I've recently started trying to carve quills from goose or turkey feathers, and have had varying degrees of luck. Lately I've been having trouble with the quills dumping huge gobs of ink after I dip. I use scrap paper, but then after it stops making blobs I can only draw a few letters before I have to dip again. I know something's wrong, but I'm not sure what. I use a slanted tabletop, so that's not the issue. Can anyone make any suggestions? Also, for curing, what temperature seems to work best for heating the sand, and how long do you leave the shaft in? I recently tried 300º F. for 5 minutes, but am wondering if that's too high or too long, or both.

Thanks.