Left Handed advice?

[tman]

I read somewhere that the ratio of left handers vs. right handers that use FP's is greater than the ratio in the general population. I found this a little odd.

That being as it may, I have a question.

How do you other left handed FP users write without smudging, smearing and ruining what you've written?

Discuss.

(If you're NOT left handed, you will not understand. )

 

[Isaac]

Im not left handed, but I know that Noodler's has some quick drying ink. The dry time is like 1 second or so. The color palette isnt great on them, but they do dry quick.

 

[Jeffc]

I am Left handed, but I have always written (my parents discipline the reason !) with the pen in front of the hand. I assume that you mean the problem with left handers who drag the pen.

 

[Suzuki]

Lefties tend to write two ways - the "hook" or the "push".

As stated above, lefties who use the hook - where they bend their wrist so that their hand hooks around the pen and leads the pen - tend not to have as many problems with smudging (although they can still get ink on their cuffs).

Lefties who use the push write the same way a rightie does, which means their hand passes directly over the ink.

In short, if you're a leftie, you will get ink on your hand on occasion no matter how careful you are, but a couple of tricks that help with this include:

1) As stated above, use a quicker drying ink
2) Use finer nibs - finer nibs lay down less ink, which means it drys faster
3) Avoid overly wet nibs - some nibs lay down more ink, this can often be changed by adjusting the feed or finding an ink with slightly different flow characteristics
4) Use decent paper - some paper lets the ink sit on top for a bit before drying, the more a paper tends to do this, the more likely you are to get smudges.
5) Keep some good ink remover on hand...

 

[Jeffc]

Lefties tend to write two ways - the "hook" or the "push".

As stated above, lefties who use the hook - where they bend their wrist so that their hand hooks around the pen and leads the pen - tend not to have as many problems with smudging (although they can still get ink on their cuffs).

Lefties who use the push write the same way a rightie does, which means their hand passes directly over the ink.

Interesting - I use the 'Push' then ! But as Im quite slow and my nib is a good 1½ - 2 inches away from my hand, so I guess the ink has dried before I get to it !!

 

[Dalejr]

I'm a lefty and always had either pencil lead or ink smudged all over my hand or clothing, very annoying and don't even get me started on using a binder...

 

[scaevola]

I haven't ever used a fountain pen (yet), but I like liquid or gel inks much better than grease inks, and I've found that by turning the paper about 45 to 50 degrees, I can write without running my hand over it and my hand isn't in a hook. Lots less stress too. My hand has not been a multitude of colors in ages.

 

[Suzuki]

I haven't ever used a fountain pen (yet), but I like liquid or gel inks much better than grease inks, and I've found that by turning the paper about 45 to 50 degrees, I can write without running my hand over it and my hand isn't in a hook. Lots less stress too. My hand has not been a multitude of colors in ages.

Forgot about this - that's what I do as well.

 

[tman]

I'm a lefty and always had either pencil lead or ink smudged all over my hand or clothing, very annoying and don't even get me started on using a binder...

Definitely THIS ^!

I haven't ever used a fountain pen (yet), but I like liquid or gel inks much better than grease inks, and I've found that by turning the paper about 45 to 50 degrees, I can write without running my hand over it and my hand isn't in a hook. Lots less stress too. My hand has not been a multitude of colors in ages.

This works for me as long as I'm not in a hurry. As soon as I stop thinking about what I'm doing, I'm back to smearing the ink.

 

[scaevola]

Definitely THIS ^!



This works for me as long as I'm not in a hurry. As soon as I stop thinking about what I'm doing, I'm back to smearing the ink.

Once you get in the habit of it, you'll do it automatically.

 

[coyotewhisper]

I am proud to be lefthanded. I use fountain both modern and vintage, with a prefrence to vintage. I personally do not write with a hook, I write underhanded. I found that works best for me, also faster drying inks such as J Herbin, Diamine and some Noodler's. I mainly use a fine point and that tends lay a little drier line.

 

[luvmysuper]

http://www.nibs.com/Left-hand writers.htm

 

[The Don]

I'm a lefty and fairly new to the FP world. I've been using a Lamy Studio EF with no problems. I'm currently working through the cartridge that came with the pen. From there, I'll give a bottle of Noodler's a try. Prior to the Lamy, I was using a Mont Blanc rollerball, and that didn't smear either.

 

[tman]

My problem is that I prefer BOLD writing. 1.0 gels, and medium + nibs...


ack!