4 ms·

Has anyone left-handed successfully used good pens? It’s something I would like but it seems a waste when I know it’ll just become a smudge.

Broken_Hippo 6y ago
I don't because I'm not left-handed - but my spouse is left-handed and uses fountain pens. And dip pens. And whatever else will give him writing and/or art he likes. (He does asemic writing in artwork... whole books of nothing but giggerish writing and charts and things). I honestly haven't really paid attention to his method, though. I just know it can be done without smudges everywhere.
detaro 6y ago
Been ages since I used a fountain pen, but did for years in school. https://www.nibs.com/content/left-handed-writers https://www.nibs.com/content/left-handed-writers has a few techniques - #5 is close to what I was taught in elementary school. Ink selection also helps, some inks dry a lot quicker than others.
Multicomp 6y ago
my brother-in-law has used his first fountain pen, a pilot metropolitan which I gave him about six months ago, and he wrote left handed using the ink that came out of the cartridge and does not seem to have any smudge. I would say his writing style somewhere halfway between hook-handed and left-handed pusher.
dugditches 6y ago
There are 'quick dry' inks. Combined with a fine nib(lays down less ink). A TWSBI Eco with a bottle of Noodler's Bernanke would do.
- bambataa 6y ago
  Thanks -- I'll give that combo a go.
toohotatopic 6y ago
You can do a Leonardo and write from right to left [1]. How do Arabic writers use fountain pens? Do they write with their left hand? [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci#Journals_and_notes https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci#Journals_and...
bitxbit 6y ago
I am left-handed and used a bunch without any issues. However, Sailor makes left-handed nibs. Pilot also has WA nibs that are suitable for writing in various angles.
deleted 6y ago
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tpmoney 6y ago
I use a Pilot Metro and taught myself to write on an angle so that my hand stays below the line of text. Something of a pain if you don't have room to spread out, but otherwise no more ink smudging than using any other pen.
scotu 6y ago
Lefty here, been using FPs for a few years. The occasional smudge accident happens, unfortunately. But you definitely can learn a way to avoid it most of the time, other comments here offers some good advice. I just want to add that when using cursive, I love the slanting some people do, but as a lefty I find it difficult to do "forward" (because of how I need to position paper and hand) so I started to slant my handwriting backwards if it makes sense: it's like italicizing the test in a word processor, only in the other direction: the amount of flair/personality I'd like without bending backwards to make the forward slant work with my hand position

Broken_Hippo 6y ago

I don't because I'm not left-handed - but my spouse is left-handed and uses fountain pens. And dip pens. And whatever else will give him writing and/or art he likes. (He does asemic writing in artwork... whole books of nothing but giggerish writing and charts and things). I honestly haven't really paid attention to his method, though. I just know it can be done without smudges everywhere.

detaro 6y ago

Been ages since I used a fountain pen, but did for years in school. https://www.nibs.com/content/left-handed-writers https://www.nibs.com/content/left-handed-writers has a few techniques - #5 is close to what I was taught in elementary school. Ink selection also helps, some inks dry a lot quicker than others.

Multicomp 6y ago

my brother-in-law has used his first fountain pen, a pilot metropolitan which I gave him about six months ago, and he wrote left handed using the ink that came out of the cartridge and does not seem to have any smudge. I would say his writing style somewhere halfway between hook-handed and left-handed pusher.

dugditches 6y ago

There are 'quick dry' inks. Combined with a fine nib(lays down less ink). A TWSBI Eco with a bottle of Noodler's Bernanke would do.

bambataa 6y ago
Thanks -- I'll give that combo a go.

toohotatopic 6y ago

You can do a Leonardo and write from right to left [1]. How do Arabic writers use fountain pens? Do they write with their left hand? [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci#Journals_and_notes https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci#Journals_and...

bitxbit 6y ago

I am left-handed and used a bunch without any issues. However, Sailor makes left-handed nibs. Pilot also has WA nibs that are suitable for writing in various angles.

deleted 6y ago

[deleted]

tpmoney 6y ago

I use a Pilot Metro and taught myself to write on an angle so that my hand stays below the line of text. Something of a pain if you don't have room to spread out, but otherwise no more ink smudging than using any other pen.

scotu 6y ago

Lefty here, been using FPs for a few years. The occasional smudge accident happens, unfortunately. But you definitely can learn a way to avoid it most of the time, other comments here offers some good advice. I just want to add that when using cursive, I love the slanting some people do, but as a lefty I find it difficult to do "forward" (because of how I need to position paper and hand) so I started to slant my handwriting backwards if it makes sense: it's like italicizing the test in a word processor, only in the other direction: the amount of flair/personality I'd like without bending backwards to make the forward slant work with my hand position