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Leftys And Fountain Pens


PenJockey

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I read somewhere that forcing a child to switch hands causes actual brain damage. Nobody ever tried to switch me over, luckily, because I'm already too eccentric for general use. My dad was ambidextrous: he could write and draw with either hand, which was very cool.

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Lefty over writer here but is trained to be as close to a righty as much as possible... Some pens will be quite sensitive about the direction of the push so I wont recommend twsbi pens or twsbi nibs out of their factory unadjusted for this matter, however Lamy nibs tend to be more forgiving so thats a start Platinum preppy can be good but it also depends on the ink faber castell nibs are also good I got me a medium nib but word of caution this is a very wet nib so ink has to be taken into consideration, pilot the 78G/S (trims only differ) tend to be dry but the Prera isnt so I would suggest a prera, metropolitan can also work but I havent written with one yet, I dont like Sailor's lower price offerings due to being a hit or miss wish your kid good luck

Edited by Algester
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Hello everybody,

 

I am right handed and have recently started getting into fountain pens. As with all things, my 7 year old son wants to participate. Unfortunately he is a lefty and it has been difficult to teach him how to print let alone cursive and fountain pens.

 

Any advice you could lend to help me teach him as a lefty and any suggestions for a cheap starter fountain pen for a lefty would be greatly appreciated.

 

 

Have you considered teaching him to write with his right hand?

 

 

(just kidding-hey my sister said she knows you!!)

Edited by fireant
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Have you considered teaching him to write with his right hand?

 

 

 

 

 

And you wonder why I call myself the good twin :D

Edited by webgeckos
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I read somewhere that forcing a child to switch hands causes actual brain damage. Nobody ever tried to switch me over, luckily, because I'm already too eccentric for general use. My dad was ambidextrous: he could write and draw with either hand, which was very cool.

I have never heard about that but his mother was born left handed and was forced to become right handed. The stories she would tell were really bad. I never would have thought to force him to write right handed but that really drove it home.

 

So many pen suggestions. Thank you all. He is going to end up with as many pens as I have as long as he wants to keep putting in the work. LOL. All of these resources have already helped a lot and I can't thank every one of you enough. I think this might be the start of a love affair of literature, both read and written in my son and that is a great thing.

Jesse http://img525.imageshack.us/img525/606/letterji9.png

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I read somewhere that forcing a child to switch hands causes actual brain damage. Nobody ever tried to switch me over, luckily, because I'm already too eccentric for general use. My dad was ambidextrous: he could write and draw with either hand, which was very cool.

I'm not ambidextrous, certainly cannot write legibly with my right hand, but ...

 

I found out in high school that I could write with either hand on a blackboard. Start a sentence with the left hand, switch to the right halfway across and continue on to the end. For some reason it completely freaked out my Spanish teacher (a native Madrileña), and she never called me up front to write anything again. Who knew it could be so useful?

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Lefty over writer here but is trained to be as close to a righty as much as possible... Some pens will be quite sensitive about the direction of the push so I wont recommend twsbi pens or twsbi nibs out of their factory unadjusted for this matter, however Lamy nibs tend to be more forgiving so thats a start Platinum preppy can be good but it also depends on the ink faber castell nibs are also good I got me a medium nib but word of caution this is a very wet nib so ink has to be taken into consideration, pilot the 78G/S (trims only differ) tend to be dry but the Prera isnt so I would suggest a prera, metropolitan can also work but I havent written with one yet, I dont like Sailor's lower price offerings due to being a hit or miss wish your kid good luck

Lefty underwriter here, and, with the exception of Faber Castell, I have or have used examples of each of the pens mentioned, and have had exactly zero issues with any of them. Well, except for a Sailor Neo Ace with an F nib that refused to be anything but scratchy, ink or paper notwithstanding.

 

Which seems a little odd to me, I'd think that a lefty overwriter would be pulling the nib pretty much the same as a typical righty; more pull than push most of the time. My analysis may well be flawed; wouldn't be the first time.

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Start on the right hand side of the page and write back towards the left :rolleyes:

 

Most 'lefties' can do this quite easily after little practice (it fascinated my grandson, who quickly learned to read what I had written through the page or with a mirror).

 

But seriously, sit the paper in front of you, rotate it clockwise anything from 30 to 60 degrees and write downhill. Easy-peasy and effective. Unless the pen has issues with the nib, it works with (almost) any pen. Been doing it that way for half a century now!

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Not sure if my sister told you about the weird way I write (as a fellow leftie).

 

Basically I turn the paper sideways so that the long side of the paper is on its side parallel to the edge of the desk. This allows me to write underhand and also get a nice angle to my writing.

 

Happy to show your son when I visit in May.

 

 

 

post-120582-0-33057200-1428588252_thumb.jpg

 

 

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That's a cool idea. Going to try that next time I attempt leftie.

