My oldest son is a senior in high school, and when he graduates, I want to get him a fp. He is a lefty and hasn't shown much interest in my pens because he thinks the ink will smudge with his left hand brushing over.

Do fast drying inks work well for lefties?

Do any of you left handers have any comments or suggestions?

Vanessa (a.k.a. Smudgy) is also a lefty. She got some good coaching on nibs from us when she first joined the board.

Link Here
http://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/in...indpost&p=19066

southpaw here - as you can guess from the name, I'm a leftie. I have a couple of suggestions / comments that may help in your selection for your son's first fp (I have no affiliation with any seller/retailer mentioned, just a happy repeat customer for all of them):

Ink
Ink makes a big difference. Inks that I have personally used with very good results and would recommend as being worth getting include:
- Waterman Blue-Black (great ink to use initially to break the pen in, good ink in general, great flow, trouble-free, good shading, more blue than black, lubricates nib pretty well).
- Lamy Turquoise (lubricates nib very well, excellent shading, nice turquoise color, flows well)
- Swisher/Noodlers (available at Swisherpens.com) - these are specially formulated to be fast drying. I have only tried one, but it works great (Apricot Orange)!
- Any of the Noodler's Contract/Eternal inks. Their permanency is a big plus. From my use, I've noticed that they dry rather quickly also. I expect any of them would be great, but I've used Devil Red, Gulfstream Blue, Aquamarine Blue, Verdun Green, Iraqi Indigo, and Black). Some of these are proprietary to Swisher.

Paper
Make sure the paper is one that doesn't hold the ink on top to allow it to dry slowly. Some do this, some don't. I use regular filler paper quite often with little problem. Of course, there is much better and more enjoyable paper out there.

Nibs
In general, you probably will want to get him a fine nib. Other nibs will be more likely to put down more ink. I would also suggest staying away from pens that are very wet writers, although later he may decide to try one. Middle of the ground is a good place to be with regard to wet/dry.

Miscellaneous
I would recommend purchasing from Pam Braun at oscarbraunpens.com . She is a leftie and will understand exactly what he will need. She made me much more comfortable on my first purchases when I was just getting into FPs. In addition, her prices and service is top-notch. Many of here are very happy repeat customers of hers.
There are many posts here about which pen to get first. I would recommend if you're not sure, check some of these posts out. I would keep in mind his hand size and, if you can find out, his pen size preference (does he like larger or smaller pens?, thick or thin?). That would help make your purchase that much more likely to be a great fit for him and something he would enjoy using.

Hi,

My left-handed sister uses a pen that flows like a river (no exaggeration--I get ink all over my hands and arms when I use that sort of pen) with slow drying ink. Writing fairly fast with "Right-handed writing," she has not been complaining about ink on the hands.

Her letters have the right-sided tilt in them. She can use the Right-handed Pelikano, but not the left-handed one.

Dillon

Hi KDW,

Yes, fast-drying inks do help. Just check the Ink Reviews forum for some of the Swisher (Noodler´s) inks. There are a few mentioned, over there. Also, some of the "ordinary" Noodler´s inks are really quite fast drying too.

HTH, warm regards, Wim

Do any of you find hooded nibs to be superior with the dry inks? I have a number of hooded pens, but I haven't had the 'fast drying inks' (unless Waterman Florida Blue is fast drying).

Hi,

Im going to ask same question ;
which modern pens suits for a leftie?(and nibs)
I want to buy new pens but cant decide.Please help me too choose .
Right now im using a Pelikan M215 Medium nib.

Thanks

Emrecan

Hi,

Some fast-drying inks bleed a lot when they dry, so I do not use any of that. My left-handed sister use Private Reserve before. Maybe I have to ask her how.

Dillon

Forget all this junk about fast-drying inks...have your son do what I do...turn the paper completely sideways and write down, Japanese style!

It's great.

For a beginning leftie, any modern pen with a normal nib that isn't a wet and wide will work. Having said that, one of my favorite pens is an old style Van Gogh that has a very wet fine nib that is probably a fine-medium in width. Depending upon how the leftie holds the pen, various speciality nibs will work. In general, most lefties stay away from flex nibs as most of us tend to push the nib more than pull it (right handers do mostly pulling). This makes a flex nib harder to use and scratchier. However, there are some lefties that can do it wonderfully - but not me. A few questions need to be answered before recommending a pen: what size pen do you prefer, and what are you wanting to spend?

