Writer's Cramp And Fountain Pens

[kdv]

L.S.,

 

My son suffers from writer’s cramp.

I thought: may be a fountainpen could help?

Now I’m looking for a fountain pen that is:

• Very smooth
• Delivers good ink flow
• And has a firm section (bit on the wide side)

Because the pen might suffer from going to school etc. it should be not too expensive.

My two questions:

• Does anybody of you has good results using a fountainpen when having writer’s cramp?
• Could anybody recommend a fountainpen for this purpose? (he is not that bad handicapped that he needs an extreme adapted pen, could be a normal but functional one).

Greetings

 

kdv

[JonSzanto]

The main factors in causing hand cramps are pens that are too narrow in the grip, pens that are too heavy and the writer using too much pressure. The latter is especially common being that people are still used to ball points, and will a gel point or felt pen doesn't need *much* pressure, a well-tuned fountain pen needs virtually no pressure. With the right size and weight pen, both the gripping and the writing should be effortless.

 

I'll be honest: it's a little hard to know exactly what will work without seeing the young man's hand and writing style (the way a writing instrument is held is also a key - avoid a 'death grip'!). However, I have become aware of a very nice pen that *may* be just the ticket, and it has received a very in-depth review from some friends of mine: the Kaweco Perkeo . Inexpensive, well-made, light-weight, it may very well be a good call for your son. Take a look at the review over at Hand Over That Pen.

 

Good luck!

[Sasha Royale]

Hello, ktv !

 

Writer's cramp results from the tight-fisted grip of the writer. A ballpoint pen must distribute the paste ink onto paper, as the ball

track on the paper. This requires downward pressure on the pen. To avert movement of the pen, in the writing hand, corresponding

firm grip of the pen is necessary. The liquid ink, of a fountain pen, is attracted to the paper, and will flow with slightest contact. This

ALLOWS a fingers-extended, light grip. The writer must LEARN to write with a light grip.

.

I used a Parker 45 fountain pen throughout four years of university. The lighter writing grip reduced fatigue and virtually eliminated

hand cramping. If one holds the fountain pen, as one holds the ballpoint pen, there will be the same fatigue, cramping, and callous

on the first knuckle of the middle finger.

 

That said, my Parker 45 is fairly slender, as suits me. Changing ink cartridges is quick,simple, efficient. It is no longer in production,

widely available @ 30 Euros.

A Pilot Metropolitan would be my choice of 2017 cartridge-fed, school pens. @ 15 Euros.

A Sheaffer NoNonsense fountain pen is also a cartridge pen, but larger diameter. @ 15 Euros.

A LAMY Al-star is similar in size, and made of aluminum. @ 25 Euros.

 

I will defer discussion of piston-fill fountain pens to others, as I prefer cartridge pens for school use. They are simpler to maintain,

and generally less expensive.

 

For expensive trial, I suggest the disposable, non-refillable Pilot V-pen @ 2 to 3 Euros.

[kdv]

Ls,

 

Thank you so much for your reply’s and suggestions.

 

Since I myself are addicted to fountainpens, I also would like my son to feel the pleasure of writing with a fountain pen.

 

Soo, looking/hoping for an option that makes one (answer to writer’s cramp) and one (pleasure of fountainpens) three.

 

Thanks again for your suggestions.

 

Nice day,

 

kdv

[Octo]

Why not give him some Pilot Varsities at first until he learns to avoid pressing down while writing. They have nibs like nails that are smooth. Then let him choose a non-disposable FP himself.

[ParramattaPaul]

My suggestion from the duplicate thread: https://www.pelikan.com/pulse/Pulsar/en_US_INTL.Store.displayStore.248414./pelikano-up-fountain-pen-anthracite

[ENewton]

Your son should probably try a few pens to discover what works best for him.

 

When I first got my Kaweco Sport, I was startled to find that I couldn't write more than a few words without pain in my hand. The nib was just so dry that I had to apply consistent pressure for it to produce a line. No other pen had required me to apply pressure at all.

 

I would recommend looking at the Pilot Kakuno and the Lamy Safari. I still use the Lamy Safari that I bought for my daughter when she was a child. I don't love the look of it, but it is writes wet enough to be my pen of choice for especially dry inks. The Kakuno is also a nice starter pen, but depending on your son's age, it might be too "cute" for his liking.

