[Lisa]

I'm looking for a decent entry level fountainpen, but I'm lefthanded.
In highschool I used to have a Pelikan lefthanded fountain pen and I was always very happy with it so I though I'd look for another Pelikan again.
I went trough 3 pens back then. One that was just heaven to write with but it broke after 5 years of heavy use, (no computers back then),one that was a cheaper model and had some sort of rubber grip. I didn't like it and bought another one of the same model I had for 5 years.

Anyway, no bookstore in my town has Pelikan pens anymore. And I don't know of any other brands that sell good lefthanded entry level models. I want one that has a grip for your indexfinger and thumb. With a ballpoint I always hold my pen wrong so I need something to help getting used to holding it right again. My guess is that the entry level school fountain pens would still have this.


I'm also wondering what makes a fountainpen lefthanded? Is it something in the tip, and the way you hold it if it has those lefthanded grips I was talking about?
Does lefthanded still matter with the more expensive ones?

Anyway, anyone got some tips for me. I'm thinking cheap as possible here. I remember my first Pelikan was 15 Guilders back then. That would translate to 7 or 8 dollars. But that was almost 20 years ago, so double that. I'm willing to go up a bit, but not much €25, maybe €30 tops.

Thunderstorm here now, so I'm going offline for now.

-edit-
I'm talking about pens and nice writing and my thread title had no capital letters.
Can a mod be so kind to change that? Please?

 

[Jahn]

They have Pelikan lefties in red, yellow, green and blue for 15 bucks!

Since this is in the USA, you can take this model (model number?) and search for it over there, they must carry it somewhere there if it's still in production and distributed here. Good luck!

 

[Lisa]

Thank. I also found lefthanded ones on the pelikan site but I can't find any place that sells them anymore.

 

[mrarroyo]

I have had very good luck buying all kinds of fountain pens and accesories at: www.levenger.com

 

[Jeff Wong]

Lisa - I'm also lefthanded. I was unaware that Pelikan made a lefthanded model. I used to use their 120 model religiously for drawing many years ago. I suspect the only thing that would make a pen lefthanded would be the angle of the end of the nib, which, through normal use will eventually wear down to an angle that works for you. When I was in college, David Levine, the legendary caricaturist, used my fountain pen to inscribe a book of his for me, and immediately asked if I was lefthanded; the nib dragged because of the naturally worn angle from my usage, and he was able to tell by feel because he is righthanded.

 

[Jahn]

A little FYI for left handed fountain pen writers!

 

[Lisa]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jeff Wong Lisa - I'm also lefthanded. I was unaware that Pelikan made a lefthanded model. I used to use their 120 model religiously for drawing many years ago. I suspect the only thing that would make a pen lefthanded would be the angle of the end of the nib, which, through normal use will eventually wear down to an angle that works for you. When I was in college, David Levine, the legendary caricaturist, used my fountain pen to inscribe a book of his for me, and immediately asked if I was lefthanded; the nib dragged because of the naturally worn angle from my usage, and he was able to tell by feel because he is righthanded.

It took me years to get that first pen to wear so it wrote uber smooth. With a righthanded pen it's gonna take me double that time. I've tried righthanded ones in the past and screwed up the paper and my hands were filled with ink afterwards.

I found a Dutch site where you can order all kinds of fountain pens and tick if you're left or righthanded. With right as default of course, just as 'man' is always default over 'woman' even though there are more women in the world (just something I thought about). Anyway, this indicated that they do sell at least one lefthanded pen. Not Pelikan though. But the problem is that you can tick lefthanded with almost all their products, also the ballpoints and even maglites. So I still don't know what pens are lefthanded.

Jahn has so far managed to outperform my google skills when it comes to lefthanded fountain pens. Thanks for that Jahn, keep up the good work.

 

[lini]

Lisa: Maybe this one helps: http://www.linkshandversand.de/defau...c2bb90adc5588e

Greetings from Hannover!