HTH, southpaw

Hi,

My sister uses flexy dip pens every day. No problems.

Dillon

[quote=southpaw,Oct 15 2005, 05:57 PM] [/QUOTE]
For a beginning leftie, any modern pen with a normal nib that isn't a wet and wide will work. Having said that, one of my favorite pens is an old style Van Gogh that has a very wet fine nib that is probably a fine-medium in width. Depending upon how the leftie holds the pen, various speciality nibs will work. In general, most lefties stay away from flex nibs as most of us tend to push the nib more than pull it (right handers do mostly pulling). This makes a flex nib harder to use and scratchier. However, there are some lefties that can do it wonderfully - but not me. A few questions need to be answered before recommending a pen: what size pen do you prefer, and what are you wanting to spend?

HTH, southpaw [/quote]
Bigger than M215 is good.Because when its unposted its not very comfortable.For bugdet max 300$ (or all lefie suited pens)

Thanks

Emrecan

Dillon, it's great that your sister can.

emrecan, with that budget, you've got more options than you can shake a stick at. In all honesty, to avoid a thread highjack, you may want to start another topic with that as the subject. I'm sure you'll get plenty of advice.

KDW, don't know about hooded nibs - they're just not my thing. Waterman Florida Blue, although not a specially formulated fast drying ink, does dry quickly, as do most Waterman inks.

Hi emrecan,

Pens that work well for lefties in general, if a special nib isn't required, is a K or ball point nib, i.e., a nib with a very rounded point, as they are very forgiving to the angle of contact with the paper, and very smooth in all directions. Another thing to look for is a very stiff nib, if at all possible, again for maximum smoothness. This is required because a leftie generally pushes a pen acros the paper, rather than the pulling right handers do. Pushing causes much more friction and resistance than pulling in this case.

Lamy makes KF and KM nibs to this day, and they can be had even on their cheaper pens, like the Safari, or their school pens for that matter. Other pens that are very popular with lefties here in the NL, are the Waterman Carène, and the Waterman Liaison. Both have very stiff nail like nibs, with points that are smooth as glass, and rather forgiving as to angle of contact. They'll fit right in with your budget, about 2 of them I would think .

HTH, warm regards, Wim

As a left, I hadn't thought of it but I suspect that I've devised my own pecular style of writing using primarily right handed pens all my life. When I started penning decades ago, nobody really considered our group that much. It's like with scissors...now that left-handed versions are available, I find I still cut a straighter line with the right-handed version. Maybe all of this has changed my genetic code, I'm not sure.

Back to pens, I wonder if I'm the absolute only left-handed person in the whole wide world who has sort made up their own way with 'inappropriate' and ill-suited equipment like right handed FPs.

Better yet, I wonder...if there are righties who have found a way with left handed pens?

Hi,

My sister uses righthanded scissors and can use right handed pens. In my right hand, I use left-handed pens most comfortably and in my left hand, I use right-handed pens comfortably. I am starting to suspect something now, because I write with my right hand (wasn't forced to), but I find that my left hand is stronger.

Dillon

Sailor designs some nibs especially for lefties.

Hi,

What are they?

Dillon

I had no idea there were nibs just for lefties! Aren't nibs typically symetrical?

My budget is probably around x. For a real prize, I might go a bit more.

I remember on Ebay there was a guy from Japan selling Sailor pens, claiming that this or that pen was desgned for lefties. I can find back his id if you are interested.

Hi KDW,

There are pens for lefties, but if they are to be effective, and be made in quantity, they are never tailored to a specific individual. Essentially that means they are fountain pen with "kugel" or ball point nibs, i.e., nibs with extremely rounded tipping, often attached to the nib right in the middle, rather than half underneath. This allows for a very forgiving attitude towards the way you hold a pen, and doesn't generally increase resistance a lot while pushing the pen rather than pulling the pen across the paper when writing. Lefties more often than not push the pen over the paper, while righties pull it.