Noodler's Konrad Acrylics (normal+Da Luz custom flex) ~ Lamy AL-Stars/Vista F/M/1.1 ~ Handmade Barry Roberts Dayacom M ~ Waterman 32 1/2, F semi-flex nib ~ Conklin crescent, EF super-flex ~ Aikin Lambert dip pen EEF super-flex ~ Aikin Lambert dip pen semi-flex M ~ Jinhao X450s ~ Pilot Custom Heritage 912 Posting Nib ~ Sailor 1911 Profit 21k Rhodium F. Favourite inks: Iroshizuku blends, Noodler's CMYK blends.

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Start on the right hand side of the page and write back towards the left :rolleyes:

There was a similar discussion involving left-handedness and writing on a site devoted to Biblical study, and the solution to one person's problem was to prescribe that he write his notes in Hebrew.

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His Kindergarten teacher told us to turn the paper and that works quite well for him, when he remembers to do it. Completely turning the page sideways is new, never seen that. May need to try that when you come to visit your sister. I was hoping to meet the twin I hear so much about.

Jesse http://img525.imageshack.us/img525/606/letterji9.png

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Not sure if my sister told you about the weird way I write (as a fellow leftie).

 

Basically I turn the paper sideways so that the long side of the paper is on its side parallel to the edge of the desk. This allows me to write underhand and also get a nice angle to my writing.

I thought this was the way most lefty underwriters worked, although not necessarily rotating the paper a full 90º clockwise on the desk. I usually rotate it 45-60º; certainly makes things easier for me.

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I read somewhere that forcing a child to switch hands causes actual brain damage. Nobody ever tried to switch me over, luckily, because I'm already too eccentric for general use. My dad was ambidextrous: he could write and draw with either hand, which was very cool.

I take issue with the above, simply because I was taught to use my left hand though I'm naturally right handed. I just adapted so as to be able to write with both hands instead of just one. My left is my neater hand (although going slow my right is passable).

 

Like most others have said I rotate my page while I write. Also I've never noticed much difference between special left handed nibs and normal nibs, consequently i just buy whatever takes my fancy.

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There was a similar discussion involving left-handedness and writing on a site devoted to Biblical study, and the solution to one person's problem was to prescribe that he write his notes in Hebrew.

Being left handed comes in quite useful I found when I stated learning Hebrew :-)

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His Kindergarten teacher told us to turn the paper and that works quite well for him, when he remembers to do it. Completely turning the page sideways is new, never seen that. May need to try that when you come to visit your sister. I was hoping to meet the twin I hear so much about.

 

lol

Well don't make him switch hands..I posted that to make the evil twin snort coffee out of her nose ;)

 

ETA I shall show him what I know even if he made me weep with his field note desecration ;)

Edited by fireant
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I'm not ambidextrous, certainly cannot write legibly with my right hand, but ...

 

I found out in high school that I could write with either hand on a blackboard. Start a sentence with the left hand, switch to the right halfway across and continue on to the end. For some reason it completely freaked out my Spanish teacher (a native Madrileña), and she never called me up front to write anything again. Who knew it could be so useful?

How funny. I do the exact same thing. I was writing at the blackboard and just switched the chalk from left to right and kept going until I heard a bunch of noise from behind. It was my classmates sort of wigging out. I didn't know left from right when I was young, and was pretty ambidextrous. AS I got older, I would get taught things by different people and that would be the hand I would always use. Lots of sports I learned from an older neighbor kid, so I do those right handed. Arts and letters were from my folks, so left-handed. I can catch a ball and swing a bat with either hand, but throwing lefty I put the ball into the back of my ear.

Some people say they march to a different drummer. Me? I hear bagpipes.

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AS I got older, I would get taught things by different people and that would be the hand I would always use. Lots of sports I learned from an older neighbor kid, so I do those right handed. Arts and letters were from my folks, so left-handed. I can catch a ball and swing a bat with either hand, but throwing lefty I put the ball into the back of my ear.

 

 

I am left handed but my dominant eye is my right eye. I shoot, fly fish, pitch/throw a ball, shoot pool, and use a mouse like a right hander. I even crochet right handed (although I knit continental aka left handed).

Edited by fireant
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I shoot right handed, which irks a rangemaster I know as he determined my dominant eye is the left. Ambidextrous with a mouse, hammer, saw, or screwdriver. Tried bowling left handed once and almost broke my knee. Trying to train myself to write with the right hand for FPs.

Some people say they march to a different drummer. Me? I hear bagpipes.

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Another leftie underwriter here......

 

Paper placed straight in front of me.....no need to turn paper.....

 

Think this works well for writing, no smearing as I write a line of text.....

 

Can see clearly what I'm writing.....

 

Why would you want your paper turned at funny angle and have to look at your writing sideways?

 

This approach avoids 'hooking' your hand in a funny position as I see overwriters do.....can't be good for your hand/wrist muscles and nerves.......

 

Have found the underwriting approach to be the most relaxing for my hand/wrist....

 

Just my 2¢........

 

Mark

FP Addict & Pretty Nice Guy

 

 

 

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