Jeannette:

I have never seen any quill pens which have a ballpoint  inserted into the
tip, so
>that one can write with them without using liquid ink > available
commercially.  However, as a child I made them all the time.  It is simple.

Get any large nice looking feather, cut off the quill bulb end, ream out the
shaft of the feather with a stick, a dab of glue on the ballpoint ink tube
and assemble.

Find a group of 8 year olds, provide the materials, and you'll have as many
as you want.

Do wash the feathers to remove any salmonella or other nasties.  Feathers
could be available from farms or abatoirs.

**************************
Barbara J. Winter                               [log in to unmask]
Curator, Department of Archaeology
Simon Fraser University
Burnaby, BC, Canada

"that kind of sex, with all that blowing and snorting, is like singing a
madrigal, more fun to do than to watch."  Robertson Davies, CBC National
re-broadcast, Dec 4, 1995.