I have been learning Copperplate over the last couple of months. I have a collection of nibs that I have been playing with – my favorite thus far is the Gillot 303. I have read good things about the Brause 66EF and wanted to try it. The 66 EF is a small nib and does not fit the _standard_ holders I have. So I decided to make one. I have some walnut wood salvaged from an old shelf and decided to make one out of it. Here’s the result. The idea was to have the thumb, forefinger and the part that rests on the first knuckle in approximately the same relation to each other as on regular shaped holders. It turns out that attention needs to be paid to the middle finger under the holder too – I had originally left that part almost flat but had to shape it so the angle of the nib to paper could be adjusted with the grip. The flat underside limited the angle to a very steep slope that wasn’t very comfortable for me. The good news is that the holder works fine i.e. holds the nib properly and does not feel awkward to use. In fact I hardly notice any difference in the feel of it compared to my other oblique holders. I’ve been asked if this is a _custom_ holder only suited to my hand. I didn’t design it to fit only my hand but I suspect the curve might not suit people with hands that are much larger or smaller than mine. Since I have an average sized hand I think it’ll fit most people. The first part of the curving handle was dictated by where I wanted the flat part to rest against the first knuckle. I tightened the curve slightly past this point. I had initially thought about tapering the top part but liked the way it ended up. Here’s another view. I like the shape that came out. And I like the nib too – its my new favorite.