Looking for quick drying ink for a Lefty in UK

[C-InPenmanship]

I bought my nephew, who lives in Ireland, a Chinese fountain pen that takes 3.4 refills, not knowing he was a lefty! I've only been to Ireland twice since he was born, so I'm not THAT bad of an aunt! Anyway, he's using it anyway, but I can only imagine what it looks like. I want to buy him some quick drying ink on Amazon UK. Quink is prohibitively expensive from the site, however, European brands, IMO, are relatively cheap. I prefer cartridges, but beggars can't be choosers and he has a converter that his parents can fill for him. Any help is appreciated. 

[XYZZY]

1 hour ago, C-InPenmanship said:

I bought my nephew, who lives in Ireland, a Chinese fountain pen that takes 3.4 refills, not knowing he was a lefty! I've only been to Ireland twice since he was born, so I'm not THAT bad of an aunt! Anyway, he's using it anyway, but I can only imagine what it looks like. I want to buy him some quick drying ink on Amazon UK. Quink is prohibitively expensive from the site, however, European brands, IMO, are relatively cheap. I prefer cartridges, but beggars can't be choosers and he has a converter that his parents can fill for him. Any help is appreciated. 

 

Can you clarify what you meant by "fountain pen that takes 3.4 refills"?  Maybe there is a typo there and I don't understand?

I'm a lefty as well, I know some of the problems, but my problems don't seem to be as bad as what other people write about, or maybe I'm more tolerant.  Which is why it would be good to know what problems your nephew is having and what ink he is currently using.

 

For myself, I don't so much seek out fast drying inks, instead trying to avoid the really slow drying inks.  In general that means avoiding inks with a lot of sheen.  Sheening inks also have a way of smudging even after they are dry, so if your nephew is a side-writer or over-writer that will be a problem.  But that's where my focus is, and it might irrelevant for your nephew.

 

This might be more than you ever wanted to know about lefties... there are many types of left-handed writers, and nibs.com has a nice page illustrating some types from back when John Mottishaw owned the company:  https://www.nibs.com/content/left-handed-writers.  I'm closest to #3, your nephew may be complete different.  I think the ink dry time is a problem for people that are side-writers or over-writers.  That really has little to do with being left handed: there are also right-handed side-writers and over-writers and they have problems with smudging ink, too.  It's just that for whatever reason left-handed people are commonly over- or side-writers, and for right-handed people it seems to be a rarity.  I don't know if the differences are natural: it might be that the teachers of right-handed children make an effort to train kids into being under-writers, but when they have left-handed kids they give up because, apparently, we are confounding.  I am confounding, but not because of being left-handed 😜

[C-InPenmanship]

13 minutes ago, XYZZY said:

 

Can you clarify what you meant by "fountain pen that takes 3.4 refills"?  Maybe there is a typo there and I don't understand?

I'm a lefty as well, I know some of the problems, but my problems don't seem to be as bad as what other people write about, or maybe I'm more tolerant.  Which is why it would be good to know what problems your nephew is having and what ink he is currently using.

 

For myself, I don't so much seek out fast drying inks, instead trying to avoid the really slow drying inks.  In general that means avoiding inks with a lot of sheen.  Sheening inks also have a way of smudging even after they are dry, so if your nephew is a side-writer or over-writer that will be a problem.  But that's where my focus is, and it might irrelevant for your nephew.

 

This might be more than you ever wanted to know about lefties... there are many types of left-handed writers, and nibs.com has a nice page illustrating some types from back when John Mottishaw owned the company:  https://www.nibs.com/content/left-handed-writers.  I'm closest to #3, your nephew may be complete different.  I think the ink dry time is a problem for people that are side-writers or over-writers.  That really has little to do with being left handed: there are also right-handed side-writers and over-writers and they have problems with smudging ink, too.  It's just that for whatever reason left-handed people are commonly over- or side-writers, and for right-handed people it seems to be a rarity.  I don't know if the differences are natural: it might be that the teachers of right-handed children make an effort to train kids into being under-writers, but when they have left-handed kids they give up because, apparently, we are confounding.  I am confounding, but not because of being left-handed 😜

