip to accept the nib-holder. This is where it's pretty easy to mess up; remove too much wood and the holder will be too loose, remove too little and you won't be able to get it off again. I've found a fine file works the best for small adjustments between test fitting the tube. It's also a good idea to figure out which way the pen fits most comfortably in your hand before getting too far here. Some blanks will have a definite right or wrong way, but others might be fine just about any way you hold it. Remember that the top of the "stub" will need to be flatter to allow room for the nib to fit in. Always err on the side of removing too little, as there isn't much recourse if it gets too loose.

Keep filing and test-fitting until the holder and nib slide on very snugly, but loose enough that it's just possible to pull them off again. You could use super-glue to permanently fasten them on at this point, but I prefer to leave it dry so the artist has the option of changing the nib.

Now, the final step is to go over the handle with fine-grit sandpaper, finish it with mineral oil and to make sure the nib and holder are aligned correctly with the best writing grip.

I was quite happy with the result, an elegant, comfortable handle with a professional looking nib and holder. I could have tapered the handle a bit more where it meets the ferrule (and I did do a bit more work on it after this photo), but overall I really like the result and the people I gave it to were quite happy as well.