The choice of penholder for Copperplate style of writing depends upon the nib you are using and whether you are left or right-handed.

The majority of calligraphers use a straight nib, for example the Leonardt Principal EF or a Gillott 303 nib.  If you are using a straight nib and are right-handed you want to use an Oblique Penholder. The reason for this is that an oblique penholder helps a right-handed person hold the pen at the correct angle for copperplate writing.

If you are left-handed then you want to use a straight penholder because you arm and hand are already at (or near) the correct angle.  Saying that, a minority of right-handed calligraphers prefer to use a straight penholder with a straight nib and have the paper at a steep angle to help them achieve the correct pen angle.

The Speedball Oblique penholder is suitable for most pointed nibs. Sometimes though, using a pair of pliers, it may be necessary to slightly flatten the part of the nib that fits in the penholder to get a better fit. Scribblers Penholders

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Choosing a penholder is much easier than selecting nibs or ink (there will be some blogs on choosing inks later).

Penholders can be made from a range of materials; plastic, wood and metal.  Some penholders are all plastic, for example William Mitchell School Penholder and the Speedball Penholder, others are made from just wood – Brause 1616 Penholder.   The majority of penholders though are made from plastic/wood with a metal ‘gripper’ that holds the nib.  The most popular penholders are the William Mitchell Multi-Purpose penholder and the Standard Round penholder. Both of them will hold the vast majority of nibs. Another popular choice is the School penholder.

Some nibs have a tubular shaft and therefore require specific penholders. For example, the Hunt 102 nib needs the Speedball Crow Quill penholder. On our website we have identified the nibs that require a specific penholder. Also, if a penholder is only suitable for a particular nib we have said that in the description.  Scribblers Penholders

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If you have decided to use a dip pen or nib for your calligraphy the next decision to make is which nib to use.  There are a wide range of nibs available.  They fall in to 2 categories; edged nibs and pointed nibs.  The style of lettering you want to learn will determine the type of nib to use.

Edged nibs have a straight edge. Typically, the edge varies in width from about 0.5mm wide to 5mm wide.  In general, the wider the nib the bigger the writing.  Edged nibs are used for a wide range of lettering styles including Roman Capitals, Foundational Hand, Italics, Gothic and Uncials.  Edged nibs are usually cut straight across, but many nibs are also available cut left-oblique.  Left oblique nibs are cut such that the right-hand edge is higher than the left-hand edge i.e. the edge slopes down towards the left.  They are cut this way to help left-handed people hold the nib at the correct angle. So, right-handed people want square-cut nibs and left-handed people want left-oblique nibs.  The main ranges of edged nibs are William Mitchell Round Hand Nibs, Chronicle nibs, Brause Bandzug Nibs and Speedball ‘C’ Style nibs.  Some of these are cut right-oblique!  The most popular square-cut nibs are the William Mitchell nibs and Leonardt Round Hand nibs.

Pointed nibs have a pointed tip rather than a straight edge! In calligraphy a pointed nib is used for Copperplate and Spencerian styles of writing. They are also used for Ornamental Penmanship.  A wide range of pointed nibs are available.  The choice of Pointed nib is based upon how flexible it is and how thick the point is.  The more flexible the nib is the thicker the line can be produced when pressure is applied. The thickness of the point will determine the width of the line without any pressure applied.  The most popular nib for Copperplate and Spencerian is the Leonardt Principal EF nib

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“I want to learn calligraphy, but I do not know what equipment I need “We are asked this many times.  As with any new activity at first it all seems quite bewildering, with so many choices.  “Do I need this, do I need that”.  However, the basics are straight forward.  First of all, which pen? Well, there are basically 2 choices, either a fountain pen or a dip pen. And of course there are benefits and disadvantages to both.

A Fountain Pen is the easiest to use. It either uses ink cartridges or a converter to fill the pen using a bottle of ink. They are typically used for learning the basics of calligraphy and for writing in greetings cards etc.Disadvatges of the Fountain Pens are; they are not so flexible – you can only use a limited range of coloured inks, they are harder to clean and can be expensive.

A Dip Pen or nib has many advantages; wide range of nibs to choose from, wide range of uses, much cheaper and easy to clean.  A much wider range of inks can be used with a dip pen. In fact you can use some paints as an ink with dip pens.  By mixing Gouache paint to an ink consistency you can write in any colour.  The only real disadvantage of dip pens or nibs are they are harder to use at first and sometimes it can be awkward getting the ink to flow.

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