[JahJahBinks]

it has to do with the nib.

 

[KenW]

Wow...I honestly NEVER knew! All these years....

I can remember everyone from college through professional school telling me I could get left-handed accommodations but not one time did they ever come through. Always a lefty in a righty world. Now I find out about a lefty pen! I'm guessing it makes for less fatigue and less soreness to the fingers? I always thought those things were normal and what everyone else experienced!

Live and learn. I'm stunned such a thing actually exists! I'm also ashamed to say that I've also never heard of it!

 

[Jeff Wong]

I suspect the reason my Pelikan 120 worked reasonably well was:

1) It had a rounded nib.

2) I used it mostly for drawing.

Anytime I've tried to use a Crowquill dip pen, the parallel sharp points would spatter because of the lefty push/pull.

BTW - I'm also a under writer, but, tend to print, so, cursive isn't much of an issue.

 

[Lisa]

Yeah, I guess the rounded nib is the key. The cheap ones I tried didn't have that.
It's what Uncle Eric said:
Quote:

Also, most pens are fine for both hands, and if not, you can usually adapt them.

And the guy from the fountain pen store said basically the same thing.

And those crownquill dip pens you mentions were a nightmare. I had one as a young girl, but never realised that it was because I was lefthanded. In highschool our drawing teacher was a lefty so whenever we needed to do some of that fancy writing he gave me his special lefthanded pen to use.

 

[Lisa]

I think I made my decision.

This nice site vulpenhuis.nl seems to know what they're talking about. I get prompt and good informed answers to my e-mails, and the shipping and ingraving is free.

So what do you think, get the Waterman Allure for €19.

Or the Waterman Apostrophy at the top of my budget for €28.

The ingraving is gonna look like this, and if I go for the blue pen I'm not sure if it'll look nice.

Will the gold plating on the nib be a plus for breaking the pen in? Gold is softer and all.

What do you guys think?

 

[lini]

Lisa: To be true (but no offence meant...), I don't like either - somehow both designs seem to say "I want to be expensive, but I'm not.", and I'd rather prefer gold with red and silver with blue. How about the Parker Jotter, the Lamy Logo or the Lamy ST?

Greetings from Hannover!

Manfred / lini

 

[Jeff Wong]

The blue looks a little classier (sort of like lapis.) Are the nibs interchangeable? You could always try both and see if there's a difference in smoothness. The gold might be good in terms of corrosion, but, I doubt that'll be a big issue.

 

[Jeff Wong]

I agree with Manfred -- it's not the greatest looking pen, but, I prefer the blue between the two and also think silver would look better with it. But, the true test is how it feels to you... which I guess you won't know until you try it.

 

[Lisa]

Quote:

Originally Posted by lini Lisa: To be true (but no offence meant...), I don't like either - somehow both designs seem to say "I want to be expensive, but I'm not.", and I'd rather prefer gold with red and silver with blue. How about the Parker Jotter, the Lamy Logo or the Lamy ST? Greetings from Hannover! Manfred / lini

I don't like the parker looks. But I can see what you mean about the Lamy. I'm considering these two because that email that I got was impressive. Short yet complete info and very well explained. Makes me think that the guy knew what he was talking about. He recommended these two. I've got this thing with red so that's why the red but the red of the apostrophy was not so nice, with that one the blue was best.
Plus I look expensive but I'm not.

Seriously, I have a 1930s face. And my hair almost always looks like it's straight from a silent movie. So these pens would kind of fit me.

-edit-
I think I'll go with the blue one. The other is metal and I think I like light weight better when writing.

 

[mikeliao]

Gold or any other plating won't make a difference to the writing feel or help it break in any faster.

I write with both left and right hand and press a little heavier than average...but not enough to damage the nibs. For right hand, I prefer softer nibs as I can control the pressure better. For left hand, I find most 18k nibs are just too soft and catch far too easily. 14k seems to work okay depending on the pen, but still catches on occassion. Steel nibs work best for my left hand. Have to watch out for the flow and paper though. Too much ink or low density paper and I usually end up ripping the page.

A bit more expensive, but I've always liked the Namiki Vanishing points as a daily writer. I carry them in my pant pocket and never had one leak yet.

 

[Lisa]

Well, I ended up ordering the green Apostrophe.

 

[lini]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lisa Well, I ended up ordering the green Apostrophe.

Just took a look at the pic: Yup, that looks nice - the green and gold go well together.

Greetings from Hannover!

Manfred / lini

 

[Lisa]

Glad it meets your approval, lini.

I had a closer look and searched for different pictures and some of the blue ones in those pictures looked nice and some looked awful. And the green ones all looked nice, plus green and gold go better together.

Anyway, it arrived.

Had it ingraved and I was a bit afraid that it would look a bit off but they put gold paint in the ingraving and it looks really nice.
I need to get used to a fountain pen again. But after two pages of writing, it's already starting to feel much better.

P.S.
lini, I don't know if you're still planning to send that PS, but it'd still be welcome.

 

[GlendaleViper]

I'm a little late to this, but I would HIGHLY recommend a Japanese make at this price point. They tend to work best with (you guessed it) Japanese pigments which, in my experience tend to alleviate some of the pitfalls of fountain pens in the hands of a lefty, ie: Streaking, torn pages, flooded tips. Also, I find the quality of manufacture to be much higher than the european makes until you really start to climb the price ladder. May not look as classy, but you can still find some really nice stuff.

 

[lini]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lisa Glad it meets your approval, lini. (...) P.S. lini, I don't know if you're still planning to send that PS, but it'd still be welcome.

Always at your service, my dear young lady from the Lands of Nether.

And yes, I even told you so recently in another thread on a sidenote - as well as that I was still in need of inspiration for an extra to include, but I think I've got an idea now...

Greetings from Hannover!

Manfred / lini