Which pens work for left handed overwriters?

[Leftytoo]

Those of us who are "hookers" have some nib issues. We twist the pen around 180 degrees so the nib points back at us. Obama style. I have had pens that write well out of the box, some that write well after some adjustment, some that are OK, and some which are failures. Here are my experiences, I'd like to know the experiences of other lefty overwriters.

 

1) Perfect out of the box: Parker 51 fine nib; Pelikan 600 with OM (oblique medium) nib; Aurora "88" with stub nib; Eversharp Skyline EEF nib

 

2) Perfect after some adjustment: modern Parker Duofold, F nib. This nib is very easy to adjust.

 

3) OK: Sailor Sapporo EF; Caran d'Ache F steel nib; Esterbrook J with 2 nibs (9314F, 9788); 1940s Sheaffer balance

 

4) Substandard but usable: Kaweco Sport M nib (starting problems); Parker Sonnet M

 

5) Impossible: Stipula with steel M italic; Radius (gave to my right-handed wife, for her it is perfect)

 

The Stipula ink flow is erratic and you need to press down until the tines spread and crease your paper. The Radius was weird: the ink flowed out the weep hole and flowed down over the top of the nib: a novel way to get ink on paper.

 

I do want an italic nib - probably best to buy from Nibs or Binder?

 

Bob

[gmberg]

Those of us who are "hookers" have some nib issues. We twist the pen around 180 degrees so the nib points back at us. Obama style. I have had pens that write well out of the box, some that write well after some adjustment, some that are OK, and some which are failures. Here are my experiences, I'd like to know the experiences of other lefty overwriters.

 

1) Perfect out of the box: Parker 51 fine nib; Pelikan 600 with OM (oblique medium) nib; Aurora "88" with stub nib; Eversharp Skyline EEF nib

 

Bob

 

As a lefty myself, though not a radical over-hooker, may I add to your "#1 Perfect out of the box" any 1940s Sheaffer Triumph? That conical nib will lay down a line at any angel and even write on the reverse side of the point.

Gerry B

[Mrsal]

well any pen will work for anyone, they just need to find the best way to use it

[brgphilly]

well any pen will work for anyone, they just need to find the best way to use it

 

Well, for quite a few pens, the best way to use it for me is to leave it in the drawer. I am an overwriter/sidewriter and extrafine nibs typically do not work for me as I gleefully push the pen across the page - though you might try the Pelican version of this point. I have had great success with Sailor nibs, medium and broad. Also, pelikan nibs, but they typically need adjustment. Montblanc medium, oblique medium and oblique broad are terrific. Also, try Bexley nibs. I have had great success with my nib attached to my 100 year Waterman, and an Eversharp Skyline. The challenge is that while many nibs should work, they need to be adjusted perfectly for my writing to work well and need to have a good size sweet spot if I am not needed to go through contortions with my hand as I write.

 

I am hoping that switching my Lamy 2000 nib to an oblique medium will work for me - the medium nib did not, though I suspect it was really a fine - too small a sweet spot.

[brgphilly]

I should also add my voice to that of Mr. Berg. I have a conical nib on an old sheaffer and, as a lefty, it is wonderful to write with.

 

well any pen will work for anyone, they just need to find the best way to use it

 

Well, for quite a few pens, the best way to use it for me is to leave it in the drawer. I am an overwriter/sidewriter and extrafine nibs typically do not work for me as I gleefully push the pen across the page - though you might try the Pelican version of this point. I have had great success with Sailor nibs, medium and broad. Also, pelikan nibs, but they typically need adjustment. Montblanc medium, oblique medium and oblique broad are terrific. Also, try Bexley nibs. I have had great success with my nib attached to my 100 year Waterman, and an Eversharp Skyline. The challenge is that while many nibs should work, they need to be adjusted perfectly for my writing to work well and need to have a good size sweet spot if I am not needed to go through contortions with my hand as I write.

 

I am hoping that switching my Lamy 2000 nib to an oblique medium will work for me - the medium nib did not, though I suspect it was really a fine - too small a sweet spot.

