If you smell burning feathers, it is too hot. (Sounds like a Breugel painting) You can put a little hot glue inside as well to make kind of a turkey melt.
Since there are so many harpsichords in the house, I avail myself of the different materials from time to time. The Delrin and Celcon come in different thicknesses and colors. Delrin really does not sound the same as quill, but it has obvious advantages. Like you don't need to iron it. You can also buy a delrin pick and just cut it with a sharp knife. Other things you can do: a two sided plectrum with leather on one side. There are a few other materials that are interesting as well. I bought an iron at the goodwill for a dollar, it has teflon (ick!!) Don't use your good iron if you have a significant other. dt At 11:07 PM 6/5/2008, you wrote: >Do you put anything between the quill and the iron? What temperature >do you use> > >On Jun 6, 2008, at 7:45 AM, David Tayler wrote: > >>I take the quill and iron it with a heavy iron, then shape it. >>I prefer a slightly rounded tip. >> >>It's the only thing I iron, really. >> >>You can also cut a piece of delrin and glue it to the feather, in >>that case, you need not iron it. >>It is sort of permanent press. >> >>There are a number of other materials you can use, including thin >>strips of polished wood. >>A matchbook cover sounds terrible. >>dt >> >>At 01:13 PM 6/5/2008, you wrote: >>>At 02:57 PM 6/5/2008, LGS-Europe wrote: >>>>How do people make their (medieval) plectra? I have chopped up and >>>>sanded >>>>down some turkey feathers, different techniques, different >>>>thickness/stiffnes, but I'm only half convinced of the sound. >>>> >>>>Advice much appreciated. >>>> >>>>David - To be honest, I still like my Fender heavy best, but it >>>>looks soo >>>>un-cool on stage. ;-) >>> >>>I don't use quill on medieval lutes, but I do on early Neapolitan >>>mandolins >>>(which use strings of silver-wound silk on g, twisted brass >>>harpsichord >>>wire on d', plain brass wire on a' and octave g', and gut on e''). >>>I have >>>used goose quill prepared following this procedure: >>><http://www.mandolincafe.net/cgi-bin/ikonboard.cgi?s=263874652887a855b1a3a0ff8f6a6f14;act=ST;f=6;t=15088 >>> >>> > >>> >>>Personally, no matter how much I practice the fabrication of such >>>things, >>>natural quill simply is terribly variable. Some will make exquisite >>>sounding and playing plectra and some will sound thin and tinny; >>>some will >>>be long-lived and some will split along their length almost >>>immediately; >>>etc. I have found excellent and consistent results using a >>>particular >>>model of Bic pen: >>><https://www.bicpens.com/2007/BRSG.cfm> >>> >>>Best, >>>Eugene >>> >>> >>> >>>To get on or off this list see list information at >>>http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html >> >
