Recommendation For Lefties

[SRCollins]

I know that there are a few of you out there that fight the fight trying to use a fountain pen with their left hand. My Dad was a natural left handed person who almost made the Cleveland Indians in 1942 as a left handed pitcher but spent the most productive years of his life in the Pacific from 1942 thru 1945. He was taught to write as most were at that time with their right hand. And he had beautiful penmanship. The pens that he used to write home with during that time were given to me several years before he died and I have just finished restoring them. I have always enjoyed being given pens as gifts and have always enjoyed giving them as well. Which brings me to the question which I would like to direct to anyone out there but particularly to those of you that are left handed and have struggled to write that way with a fountain pen rather than force yourself to learn using the opposite hand. I would like to give a gift to someone who is left handed,loves fountain pens but does not own one. I am trying to decide between a Parker Vacumatic and a Parker 51 Areometric and would like to know if from anyones experience if the 51 would be an easier pen for a left handed person to use given the obvious physical differences between the two pens. I would appreciate any insights you might care to share. Thanks: Stewart

[icardoth]

As a left handed person I can give you some advice. The pen itself is not particularly important, but the nib & flow are. A wonderful nib for a right handed person can be scratchy for a lefty. Also, te flow is critical. Wet pens do not work well for left handed people, as the wet ink can produce blurs when writing. So, a mostly dry pen will be appropriate. In my experience 51s are better than Vacumatics for lefties.

[Gary1952]

Hard to beat a Parker 51. I am a left hander and have never had any problems using a 51.

[Ernst Bitterman]

Decide which one you like the looks of best, and then work to adopt an underwriting posture and shoulder-muscle technique. I comprehend how overwriting works, but it looks devilish uncomfortable, while underwriting is relatively easy, allows one to use writing manuals from the era of "RIGHT HAND ONLY!" with only small adjustments, and makes smear-avoidance a breeze.

[PeterPenPencil]

I am left handed and have many pens and I have found that writing with Noodler's black is perfect for me. I write very strange because I move the paper to the center of the line I am writing and sometimes write above or under. I also give a small period of time for the ink to dry, while I look for the literature in German and English to write a parallel book in Clarefontaine notebooks. I write in a wood table without legs, this gives me the opportunity to vary the pen and the line where I am writing. I do this for learning German... Sometimes I had written a 255 pages book in about a month. I feel so much fun writing with my pens, and I rotate almost a group I select on the particular day I am writing. I am a happy trigger moron, excuse, happy pen moron...

[dojocho]

As a left handed underwriter, I have always written, and still am, with plain righthander nibs. I wrote a Parker 25 through highschool, used a Sonnet for a while, and currently write with Duofolds. Neither pen ever posed any problem whatsoever. The Duofolds, however, are more comfortable, due to the rather wet 18K nibs. I use an International with an F and a Centennial with an M nib, I prefer the M since it gives more shading (I have used Penman Ruby for more than 15 yrs and now Binder Burgundy and Diamine Syrah).

I'm afraid it's a very personal view.

[DrCodfish]

I know that there are a few of you out there that fight the fight trying to use a fountain pen with their left hand. My Dad was a natural left handed person who almost made the Cleveland Indians in 1942 as a left handed pitcher but spent the most productive years of his life in the Pacific from 1942 thru 1945. He was taught to write as most were at that time with their right hand. And he had beautiful penmanship. The pens that he used to write home with during that time were given to me several years before he died and I have just finished restoring them. I have always enjoyed being given pens as gifts and have always enjoyed giving them as well. Which brings me to the question which I would like to direct to anyone out there but particularly to those of you that are left handed and have struggled to write that way with a fountain pen rather than force yourself to learn using the opposite hand. I would like to give a gift to someone who is left handed,loves fountain pens but does not own one. I am trying to decide between a Parker Vacumatic and a Parker 51 Areometric and would like to know if from anyones experience if the 51 would be an easier pen for a left handed person to use given the obvious physical differences between the two pens. I would appreciate any insights you might care to share. Thanks: Stewart

 

Choose the smoothest nib, and if one is slightly wider, that gets the nod in my book. One of the best writing pens I have is a vintage 51 I bought off Ebay. This thing is like a hot iron on an ice rink, it just glides and that would probably make it a good pen for most anyone. Plus, though this thing is a fine, it is close to an M nib which helps the nib avoid catching or digging as I push the nib acorss the paper. You might also consider gifting a pad of really nice FP friendly paper such as Rhodia. A harder finish paper will help avoind the nib digging in.

 

Kudos to your pop, I was a pretty good first baseman, one of the few positions where being a lefty is an advantage (much like a good Lefty pitcher) I had power to pitch, but was wild.

[pajaro]

I am left handed. My favorite pen is my Parker 51 dryish medium, aerometric filler. I've had it for 42 years. I like this pen and the other 51s I have better than open nib pens. The 51 is an excellent choice. Actually either pen would be wonderful. As stated above, for left handers a dry writing pen helps keep the hand out of wet ink, as the left hand follows the pen.

