Grind for Left Handers

[Royco]

I have tried to find something on this topic before posting but cannot find what I am looking for.

A left-hander wants me to turn a pen for him but the nib must be specially ground. Is it worth trying to do this myself or is it very tricky?

Thus far I have only performed basic tine alignment and light polishing with 4000 and 6000 grit Micromesh, with good results. I am nervous to try real heavy grinding.

Also I see that there are many styles of left-handed writing so I need to check with him.

Anyone here with experience in this field? Some guidelines would be much appreciated

[ParramattaPaul]

As a left handed writer, I have to ask why the nib 'must be specially ground'?  Has he explained in what way must it be ground and why?

[brokenclay]

This may have less to do with the person being left-handed, and more to do with the person wanting something very particular. You'll need to ask the person what s/he particularly wants. Merely knowing that s/he is left handed is not enough information.

(left handed overwriting user of ordinary nibs)

[Royco]

Thanks everyone. Interesting. I'll have to see if he is a push, pull, over or under writer. I suppose left handers just need to adapt to the nib angle as do right handers.

[ParramattaPaul]

Both of us who responded earlier are. Left-handed. Neither of us use specially modified nibs.

 

Is it possible that your customer believes he needs a modified nib having used nibs marketed for lefties, but hasn't tried a quality nib?

 

I will add that my experience through observation has been that the majority of the 'Left-handed' pens have ergonomic grip sections  and little else.

[Royco]

OK, I will tell him. Seems like a perfect opportunity to destroy a good nib! Not going to do it.

[Leftytoo]

I'm left-handed. There are two types of left handers: 1) those who hold the pen the same as a right hander, but in their left hand. In this case the barrel of the pen points towards the writer and the nib points away from the writer. In this case a special nib is probably not needed, especially if it is F, M, or B, which are semi-spherical and symmetrical. 2) those who hold their pen above the paper and then twist their wrist so the nib points back towards them and the barrel of the pen points away: a "Hooker". This is me. Why do something so crazy? So we can see what we are writing; otherwise our writing is hidden behind our wrist. Ideally, we would write right to left to avoid this problem. There is a issue here. When we make vertical strokes, we start at the top of the letter and push the pen towards our body. Thus the nib is trying to plow a rut into the paper and the tines are being squeezed closed and shutting off ink flow. For a right hander, no problem, you are dragging the nib towards you and the ink slit is naturally spreading and allowing ink to flow. Maybe 70% of unmodified nibs work for me. But I once bought a stub nib from a major manufacturer, inked it up, started writing, and nothing happened. Had to return it. I have, since, become quite good at modifying nibs to work perfectly.

 

The attached photo is a Bexley Bold nib modified by the wonderful Pendelton Brown to a Right Oblique Italic. The Left tine is longer than the right tine (look at your foot). This allows both tines to be in contact with the paper; otherwise one tine would be in the air. Also, this rotates the nib so that vertical strokes are wide and horizontal are thin which is the definition of stubs and italics. BTW, I see nibs being advertised for "left-handers" without says which type. I'm not sure what these nibs are.

 

In summary, first decide which type of left-hander you are. Each is a unique situation. Second, do you want to venture into Stubs and Italics? Do you want a pen that writes perfectly for you? Then you might consider modified nibs.

Bob

[ParramattaPaul]

Left-footed, as another Left-handed writer and one who has transitioned from an 'overwrite to an underwriter, I would suggest that your experience is unique to you. 

 

I experienced nibs digging in when I was an overwriter.  However, I  discovered that it was the result of the pen being held too upright and excessive pressure, and not how I wrote. All that was required was changing how I held the pen (less vertically) and decreasing the pressure I applied.   Now, as then I use unmodified pens with no problems at all.

[Royco]

Very interesting guys. I will convince my friend to use a standard nib!

[Aysedasi]

As a leftie underwriter, I don't have any problem with 'ordinary' nibs (other than really fine nibs), but I do find I write best with smooth left oblques, ideally OB.  

[Bo Bo Olson]

Very non-expert right hander advice.....

Could get him a nail right foot oblique........in a nail can be push pulled.

But I suspect he'd have to know more about nibs.

 

Some left handed folks have a want for a right foot oblique.....as a right hander, with a lot of obliques have only left foot ones. (Hard to find)

 

As a right hander, with a wife who is extremely left eye dominate.....would have been a left hander in a civilized land, but grew up in a time in Germany when left handers were punished, so learned to write right handed. She cants a fountain pen to the extreme.

 

That was a key to my theory that there are many right handers with dominate left eyes, so wanting to see the top of the nib, rotate/cant the nib to the side, until they do see the top clearly. For them a modern nail oblique does well...........same with vintage semi-flex.

 

So do check how he holds the nib, to how much of the top he wants to see with his left eye.

What happens if he's right eye dominate? Bound to be some left handers that way.

