The term "quill" is used to describe two components on bicycles, stems and pedals.
I had come to believe that a quill stem was the traditional type where the vertical part was tubular with a couple of slots and the expander bolt was tightened to draw a conical wedge up inside it, expanding it to secure it in the steerer tube. This vertical part had a couple of slots cut in from the bottom to allow it to expand. I just assumed this was a quill stem because the slotted tube resembled a pen nib. (Younger members, who don't know what a pen nib is, please use Google.) Then again, the tailstock quill of a lathe also has a tapered bore, but no slots. The newer, cheaper stems had the vertical tube cut at an angle and the expander bolt pulled up on a wedge with a matching angle to jam it in the steerer tube. However, I was just reading a piece on stems on the Rivendell site and the writer refers to the vertical part of both these stems as the "quill" and the horizontal part as the horizontal extension. Have I been wrong all this time, or has the definition been changed to distinguish all traditional stems from the new, off-topic, type for threadless forks? (Actually, "back in the day", we called stems "extensions". "Stems" had virtualy no extension and were found on common roadsters.)
The outer part of the quill pedal extends out and up and comes to a point. This also looks like a pen nib, which is probably the reason for the name. This would support my interpretation of the definition of a quill stem.
John Betmanis
Woodstock, ON
Canada