Often, oblique nibs, or rather left footed oblique nibs (called so because the cut of the tipping material resembles a left foot, slanting towards the left), are said to be made for left handed writers. This is true in so far, that in order to write with it properly, you need to turn the pen a little to the left around its long axis, in order to hit the sweet spot on such a nib. This means that even as a left handed writer, you are forced to pull the nib over the paper, more than push it. This is true for both under- and overwriters, but only if the paper is held fairly straight, i.e., long axis of the paper pointing away from you, and writing direction more or less left to right.

Other than this, pens for lefties, or rather nibs for lefties, have to be customized individually, especially for lefty overwriters.

Just check Richard Binder's website, Left handed writers, on Richard Binder's website, or John Mottishaw's site: Left handed writers, on John Mottishaw's site

HTH, warm regards, Wim

Hi Wim,
In his article on
Nibs II: Beyond the Basics with Specialty Nibs, Richard Binder writes:

Do you MK nibs?And i have seen nib for just lefties.Maybe i should give it try.

Waterman Carene... its my dream pen im always dreaming about it...Theyre pricey here 193€ dont know :S what to do?Maybe i should buy it online...


Thanks btw

Emrecan

Greetings from İstanbul

As a leftie, I've found that I can write happily with most pens (most of my pens are vintage Conway Stewart or Parker, my one modern pen is a Duofold). The only pen I've tried recently which I really couldn't get on with for some reason was the M200.

I've just got some Noodler's ink and I'm finding that slower to dry than the Diamine I'm used to, so find that it is smudging a bit.

As for left handed pens, going back to when I was at school, I think it was Parker who did a left handed pen and my parents decided it would make a nice present for me. I could barely get the ink to flow from it when writing left handed, but if I used my right hand it worked perfectly and all my right handed friends found it easy to use as well.

Just to add further 'proof' to my claims about being a leftie and preferring rightie equipment, some years ago I bought a caligraphy pen collection specifically for lefties. I tried it only once and went back to the right handed stuff. Maybe this has to do with how I've learn to deal with my left-handedness, which is basically to turn my paper on it's side. I used to write totally upside down. My writing is very vertical, no lean at all.

Hi,

It is quite intereresting how many manufacturers treat left-handed calligraphy sets. My sister always has the paper sitting straight in front and has a right-lean or 15 degrees like I do. Her writing style is best suited for the standard italic nibs.

Dillon

I hold the paper straight or nearly straight and write either as an underwriter or in such a way that my pinkie drags across what has just been written. With an oblique nib (left-footed), I still do much more pushing than pulling. The oblique simply gives me the chance in an italic (oblique italic) to get the line variations oriented in the correct directions (normally with a non-oblique they are the exact opposite of a "standard" / typical right-hander. Just my $0.01 - probably just that I'm an odd ball, but what's new .

I am a leftie as well, but must honestly say I have never analyzed it to this depth of detail, so I am not sure how much help I would be. I write with Parker, Sheaffer, Waterman, Montblanc, Visconti, and a Rotring CORE!! I have both vintage and modern pens, and none of them I have ever had an issue with. I honestly have only used manufacturer's inks though. So, Waterman, Parker, MB, and Sheaffer inks I know work well. I havent tried any Diamine, PR, Noodlers or anything else so cant speak to that. The only thing I do better righty than lefty is play golf.

I think I must hold my paper similar to how Dillo's sister does it. I sit straight at the desk and the left edge of the paper is at an approximate 15% angle to the lower edge. I then write parallel to the top edge of the paper. If any of that makes any sense whatsoever. I definitely find that the paper quality affects my writing much more than anything else, though I have never really used anything other than an extra-fine or fine nib, so wet-writers or the broader nibs might have some impact as well.

I'm right handed if I'm doing any sports too. I was happily ambidextrous when I was at primary school, quite happily swapping the pen from left to right hand whenever one arm was tiring a bit. One day the teacher yelled at me and told me to keep my pen in the hand I was holding it in - my left hand. I still remember that telling off (psychologically scarred for life I am ), anyway, scary experience, I never dared wriite with my right hand at school again.