[pitonyak]

Bo Bo Olson, now you have me thinking about the fact that I am Right Handed and VERY left eye dominate. When I shoot a right handed bow, I must wear an eye patch. Sighting a gun with my right eye is tricky at best. I track with my left eye rather than both so I cannot hit (and often catch) a baseball. I had never given a thought to my writing.... 

 

My first fountain pen was given to me by a friend and I knew nothing about fountain pens. It worked, but it was never a good writer for me. One day, a friend of a friend looked at my pen and said "well, you do know that this pen is meant for left handed people, right?"

 

I had no idea if I should believe him or not. Years later, I pulled out and identified the pen as: 

 

221P, where the P designates the pen as a cartridge filler. This is distinguished from the 320 based on the wing shaped opening of the nib section and the double cap bands. The nib says 585 and "The nib looks like it may be an oblique medium (OM) tip. If so, these are relatively uncommon and add something to the market vale, should you choose to sell."

 

Pictures and identification here: 

http://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/333015-1980s-identification/#entry4004320

 

 

I decided that I do not care for an Oblique Medium nib on a Mont Blanc, well, probably on any pen really. My Mother gave me her old Shaffer that she used in College and that worked much better for me. Don't get me wrong, I used that pen for a long time, I just do not care for the nib. Someday I will part with it perhaps, but it was my first and given to me by a very close friend. 

 

So, it was suggested to me that an Oblique nib is meant for a lefty (by the friend of a friend), but he never actually told me why he thought it was for a left handed person, just that my pen was. 

 

 

[Bo Bo Olson]

I don't know the exact year of a 221 P.

If someone can ID that to '50's-70, could be it is a semi-flex.

Exact nib size and if oblique is something  MB don't do much of now. My '52-54 only 2341/2 Deluxe has pen model and KOB....Kugal Oblique Broad on the barrel.

If '50-70 could be semi-flex, if '70-80-90 will be regular flex, and there will not be much line variation.

There are enough folks with left eye dominance or left handers who automatically cant the pen, that an oblique helps. 

My wife said the German school system taught them to cant the pen when she was young, in the days when TV was new to the Germans.

.............

If you don't cant an Oblique of any thickness, it will write scratchy unless it's an OB then it can be a tad scratchy.

My Pelikan 140 OB required just the slightest touch of cant, in it was a broad nib so there was more tipping, and smoother. Hadn't even realized I had canted the nib, the cant angle was so slight.

OF and OM require a precise cant or they Will be Scratchy!!

When I got my OF, I learned about canting the nib until it no longer was scratchy.

 

Cant or as many refer to it, rotating the nib. Is turning the nib somewhat to the side instead of straight even. How much cant matters.

 

To have the nib sit properly at an angle on the paper, there is a trick.

First hold the nib up to the light and see if it looks like a 15 degree angle or a 30 degree angle.

There are a few 30 degree angle obliques out there mostly in vintage '50-1970 Pens. Those were semi-flex. MB started making regular flex in @ 1970.

 

If 15 degree grind, as you post the cap, aim the clip half way between the slit and the right shoulder. Grip the pen in air, aiming the clip along the half way line. That cants your nib exactly as much as needed to put the nib flat to the paper.....do not make any adjustments one the nib has hit the paper....It Is the proper angle for smooth writing.

Put the pen to paper and write; don't do anything fancy; no twisting the hand, arm or hanging from a chandler .

 

If your pen has a 30 degree grind, aim the clip at the right hand shoulder of the nib. Grip in air, and put to paper and write.

 

 

A couple years after I came up with this trick.....I had a Mercedes, Black Chased Hard Rubber pen(named after the owner who had worked at MB, not the car) and put it to paper like any other pen....it was scratchy!!!! Grumble cubed.....was reaching for the micro-mesh, when I realized (read) it was an OM..

 

Posted cap so the clip was half way between the shoulder and the slit.....suddenly wrote smooth.

Try that before getting rid of you MB.

 

Oh, I forgot; some folks were still having problems with obliques, Richard Binder added if oblique don't work for you, place the paper straight up at 90 degrees or straight flat at 180 degrees instead of at the normal 45 degrees.

[Newjelan]

On 2/12/2021 at 2:36 AM, Aysedasi said:

As a leftie underwriter, I don't have any problem with 'ordinary' nibs (other than really fine nibs), but I do find I write best with smooth left oblques, ideally OB.  

As a fellow leftie underwriter, I have to agree with you. 👍🏻

[Aysedasi]

6 hours ago, Newjelan said:

As a fellow leftie underwriter, I have to agree with you. 👍🏻

 

Hey, that's two people who have agreed with me this week.  Must be a record! 

[Royco]

Wow, glad this elicited some interesting discussion! My challenge is, I make pens and special nibs are almost impossible to find for kit pens. 

I have done basic nib setups and polishing but would be scared to try a radical grind. Also, we live in a distant land called South Africa and sending anything by courier costs about $30 US each way. That is, to a specialist nibsmith as mentioned elsewhere here.