making nibs?

[calamus]

Here is a cool link with all the information as to how it was done on the subject.

https://archive.org/details/historyofinventi00fole

What a mind-numbing job it must have been to slit 100 nibs an hour by hand, one at a time. There was probably a less-skilled worker inserting the unslit nibs into holders at least as quickly. Tough way to make a living, but better than going underground to mine coal. (Coal mining is my go-to "there are worse jobs" comparison. I was born in coal mining country near the Pennsylvania/West Virginia Mason-Dixon line.)