My brother just recently got me into fountain pens (he bought me a Waterman Phileas for Christmas) and I've since purchased myself a Conklin Twain Signature and just last week received my Pilot VP in the mail. I'm completely addicted.

My brother's birthday is coming up in a few months and I'd like to buy him some different inks, but he's a southpaw so I know he needs quick driers. I'm wondering if the lefties on the board or anyone else who has experience with inks that have very fast drying times could offer some suggestions?

I'm not a leftie, but the Swishmix and Swisher Pens inks from Swisher Pens is supposed to be designed with lefties in mind and be quicker drying ink. Swishmix is also waterproof (but not bulletproof). I only have the Burgundy, but it does seem to dry pretty fast. A lot will depend on the paper your brother uses, as well.

Many of us lefties here like Diamine inks for their quick dry time, and they have more than forty colors to choose from. My personal favorites are Golden Brown( really grew on me) and Monaco Red!

I'm not a leftie but I care a lot about drying time. Swisher's Glacier Blue dries almost instantly on the papers I write on and it's near bulletproof. It also flows very well. I use it in a wet medium nib pen and it still dries almost instantly.

I am a leftie and have used the following with great success:
Noodlers FPN Galileo Brown
Sailor Jentle blue
Noodlers Baystate Blue
Private Reserve American Blue

all of these are fast drying on decent paper, even more so on regular paper, but the Noodlers will bleed through real cheap paper in no time.

Cheers,
Sean

Can a fountain pen ink dry fast enough for a left-handed over-writer's palm to drag directly across it at normal writing speed? I don't think so. I suggest learning to be an under-writer.

Yep. The Glacier Blue I suggested above dries almost instantly (under 1/2 sec for zero smearing) so a southpaw hand-dragger should be fine. It's the only ink I have that's like that. The drying speed of this ink astonishes me.

I'm a lefty overwriter and these are some of the inks I use:

Herbin
Omas
Diamine (except for a very few, very saturated colors)
Rohrer & Klingner
Sheaffer
Pelikan - for years these were the only brand I had
Montblanc
Lamy
Caran d' Ache
Waterman
Noodler's waterproof/bulletproof

Best, Ann

Pilot/Namiki inks for fountain pens are also very fast-drying. The blue behaves well on bad paper. The other colors need at least medium-quality paper.

Edit: I'm right-handed, but I'm very impressed by the Pilot/Namiki drying times.

Just avoid, or dilute, Private Reserve inks. Don't use really wet nibs, and make sure the paper you use is a bit absorbing.

There really are lots of inks which dry fast enough to allow for overwriting, the advice of learning to underwrite is moot, IMHO. You might as well learn to write righthanded.

Regards,

Jarno.

That is why we become overwriters, so that there is a sufficient time lapse from ink hitting paper to our palm going over it when writing at full speed.

All of the inks that I mentioned above work when I write at full speed and do not smudge at all. The other benefit of most of the inks that I mentioned it that they are at worst water resistant (think sweat from your palm) and at best bulletproof.

Cheers,
Sean

As a left-handed overwriter, I can say that the answer is definitely "Yes." Swisher North Sea Blue, for example, dries essentially intantaneously on Cambridge writing pads when I use a pen with a fine or extra-fine nib. With the same pens, Swisher North Sea Blue dries in about 5 seconds on Clairefontaine Triomphe Pads. This is the only Swisher ink I've tested, but others in this group have reported similar results with other Swisher-brand quick dry inks.

Again using fine nibbed pens (which is what I prefer), Pelikan Violet, Private Reserve Lake Placid Blue and Sheaffer Skrip Jet Black have all produced excellent drying times for me.

Thanks for all the replies. The knowledge on this board never ceases to amaze me.
The upside is...if I get him an ink that doesn't dry fast enough for his left-handed ways, I can always offer to put it to good use for him.

Do you know for sure he needs quick driers? If, like me, he's a left-handed *underwriter*, he doesn't need fast drying inks any more than anyone else does.

Simon

I am also a leftie dragger. I have had issues with really wet pens, and simply have to know when using a wet pen that I need to adjust my writing style (either slow down, or only use the wet ones for things such as checks).

My everyday use pens have been a Fine Lamy Studio (cartridge), and a Retro 51 Scriptmaster II with Levenger Always Greener cartridges and/or PR Tanzanite Cartridges (so far). I am very surprised at the variations in color of the Levenger ink...it goes from a light, bright green to a deep almost forest green...

I don't know the actual position of his hand when he writes, but I do remember him saying something about inks that dry too slowly causing him a problem.

I'm a lefty overwriter and I use Waterman, Pelikan and Montblanc inks successfully. I typically use Waterman Blue Black, Waterman Florida Blue, Pelikan Brilliant Brown, Montblac Bordeax & Montblanc British Racing Green.

The Swishmix Tahitian Pearl is like that too.

RB

I'm surprised to hear that, by some usages here in this thread, the term "overwriter" means NON-smudger. I had assumed it meant HABITUAL smudger (dragger, palm-wetter, call it whatever). I was using that (evidently false?) assumption.

Anyway, glad to hear that inks can dry so fast as to enable palm dragging for lefties. This I did not know. We deserve as many handwriting positions as righties!

Your initial assumption was correct, in so far as the way the term is generally used. I am an overwriter--my hand is above/over the writing line when I write. I do not hook my wrist over, but I still approach the line from above--which means the side of my hand "drags" over what I've written.

Best, Ann

People here have reported that some inks never fully dry. I have had Noodler's Cayenne or Private Reserve Chocolat become "gummy" if the pen's sat for more than three weeks. There are also papers that are coated in such a way that ink will not be completely absorbed.

I am a left-handed overwriter (with a hook, yet). When I begin smearing what I've just written, I add some distilled water to the nib and converter with a very small-diameter syringe. If it's a pen with a sac, I rinse the pen thoroughly and reload it.

For bottled ink that seems too thick, I've had good luck diluting it. As other people have mentioned, some inks are so saturated that even an addition of up to 40% of water (distilled in my case) to the ink will barely change the color, but will make writing much easier.


(grammar edited)

I'm a leftie overwriter and sometimes smear my inks, particularly PR and occasionally Noodler's, when I'm not paying attention. If I'm writing rapidly and don't want a messy page, I cover the written area with a paper towel or kleenex to soak up excess.

I wish I could help you here. I am a 'southpaw' but I write below my writing line, so I do not the same problem as other 'southpaws' do.

I do use the Waterman black ink and the only problem I have had, was that it 'runs' when everywhere when it comes into contact with moisture. I am currently ordering some Noolder's Black bulletproof ink to hopefull eleviate that problem.

I have talked to other 'southpaws' here in town and they use, like others on this post, Noodler's, Swishmix and Swisher Pen inks.

I am a lefty and I used to have a bad hook when I would write. But I retrained my hand to hold the pen properly in my left hand, it took about two weeks to get used to it; now I am an underwriter. As for inks I've found Noodlers Polar Black dries quick enough. It takes about a second to be fully dry on most paper I use. His best bet is to relearn how to hold the pen.