Manfred / lini

P.S.: I'm left-handed too, btw - but never had difficulties with fountain pens for the right-handed. However, I found that I prefer to use some upside down...

 

[Uncle Erik]

Dang, Jahn! You beat me to it! I saw the thread and nibs.com popped right into my head. Lisa, I'd recommend them. They show up at the LA Fountain Pen Show every year. I've met them and bought a pen or two from them as well. Good people and they will get you squared away- I'm left handed as well. They're Pelikan dealers, so if you don't see the pen you want on their site, ask if they'll order it for you.

As for pens with grips, I haven't seen that many available. However, you might be able to find a slip-on rubber grip you like and put it on the pen of your choice.

Also, most pens are fine for both hands, and if not, you can usually adapt them. Most pens are designed to be pulled along by the right hand, not the weird pushing and pulling us lefties do, depending on how you hook your hand and if you hook your hand. The nib has to be smooth for pushing and pulling, and many new ones will catch on the fibers a bit and splatter a little as it snaps back.

The only factory nib I know of that's made for lefties is a special left-handed medium oblique made by Omas. I picked one up a couple years ago, and it's a nice pen. Took over two months to get here since the US distributor doesn't stock them and it had to be ordered from Italy.

I think the one you used to have got sufficiently broken in. The good news here is that there's a shortcut. If you have an auto body supply store nearby, check to see if they have 2000 grit wet/dry sandpaper or finer and buy a sheet. Sanding a nib seems a scary proposition, but it really isn't. Just wet the sandpaper and write a few lines as you normally would on it. Wipe it off, then write on regular paper. If it isn't perfectly smooth, do it again. You won't hurt the pen, you'll just smooth the iridium a little. It works perfectly. If you have any trouble finding sandpaper, let me know and I'll send you a sheet.

Also, don't pass up the vintage/used pens. They are an excellent value for the money.

 

[Lisa]

Quote:

Originally Posted by lini Lisa: Maybe this one helps: http://www.linkshandversand.de/defau...c2bb90adc5588e Greetings from Hannover! Manfred / lini P.S.: I'm left-handed too, btw - but never had difficulties with fountain pens for the right-handed. However, I found that I prefer to use some upside down...

That's very helpfull. I had the predesessor(sp?) of this one:

Only the fillings (or what ever you call them in english, cartridges?) were just a tad different that the generic ones you can get anywhere. So I'll have to see if I can find them locally. The generic ones started leaking a lot. They were slightly longer so you couldn't fit another one in the bottom of the pen, which made the filling fit snug. And without a filling in the bottom of the pen it started to get loose after a while, or at least that's what I think was the cause.

P.S.
I'm an under the text writer myself.

 

[Lisa]

Well good news. They do sell the cartridges locally, but no lefthanded pens whatsoever.
I did send an email to that fountain pen site I mentioned earlier, asking for advise. We'll see what they say and otherwise I'll order from germany.

 

[Lisa]

Look what I found. :
http://www.anythingleft-handed.co.uk...artridges.html

 

[Lisa]

4th post in a row.

I got a really nice and informative email back from that fountain pen site. They told me that lefthanded fountain pens are a thing of the past. These days all fountain pens have round nib tips. But for lefthanded people they adjust the nib so it writes not too think and wet, that's why you can tick the lefthanded option with every pen. I also asked for recommendations in my pricerange and they said the 'Waterman Allure' and 'Apostrophe' are good value.
The guy sounded very much like he knew what he was talking about so I'm leaning towards ordering one of these two from them.

 

[KenW]

Okay...this is a joke, right? I'm a 48 year old lefty and have never heard of such a thing. Seriously...a pen specifically for lefties? Surely you jest.

 

[Lisa]

No, read the thread.
When I got the my first fountain pen (I was 13) it was like the most normal thing in the world. I needed a fountain pen, went to bookstore, they asked left or right and gave me a lefthanded one. The cheap normal fountain pens were a pain to write with back then. But all my righthanded friends could.