[Rosendust2121]

Well, I suffer from writers cramp and I'm a lefty! I have found that the pilot metropolitan is a pleasure to write with. And there's various designs, so I'm sure you'll find something he'll like

[virgilio]

I write 3 to 4 hours daily with my Universals, an Italian piston-filler fountain pen from the 50s, and never have any cramping or other discomfort. In fact, typing is a lot less comfortable than using a good fountain pen.

 

Ideally the pen should be VERY light, not too fat or thin (about 1 cm in diameter), and doubly tapering in design, rather like the famous Parker 51, tho I prefer open nibs, because there is no need to constantly position the pen correctly for the nib to write correctly. I also like fine points that are very smooth and very wet, just short of feathering... just a personal preference.

 

There is no modern pen that, right out of the bos, rivals some of the vintage pens, unnortunately. They all seem to have some rather obvious defect. And nibs are not what they once were. But I have never tried the really expensive modern pens. I prefer to tweak cheaper pens to suit my preferences.

[virgilio]

I will add as an afterthought that I recently tried several high-end rollerballs and ballpo8ints. They all made my hand cramp after half an hour (or less) of writing, just as I remember back in my lycée days, before I discovered fountain pens. At first Osmiroids, later Sheaffers and Watermans.

[PS104]

If you have access to a B&M pen store it might be worth a trip and have your son try holding some pens and see how he likes the feel of them. Perhaps even writing with some under consideration.It will be a long time to uneducate his hand and finger muscles to get rid of the death grip used foe BPs. It can be done. And the rewards will be worth the effort for him.

[sandy101]

Faber Castell produce some rather nice plastic school pens. The scribolino comes with a left and right handed nib, and is a bit less wet than the Pelikano. (My Pelikano spreads ink like a hose)

 

The Oxford Helix is a nice, brass pen - it writes well too - surprisingly good quality for the price.

 

I'm sure Lamy has a good solution too.

 

However, if he grips the FP like a ballpoint, then I suspect the problem won't go away. You'll need to show him how to hold the pen to get the correct grip and angle to help.

[Bo Bo Olson]

Pelikano....for school children, Lamy (not a Safari....which is a Large pen) makes some too with a grip that produces a solid triangle grip. Both are sold in Germany, so check German Ebay for new.

I have seen them in blister packs, I believe but really looked.

There are posters here that have a collection of Pelikano pens. So they are good school pens.

 

Death grip is a result of ball point use, as explained, a non Gel ball point is like plowing the south forty with out the mule......a gel pen is much better....it is like having a mule.

 

A fountain pen must be held behind the big index knuckle for the tip to lay more on the paper, making a bigger puddle of ink for the pen to glide on. Requiring absolutely no pressure.

 

Holding it like a ball point before the index knuckle leaves only the tip and too little ink in the little grand canyons that hold makes.

 

Held right there is no need for any force.

Tell your child to hold a fountain pen like a featherless baby baby bird.

 

It will take time to develop a light grip.

Edited October 23, 2017 by Bo Bo Olson

[virgilio]

Exactly. I have seen fellows try to hold a fp just a fraction of a cm or so from the nib, or conversely way up on the cap. One must learn how to hold a fountain pen, and never apply any pressure; that defeats the whole purpose of the beast. I notice that the amazon reviews of fps are full of people complaining that they had to bear down on the paper to make the pen write. Probably they have already ruined the pen.

[Ghost Plane]

My dad taught me to relax my grip by playing a game with me. He’d stand behind me and periodically reach down to snatch the pencil from my hand. If it came easily without resistance, I got a point. If he felt any drag, he got a point.

 

He also taught me not to be a “finger writer” which also leads to cramps by having me sketch increasingly smaller circles while using the muscle of my forearm as a pivot and keeping my relaxed hand on its side.

 

Only when I could sketch small Os with a resting hand did I get my first fountain pen and learn that the weight of the pen is what makes it write. My hand is only there to steer. It’s actually floating/sliding on the ink and gravity is doing the work.

 

Pencils with really soft leads (4BB or softer) will help make the mental connection. The standard no 2 pencil is for the convenience of the scanning grading machines, not the comfort of the child wielding them.

 

Varsities might fit inside of those rubber pencil grips, making them fatter and easier to grip. Relax those hands and the cramps vanish.

[virgilio]

When I have to use a pencil, as for example marking up a text I am translating or annotating, where a fp would bleed thru the thin book paper, I use the softest pencil I can find. Generals extra soft are nice; they leave a very dark line and require almost no pressure. Nª 2 pencils are murder on the hands.

