The use of raven feathers for quills
The first stage in the voicing of the quill once the outer end of the feather is cut away and the sides of the feather are tapered is the sharpening and squaring off of the end of the quill. This can be seen in this photograph, and is perhaps the operation in which an extremely sharp knife is required. The voicing block being used needs to be made of an extremely hard, even textured wood such as service, pear, laburnum or ebony. In this particular case it is made of almond wood, one of the hardest and most even-textured woods available.
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