II. The soft inside part is shaved away by means of a knife laid flat against it, leaving the hard outer shell (fig. [18]).
III. The nib is laid, back up, on the slab (p. [61]), and—the knife-blade being vertical—the tip is cut off at right angles to the shaft (fig. [19]).
IV. A short longitudinal slit (a–b) is made by [p053] inserting the knife-blade in the middle of the tip (fig. [20]).
V. A pencil or brush-handle is held under the nib, and is gently twitched upwards to lengthen the slit (fig. [21]). An ordinary reed should have a slit about 34 inch long. A very stiff pen may have in addition a slit on either side of the centre.
The left thumb nail is pressed against the back of the pen—about 1 inch from the tip—to prevent it splitting too far up (see also fig. [27]).
