Calligraphy: Miscellaneous

Rulers

You need two rulers: one at least 20 inches long for cutting up large sheets and for drawing guiding lines on the documents, and one shorter which is less clumsy to handle, for details. I prefer a transparent plastic ruler which has measurements not just on the drawing edge, but also at right angles to the edge on several places. Those extra scales at right angles makes it much easier to draw writing lines.

Writing table

You can write at your desk without any special arrangements. But a writing surface that leans toward you may be an advantage. This is also what the medieval scribes used. Some art suppliers sell "screw-on" telescopic legs which you can mount on any board and which allow you to adjust the angle to your taste. Good lighting is essential. I use a desk light of 100 Watts, mounted on the left side (because I'm right handed).

Miscellaneous

You also need a pencil and a soft white plastic eraser. Pencils come in several degrees of hardness, usually termed H for hard and B for soft. H5 is super-hard, HB is medium, and B5 is very soft. You want a soft type (B2 is about right) so that it makes a visible line without denting the paper. Medieval scribes intentionally dented their parchment, because they didn't have our types of pencils. But I prefer not to, in case I change my mind. Soft pencils are also easier to erase.

Soft white plastic erasers are good for most purposes, but some scribes find even these to be too abrasive. If you are erasing over a surface painted with a matt paint, the plastic erasers tend to burnish the surface and make glossy spots. There is something called a "kneaded" eraser, a sort of soft grey rubbery mass that you can buy at art supply shops. If you are really keen on preserving the surface of your paper, you might try this. The kneaded type of eraser is slightly sticky, so you can just apply it to the pencil marks a few times, instead of rubbing back and forth.

A sharp, thin knife for cutting large sheets of paper can be handy. Don't use scissors, it's almost impossible to cut straight with them.

Tissue for wiping the pen.

A whetstone or a piece of emery or sandpaper #000 to sharpen the nibs.

One very useful item is the "Ames Lettering Guide". It greatly facilitates drawing guiding and writing lines. This is a transparent piece of plastic with a small disc which can be rotated inside a frame. The frame and the disc have several little holes where you can put a pencil tip. By turning the disc you can set the height of the small letters in relation to the size of the capitals. You then place the guide along the edge of a ruler, put a pencil through one of the holes, and slide the guide along the ruler. Since there are many holes, you can draw several lines by sliding the guide back and forth, without moving the ruler. The guide comes with complete instructions and costs only around $2.00.