Turned Wooden Inkhorn

IMG_0898Some years back I made my wife a vague approximation of a boiled leather penner. Penners are traditionally paired with inkhorns, but I didn’t have a way to make one at the time. I assumed that they were ceramic (which may be the case, at least in some cases), but the more I looked at images of inkhorns, the more I thought they might be turned wood. I was able to get access to a lathe two days before Christmas, so I thought I’d take a stab at one to give her as a gift.

I made the inkhorn from a scrap of hickory, squared up to about 2.5″ x 2.5″ x 7″. The images show some variety of shape, so I just sort of made it up as I went along. Rather than trying to hollow out the entire interior of the inkhorn, I drilled a 7/8″ hole on the drill press before I started turning. I made a second one where I drilled the hole on the lathe after turning the profile of the inkhorn, but that method, while eventually successful, was not an improvement.

Turning the stopper was a little tricky, as the difference between “not fitting” and “too loose” is extremely narrow. I had to flip the stopper over and start again before I got it right. The paint I used is thoroughly modern, but I wasn’t able to come up with anything else with available materials to get that solid black finish.

Overall, I think this is a viable option, and I expect to make more attempts at this style in the future. The stopper fits tightly enough that I think it should prevent leakage even when hung from the belt. Below you can see pictures of the entire process.