[CRB]

I'm curious, have you tried left handed under-the-line writing? I'm a leftie, and my style was as yours. It allowed me to write with very good control, and make uniform text. When I switched to fountain pen use, I found that the nib didn't stay wet when I pushed it forward across the page. So I went to underwriting mode. An additional advantage for me was that my hand and wrist don't tire from the underwriting position like they used to after a few pages of overwriting.

[pmsalty]

The only nibs I have difficulty with are extra fine and highly flexible ones. No problem for drawing but snags when writing.

PMS

[amble63]

I am a hooker like Leftytoo (gosh, that sounds bad!). I find that medium to broad nibs work best for me. I have a lot of trouble with extra fine nibs. I tried underwriting and it definitely makes the nibs work better but it also makes my writing look worse. The pens that have consistently NOT worked for me are the Lamy Safari and Al-Star. I've had 2 of the former and one of the latter and all were duds.

[Kirk]

I don't know, I'm a leftie overwriter too and I'm not really convinced that when you get a bad nib that it's really a problem with the writing style and not just with the nib! I've got about 60 pens and can write with them all just fine. I mostly write with fine, extra fine, and italics. It is true that you tend to PUSH the nib more across the page since you're writing left to right. But I haven't really found this to be a problem with good nibs that are smooth. So I'm guessing that the nibs you have a problem with as a leftie may also be a problem for a rightie as they're just not good nibs! I think the one exception would be these flat metal calligraphy nibs that have no iridium at the tip. Those are pretty hard to push across the paper and take special handling when used with a left hand.

 

Personally I prefer being a leftie overwriter. I've discovered italic nibs and find that my overwriter hand position puts me in the perfect position to really use an italic with a good forward slant. I've seen many people advertise italics on here and their handwriting samples clearly show a misconception of how an italic pen should be held. They're probably those poor right handers that have to use an underwriting position to use an italic properly. Poor chaps... Just using italic nibs with a hook position has improved my handwriting greatly. Now whatever pen I get in the mail gets inked right away, tested, flow adjusted, and then ground to an italic!

 

Kirk

[Leftytoo]

I don't know, I'm a leftie overwriter too and I'm not really convinced that when you get a bad nib that it's really a problem with the writing style and not just with the nib! I've got about 60 pens and can write with them all just fine. I mostly write with fine, extra fine, and italics. It is true that you tend to PUSH the nib more across the page since you're writing left to right. But I haven't really found this to be a problem with good nibs that are smooth. So I'm guessing that the nibs you have a problem with as a leftie may also be a problem for a rightie as they're just not good nibs! I think the one exception would be these flat metal calligraphy nibs that have no iridium at the tip. Those are pretty hard to push across the paper and take special handling when used with a left hand.

 

Personally I prefer being a leftie overwriter. I've discovered italic nibs and find that my overwriter hand position puts me in the perfect position to really use an italic with a good forward slant. I've seen many people advertise italics on here and their handwriting samples clearly show a misconception of how an italic pen should be held. They're probably those poor right handers that have to use an underwriting position to use an italic properly. Poor chaps... Just using italic nibs with a hook position has improved my handwriting greatly. Now whatever pen I get in the mail gets inked right away, tested, flow adjusted, and then ground to an italic!

 

Kirk

 

So Kirk, what are some good italic pens? The Stipula was really impossible, and being very stiff steel, hard to tune. Do you recommend a left oblique, right oblique, or straight cut? My experience with the left oblique Pelikan medium nib was great.

 

Bob

[Leftytoo]

I'm curious, have you tried left handed under-the-line writing? I'm a leftie, and my style was as yours. It allowed me to write with very good control, and make uniform text. When I switched to fountain pen use, I found that the nib didn't stay wet when I pushed it forward across the page. So I went to underwriting mode. An additional advantage for me was that my hand and wrist don't tire from the underwriting position like they used to after a few pages of overwriting.

 

An interesting idea, but I have 2 problems. First, I'm 69 years old, and it is hard to change a lifetime of writing. Second, I'm an engineer and was taught to design equipment to suit the client and not vice-versa.