 

[C-InPenmanship]

Thank you! This helps a lot! From what I had read previously in different places, I, as a Righty, had gleaned that it was impossible to write with a fountain pen if one was a Lefty. I stand corrected. He IS writing with the fountain pen so perhaps he's not having difficulties. He's only 9 so I bought him erasable ink cartridges and erasers. The reason I said 3.4 cartridges is because that's what it said on the package. They're from China. I bought them on Aliexpress US. I mainly use converters and just last week discovered that I got cartridges for Christmas that I don't have pens for. I appreciate you taking the time to explain this to me. Take care.

[XYZZY]

Oh there are many lefties on FPN.  Somebody recently suggested that the percentage of left-handed users using fountain pens might be greater than the percentage of right-handed users.  I can't seem to find that post though, so don't remember where it lies on the spectrum of fact to wild-guess.

[Lithium466]

3,4mm opening cartridges, so you can possibly use Parker (providing they are not too long to fit), Lamy (and the Online Kombi or Monteverde variants), or go to the source and buy some Chinese cartridges. 
You can find some 100 packs of Jinhao (be careful as they also have 2,6mm cartridges), or my favourite, the Hero 359...which is a nice quick drying (but also quite dry feeling) iron gall ink, maybe not recommendable for a kid.

Otherwise the Jinhao standard blue erasable do the job and will be as quick drying as Parker Quink blue or Lamy blue.

[arcfide]

In my experience, erasable blue inks tend to be quite good at drying quickly, and so they would likely work well, so you may have already bought him what he needs. 

[WalterC]

Jetpens reviews inks. They list the fastest drying inks as Noodler's Polar blue, Polar brown and Polar green, but note that they may feather. Jetpens fast drying inks. I've used Polar black, but did not notice that it was fast drying.

[Mercian]

On 6/13/2024 at 10:25 PM, C-InPenmanship said:

I bought my nephew, who lives in Ireland…

 

I want to buy him some quick drying ink on Amazon UK. Quink is prohibitively expensive from the site, 

I just want to check something with you:

Does your nephew live in Northern Ireland (which is a part of the UK), or does he live in Eire (the Republic of Ireland), which is part of the EU?

 

I ask because, since Brexit, Amazon UK would charge VAT on the price of item plus price of delivery for anything that is being sent from them (in the UK) to a recipient who is inside the EU.

 

If your nephew lives in Eire, you may be able to get Quink (or other ink) for him less expensively if you buy it from a retailer that is inside the EU Customs Union.

 

Also, if he has a converter, it’s worth bearing in mind that buying ink in cartridges costs about five-to-six times as much per ml as does buying ink in bottles.
Cartridges are easier to switch e.g. during a lesson at school, or (later in life) a lecture at university, but filling one’s converter from a bottle when at home, and then carrying a spare cartridge to school, is what I would recommend.
Especially if he can’t easily get hold of the Chinese 3.4mm-mouth cartridges where he lives.

 

His parents will thank you if you restrict your inky gifts to ‘washable’ inks.
No parent wants their son to ruin his school uniform shirts by spilling ‘permanent’ inks on them!
If you can’t get Quink ‘Washable Blue’ cheaply, and bottled ink would be suitable for him, I would get him either Pelikan 4001 Königsblau (Royal Blue) or Lamy Blue. Those are the ‘washable blue’ inks that are used by many, many schoolchildren in Germany.
Or Waterman ‘Serenity Blue’.

 

Slàinte,
M.

[yazeh]

Even thought I'm a fan of Polar Brown and Green, I would not recommend them for a 9 year old. The parents will not be happy. It binds to clothes/wood if it drips.

 

He must also use a preppy, as these inks need well sealed pens and Chinese pens have weak seals in general. I think at this age, cartridges are the best options

[Revekah]

If you want a quick-drying ink, you might want to look at some European brands like Pelikan or Lamy. They tend to dry faster and work well in most pens. Conway Stewart has some lovely inks too, if you're ever looking to try something new. Your nephew should be sorted with those!