# Is there uscy a thing as a left handed FP??!?



## rblakemore (May 12, 2014)

I am working with a client and she asked for a left handed fountain pen.  I have never heard of such a creature!!  After a brief search on the IAP forums and net, the best that I see is to write slow, change your angle of writing, and use a fast drying ink. 
So, is there a left handed FP???


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## Jerryconn (May 12, 2014)

Lamy makes a left handed FP.  As far as I know it is all about the shape of the nib. Certain people can custom shape a nib for a "lefty" but there are several variations of left handed people. I am an "over the top", "broken wrist" lefty (maybe one of the more difficult leftys) and have little issues with regular inks.  The biggest issue for me is I "push" the nib a lot which can cause it to "dig in". This requires special shaping but it works.


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## Jim Burr (May 12, 2014)

There is such a monster, but it has more to do with the orientation of, and wear of the nib...kinda like a left handed stethoscope


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## Cmiles1985 (May 12, 2014)

They are sold next to the metric crescent wrenches, right?


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## PSNCO (May 12, 2014)

Hmmm,  My son and I are both left-handed.  He turned and assembled a fountain pen a couple weeks ago.  He and I both found that a fountain pen was much easier to write with than any other pen.


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## Dan Masshardt (May 12, 2014)

I'm lefty.  Reg fountain pen is fine for me.


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## gimpy (May 12, 2014)

I thought there was some thing wrong with you..........lol......my wife is a south paw too




Dan Masshardt said:


> I'm lefty.  Reg fountain pen is fine for me.


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## duncsuss (May 12, 2014)

rblakemore said:


> I am working with a client and she asked for a left handed fountain pen.  I have never heard of such a creature!!  After a brief search on the IAP forums and net, the best that I see is to write slow, change your angle of writing, and use a fast drying ink.
> So, is there a left handed FP???



Several pen companies have marketed left-handed nibs -- Osmiroid, Sailor, and others. You can sometimes find them on eBay or Amazon. Google "left handed fountain pen" and you'll see lots of results.

The Osmiroid units I'm thinking of are an exact thread match for the Esterbrook Renew-point nib units, so if you've got the tap for that you're all set. (That is, if you're making it custom/kitless -- if you want to use a kit, you'll have to find either somebody to make a custom section for you or find a nib/section with threads that match the kit components.)


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## mmyshrall (May 12, 2014)

So, Terry....

Are you being brave enough to say something is wrong with your wife if something is wrong with Dan?  :biggrin:  Just kidding... 

Sitting here laughing as I am a lefty who has no problems with a FP and have to admit initial puzzlement at the concept of a left handed FP.

Michael


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## duncsuss (May 12, 2014)

p.s. Note that Richard Binder wrote a great piece explaining why the concept is broken. There are several different styles of left-handed-writing, not all of them are amenable to using the "left handed nib" approach.


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## Jim Burr (May 12, 2014)

Cmiles1985 said:


> They are sold next to the metric crescent wrenches, right?


 
Stinker!!:wink: Being 100% ambidextrous is a bigger pain than most know. Even yesterday, took my wife out for a birthday breakfast...we both work night shift, and I stared at my plate...5 seconds pass..."Honey...use the other hand". I can't make up my mind which hand to use and just has to give me a start...she understands and it's her way of giving me a "kick" that so many wives live for!!:biggrin: I can write lefty...but it looks like crap!!


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## mick (May 13, 2014)

I heard,and I can't remember if was on the forum or not, there was something called an "oblique grind" to shape a "leftie" nib. Not knowing if this is even true I'll defer to our more knowledge members. I also recall Roy explaining the biggest difference in right and left handed people is a right handed person pulls the nib across the paper, laying down a line of ink, while a leftie pushes the nib through the line of ink making for a messier line laid down, not to mention causing increased pressure on the nib and catches in the fiber of the paper.

Sent from my HTC One


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## chriselle (May 13, 2014)

The problem is most lefties roll their wrists.  A lefty holding a fountain pen in the non rolled position where the nib is at about the 2 o'clock angle is perfectly matched for proper writing.  That angle is the reason right handed calligraphers have to use an oblique holder.  I'm a lefty and am constantly teaching other lefties how to hold a pen.


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## chriselle (May 13, 2014)

rblakemore said:


> I am working with a client and she asked for a left handed fountain pen.  I have never heard of such a creature!!  After a brief search on the IAP forums and net, the best that I see is to write slow, change your angle of writing, and use a fast drying ink.
> So, is there a left handed FP???



Yes....tell her all fountain pens are left handed..!!  And slap her for holding her pen wrong all these years....Just kidding..!!


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## Gord K. (May 13, 2014)

As already mentioned, Lamy has a left-handed nib, and so does another German fountain pen maker Online. I am a lefty underwriter and I have tried the Online Lefty fountain pen and found that it wrote too thick and wet a line for my writing style. I have a Lamy XF nib on my Lamy Safari fountain pen and Heritance fine nibs on a couple of kit pens and they work satisfactorily. The lefty nibs I am aware of seem to be more of a medium point and because I write small, I prefer a fine or extra fine.


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## Janster (May 14, 2014)

..they will ALL work great, just have the southpaws write , right to left!:biggrin:


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## Carl Fisher (May 14, 2014)

I've sold many fountain pens to left handed writers who have come up to me and said "I can't use a fountain pen because I'm left handed". It always comes down to something they have been told but never tested for themselves. Put a pen in their hand and to their shock it writes just fine.

About the only change a lefty may want to do is to use a faster drying ink if they drag their hand. Otherwise there is nothing functionally preventing the pen from working when in use by a lefty.

One caveat, this is for rigid nibs.  A flex nib may be an entirely different story.


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## Laurenr (May 16, 2014)

Nibs can be ground and adjusted for left handers. Most nibs are ground to be used by either left or right handed users. The problem is the drying time of the ink. Lefties do not like ruining shirts, and smeared writing, ...being the picky folks they are. There is nothing inherent in fountain pens that would preclude use by any writing style.

Lauren


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## plano_harry (Jun 2, 2014)

All fountain pens are left handed.  A disproportionate number of fountain pen users are left handed.  Is she a hooker?   As some have mentioned, the hand position is more of a factor than the handedness.  Here is the definitive answer from Richard Binder:
To the Point: Lighten Up!


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