 

 

[vectorbundle]

I strongly recommend a Parker 51 (an old one, not the new version). For a lefty to avoid smudging, you need a fine nib. And it's crucial to find the right ink. I'm a left-handed overwriter who uses Clairefontaine paper. My very strong recommendation for a black ink is Noodler's Heart of Darkness. Some blue inks to try: Noodler's Blue-Black and Private Reserve's American Blue. Good luck.

[PeterPenPencil]

I don't know if this is something that happens to me only, but the Parker pens nibs can write well however if you are right or wrong... er, , ...lefty. I think that most pens of above average or high quality brands can be used by anyone.

Here's a lefty

[torstar]

I"m a lefty underwriter with no problems using several dozen different FPs, including the Parkers mentioned.

 

The only trouble is with oblique nibs, which may require a bit of getting used to.

 

Apart from that they have all been fine.

[mhm802]

lefty over-writer here too. Fine nibs suit my smallish handwriting better, though in truth the couple of medium-nibbed pens I have are a bit smoother. As others have noted I find most critical issue for me is dry-time, and I have had to abandon a couple of inks that I loved because they took forever to dry.

[Draless]

Lefty here. I personally hate dry pens, only use wet Minuskin stubbed Parker 51's or Pelikans. I've been able to evolve and have no issues with smear as an overhand writer.

 

Either Vacu or the P51 would suit well as a gift for a lefty. More of an issue will be the tipping left on the nib. I've had some Parker 51's that just had barely any tipping material left and I had to send them off to re-tip.

 

Al

[Mags]

I know that there are a few of you out there that fight the fight trying to use a fountain pen with their left hand. My Dad was a natural left handed person who almost made the Cleveland Indians in 1942 as a left handed pitcher but spent the most productive years of his life in the Pacific from 1942 thru 1945. He was taught to write as most were at that time with their right hand. And he had beautiful penmanship. The pens that he used to write home with during that time were given to me several years before he died and I have just finished restoring them. I have always enjoyed being given pens as gifts and have always enjoyed giving them as well. Which brings me to the question which I would like to direct to anyone out there but particularly to those of you that are left handed and have struggled to write that way with a fountain pen rather than force yourself to learn using the opposite hand. I would like to give a gift to someone who is left handed,loves fountain pens but does not own one. I am trying to decide between a Parker Vacumatic and a Parker 51 Areometric and would like to know if from anyones experience if the 51 would be an easier pen for a left handed person to use given the obvious physical differences between the two pens. I would appreciate any insights you might care to share. Thanks: Stewart

 

 

I am a leftie and the 51 allows me to roll the nib when I write and with the small nib the tipping on mine is around so I suppose in a way stub style and thus forgiving of a left handed coping process where we roll the pen as we write.

 

I would say a Parker 51 is absolutely always a wonderful gift. These pens are sought after, part of history so well known and most of us owning one use them and would not sell them...

 

Nibs should be quick starting for lefties and flow a touch wet. We then like to use a faster drying non lubricated ink on semi gloss smooth papers and the lubricated "eel" noodler inks are good for the thicker and more porous papers.

 

My go to ink is Sailor and Noodlers though I keep Mont Blanc and Omas ink in pens of the same name.

 

Perhaps the P51 and a pocket notebook where you share your favourite ink suggestions at the front of the book for the pen you are gifting. When I first started with fountain pen ink was ink to me....I may have toasted some cheaper Parker and Schaeffer and Osmiroid pens ....just sayin.

 

Mags

[AuroraLeona]

Little late in the game with this, but --as I love being a lefty and my grandmother was also forced to write with her right -- I can't help but comment!

 

I'm an underwriter, and have never had any problem with any pen, and I've used a variation of brands (including one of those cheapy chinese fake 8 horses that I picked up in Laos, not in great shape but wow do I love it!). The only problems I've ever had was brushing the ink when I was in an odd position, like writing on a plane or while sitting in a doctor's office, and so on. I also have the occasional hitch with my Parker Sonnet, where I slip and start writing with the corner of the nib. Not sure why this happens, as it never happens with any other pen, including my Shaeffer (which has roughly the same barrel and is also a medium nib). I love writing with fountain pens! I keep thinking about getting one of those awesome looking Pelicano Jr "left-handed" pens. I'm not sure how left handed they are, but the skull and crossbones on the converter and the bright colors are worth it even if it's not all that impressive,

 

Isn't it awful that they used to force hand-dominance? The first time I heard about my grandmother being a leftie forced to write with her right hand, I was astounded. And 5 years old, barely writing and all and nothing close to a deep thinking genius. Still, I could tell how absurd that was. I know it's not forced castration or something like that, but it is still upsetting. I'm glad you have the pens as a memory of your father and your father's story!