 

Bob

[Kirk]

So Kirk, what are some good italic pens? The Stipula was really impossible, and being very stiff steel, hard to tune. Do you recommend a left oblique, right oblique, or straight cut? My experience with the left oblique Pelikan medium nib was great.

 

Bob

 

I've got Parker Sonnets with left oblique, right oblique, and straight cut italic nibs. I find that only the straight/standard italic suits me and my writing style. But of course the obliques work fine for others. It all depends on how you hold the pen and whether or not you rotate it while you write.

 

As for "good italic pens" I'm not really sure which factory italics are good. I write pretty small, so I need a medium to fine italic. I like the factory Parker Sonnet medium italic nib okay, but I've done custom grinds that are better. The best I have is a Visconti Van Gogh Maxi medium steel nib that I ground to a medium cursive italic. Visconti makes buttery smooth nibs, which for me translated into a wonderful italic. I've got that nib in a Visconti Mazzi Blue Symphony body, which makes for an exquisite writing instrument, when I uncap it I swear I can hear angels singing...

 

Kirk

[Torrilin]

Those of us who are "hookers" have some nib issues. We twist the pen around 180 degrees so the nib points back at us

 

Wow, that's an awful intimidating list of problems... speaking as a fellow lefty over writer.

 

The only fountain pens I've used are my Lamy Safaris, Shaeffer No Nonsense, and the odd disposable FP. The Shaeffers I've only really put in time with stock italic nibs, and the F and M are usable with Skrip cartridges, aside from Skrip's terrible drying time. The B italic nib can be really hard to start. The Lamys both have medium ball nibs and write perfectly well with Lamy and Private Reserve inks. I don't yet have a stock Lamy italic nib, but I can't see why a Lamy stock italic would not work when the ball nibs do.

 

I'm pretty sure a lot of my dislike for my Shaeffer was due to how horrible Skrip is if you're a lefty. Skrip in the 1990s formulas I learned with has lovely shading, but can take minutes to dry on cheap recycled paper. No joke. It also can take 5-10 minutes for an italic nib to start. Doesn't matter what color, the Skrip I've used is just not nice at all. It might be worth considering the ink as a problem factor.

 

The only other obvious difference I can see is I tend towards a ball M or even wider, and you seem to be hunting for fairly fine nibs. The wider the nib, the more it will tend towards line variation, and the more likely it is to feel nice. Since I write in Italic hand, I like lots of line variation. (it's possible to overdo this, as my experience with the Shaeffer B italic shows)

 

The reason I went with Lamy is the local University Bookstore sells a selection of fountain pens, and the staff will let customers try 'em. Of the pens I can afford, the Pelikans all were nasty spitty things, and the Lamys were nice pens. Being able to try before I buy is well worth it.

[Torque]

You can order the Pelikan Pelikano for left-handed

[smwknits]

I'm a lefty, and have several Lamy Safaris I'm very happy with. The nibs range from extra-fine to medium, and I have an italic on order. Could not comfortably use the Pilot Vanishing Point, and plan to sell it.

[pmrogers]

At a brand-wide level, the standouts for me on the good and bad sides (modern only) are:

 

Great:

Nakaya (Mottishaw tuned)

Sheaffer

Waterford

Montblanc

Oscarson

Cross

 

Good:

Waterman

Graf von Faber Castell

Visconti

Omas

 

Mixed:

Parker

Lamy

Delta

Taccia

Stipula

Namiki

Levinger

Online

 

Bad:

Pelikan

Hero

Picasso

Rotring

[jnd]

You really need to pay attention to the nib more than the pen. I'm a lefty and an overwriter. I turn the page about 20 degrees counterclockwise and do a lot more pulling than pushing, so flexibility is not an issue. A Schmidt medium steel nib is a very good one for me--I've got one of those on my FILCAO Columbia. Bexley uses Schmidt nibs, as do many other well-respected companies. The Namiki Falcon has a very unique nib; it is very flexible yet didn't snag at all when I tried it. Performed wonderfully first time I picked it up. To be safe, you'd probably want to stick with medium to broad nibs. You might also try an oblique. What you could do is buy a pen from a nibmeister like Richard Binder and have him fit the nib to your writing angle. Customize. Minimal cost and well worth the increased performance.