Fountain Pens and Left Handed Writers

I am a fountain pen user and aficionado. I am also a leftie. When I first started using fountain pens I was afraid of smearing the ink. As a leftie your hand tends to drag over the fresh ink and smear it.

Some lefties "under write" to avoid smearing. I have seen videos of this. Your hand is below the line you are writing. I tried hard to adapt to this but it was un-natural feeling so I gave up. The other leftie aproach is more typical. The big hook hand. You have you hand above the line and curl/hook your hand so the fresh ink is behind the pen much as a right handed person writes.

I do neither of these. My writing style is the mirror image of a right handed person. I have my hand on the writing line and "push" the pen as I write. A right handed person "pulls" on the pen. My writing hand drags over the fresh ink as I push the pen along.

Smearing is an issue with fountain pens. BUT it is also an issue with every other writing instrument I have used. If not addressed it can be a big issue with fountain pens.

All 3 parts of writing are part of the Smear Factor: Pen or rather nib, ink and paper.

Nib
I fine that I must use a "fine" nib. It lays down less ink than a medium or broad nib. Less ink will dry faster and be less likely to smear. Not all nibs are equal. ALL of my pens are fine and one extra-fine. But my Visconti Michaelangelo  leaves a wetter line than most fines. The designation for nib size is not defined. So different vendors have different widths.

In this picture the nib on the left is a Mont Blanc fine. The one on the right is a Sailor fine. You can see the difference.
It is generally accepted that Japanese nibs tend to be "Finer" at all nib sizes than thier European counterparts. Meaning a Japanese nib will lay a thinner drier line than a similarly rated German nib.


I have a Japanese extra-fine nib. This works wonderfully for me. It is a touch scratchy but I slow my writing speed down to accommodate that. Slowing down helps both with smearing and with by handwriting legibility.

Paper
I am amazed at how the paper affects the Smear Factor. Below is a picture of Paper for Fountain Pens (made by Tomoe River). This is a well regarded paper. But it is not good for lefties as the ink sits on it and takes a long time to dry. I include it here to show a drying test.

This picture was a "drying time test". I wrote a number and dried to smear it after the same number of seconds elapse. Write the numeral 1 and after one second wipe the numeral with you finger. Repeat for 2 and wipe after 2 seconds, etc.


I don't intend to pick on Paper For Fountain Pens. My lovely bride is a right handed writer and she had no issues. But it is bad for lefties.

I have found Rhodia and Clairfontaine Triomphe (same paper per Goulet.com), Franklin-Christoph, Papyrus Deckle edged stationary and Basildon Bond to be very good to excellent at combating smearing.

Basildon Bond was the best but I did not provide a link as I can not find a USA supplier in the letter size. Of the others I find the F-C to be excellent but also enjoy the Papyrus.

INK
I have tried a lot of inks. My favorite brand is Diamine. I have tried many of their colors and the resistance to smearing seems to apply to every one.

Another good ink is Pilot Iroshisuku. BUT I have found that the resistance to smearing is based on color. Not all of the inks perform the same way.

Pelikan Edelstien is also good. I only have 2 bottles so I do not know if the resistance to smearing is universal to all or their inks.

Lastly is a recent addition to my ink stable Parker Quink. The name means Quick Drying Ink. It has "X=Solv" added to it which is believed to be isopropyl alcohol. IPA is the stuff in rubbing alcohol and is relatively benign.

The Quink lives up to it's name. I find it a pleasure to use. It is available in business blues and blacks. I am partial to bright colors and my wife has found antique and vintage Quink online and in antique stores.

I believe this picture represents all of the colors Quink was available in.




I hope this was helpful. I know Pete123 has expressed interest in fountain pens but is leary as he is left handed. Maybe others as well.

Phil

Phil, this is an excellent thread. Although I am right handed and do not have your problem, many do. Thanks for posting.

This is a great thread, thanks for putting it together. I would expect many DFS members would really enjoy fountain pens as they are fine things in the same way that a brush or razor can be fine.

I have a Parker Duofold from the early 90s. The main problem I've had with the fountain pen is getting ink to come out as fast as I write. I grew up when all the desks in school were right handed and I have the left hand hook over when holding a pen.

I am also a leftie, and had the "smearing" problem and cramp associated with the "big hook hand" technique that I was forced to learn as a child. Now, I turn the page sideways and write *up* the line, from the bottom (left) to the top (right) of the page. It looks weird to others, but no hook hand, cramping or smearing of ink. But I guess it also depends on how quickly you write and/or how quickly the ink dries.

I'm a lefty and virtually stopped using any pencils as it's usually all over the side of my hand when I'm done with it....the struggle is real!

Maybe you guys need to learn how to write backwards so you don't have this problem, lol!

I am also a leftie, and had the "smearing" problem and cramp associated with the "big hook hand" technique that I was forced to learn as a child.  Now, I turn the page sideways and write *up* the line, from the bottom (left) to the top (right) of the page.  It looks weird to others, but no hook hand, cramping or smearing of ink.  But I guess it also depends on how quickly you write and/or how quickly the ink dries.

I'm a leftie and do exactly as you described.

This is very helpful information. I'm a leftie, too, and generally I have always used the hook position, although I don't write a lot any more now and have sold all my Mont Blancs. I actually had teachers in grade school try to "cure" my lefthandedness by forcing me to try to write with my nondominant right hand. My dad was left handed and used the underwriting technique, which I guess worked well for him, but for me it was too uncomfortable. Since I used pencils and ballpoint pens and pads of school paper for so many years, it never occurred to me to try other inks or papers.

Phil, excellent reference thread for lefties. Thanks for the great post.


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I'm a lefty and virtually stopped using any pencils as it's usually all over the side of my hand when I'm done with it....the struggle is real!

Maybe try a mechanical pencil with Pentel Super Hi-Polymer leads. H and HB worked well for me all through college, and I write with a left hand hook. Going any softer than HB could lead to a case of graphite hand, though. For fountain pens, a quick drying ink such as Noodler's Legal Lapis or Black works for me without any smearing. For fountain pens in general, copier, laser printer or inkjet paper usually works just fine. It sure beats paying a small fortune for special paper.