[sidthecat]

The Tombow 6B is an excellent pen for that kind of practice. The graphite is very smooth and consistent, which made the brand a favorite with old-fashioned 2D animators.

 

The life drawing classes I took in art school emphasized drawing with the entire arm. We also were encouraged to work big, which I was able to carry over into animation to a certain extent, but it was fear that made me practice drawing lightly. An old clean-up artist told me I had no future in animation because I was left-handed: I’d crumple the paper on the wrong side so animators wouldn’t want me to assist them. I didn’t believe that my greatest achievement would be assistant work, but it did make me careful about the damn paper.

[Bo Bo Olson]

I use the 'forefinger up' method of grasping a fountain pen....it is an automatically light grip. Takes three minutes to learn.

 

Don't work with Large pens in they are too short.(in most don't post them) (Outside the Snorkel)

Works just fine for posted, standard and medium-long pens.

 

The thumb is flat...and at 08:30. It is a dam, no pressure is used....not bent and in the deadly Kung Fu Pinch....which happens often in the Death Grip Classic Tripod.

 

The forefinger is long with no real bend to it. If the forefinger is bent like an elbow that is the Death Grip, when combined with the Kung Fu thumb.

The forefinger lays lightly* at 12:00-12:30 or 13:00 on top of the section. I tend to hold at 12:30 but if you like 12 or 13:00 fine.

*Just enough pressure to prevent the pen from doing Uri Geller somersaults....

 

The Classic Tripod of 10-2-6 = Death Grip in you are pushing down at 10 and 2.

Again, in this grip, it's like holding a featherless baby bird.....there is no reason to press down hard with the forefinger. It lays there...it rests on the top of the section.The low held straight thumb is only a dam. No pressure.

 

If the thumb nail is level with the crease of the first finger joint the pen will rest lower, if 1/3 in higher. Depending on where you want the pen to rest....otherwise let the weight and length of the pen decide where it wants to be.................by forcing things ..... making a pen rest at 45 degrees instead of letting it rest lower, you court Death Grip.

The 90's 400 is a standard sized pen, the 605 a medium-long one.

 

Thumbnail even with first joint crease = lower.

https://imgur.com/g6EJLDX

Full view....forefinger has only a slight bow.

https://imgur.com/Uwsrv1V

Showing the thumbnail 1/3 into the first finger joint.........the forefinger is a tad too bent in this picture....but was concentrating on the thumb nail level in the first joint crease/placement 1/3 into the first joint.

https://imgur.com/Mh9fmyO

 

View from the back...

https://imgur.com/JmyB1nh

Thumbnail 1/3 into first joint crease = higher angle @45 degrees.

https://imgur.com/jLcQ1QX

 

Sorry abut the hunt and peck but the com don't allow Imgur to work in the little green insert box.

Does work ...but for next time.

Edited October 24, 2017 by Bo Bo Olson

[Precise]

My take is a reasonably fat section which is rubber or textured. This is met by many gel pens, which I recommend over ballpoints because of reduced writing effort.

 

With fountain pens, I find flare at the end of the section reduces my need to hold tight. Most fountain pens have this. But not all. I also have one pen which is fatiguing to hold because the section is a slippery type of plastic. I've roughened that to improve grip.

 

Finally, be mindful of what your are doing. Are you gripping tightly even though there is no need?

 

Alan

[virgilio]

A good fountain pen quickly eliminates writers cramp. I write about 3 hours a day, and never suffer from this. If I tried to use any other kind of writing instrument for that long (including a computer) my hand would fall off.

 

The pen should be light, about 10 to 12 g. Heavy pens are a needless invitation to problems. It should also be fairly narrow, about 1 cm maximum diametre, so you can hold the pen effortlessly, letting the barrel and cap rest between the index finger and thumb. The index finger should curve only slightly: NEVER hold the index finger vertical to the paper, the way I have seen so many ballpoint users do; that is an invitation to writers cramp.

 

Finally, the barrel should taper, so that the maximum diametre is at or near the joint between the barrel and section. Pens that do not taper, but are just one continuous cylinder, annoy my fingers for some reason.

 

I am opposed to the idea of having a 'grip' on fountain pens, because one should not be 'gripping' a fountain pen in the first place. It should rest in the space between the index finger and thumb, and you should apply NO pressure to the paper. The pen should be wet enough so that it needs no pressume to write.