Experiment with Fountain Pens

I thought this article might be of interest to members here.
Has information for left handed people and right handed people.
Debbi

(by debbiavon1 for
everyone)


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  1. I am a lefthanded writer as well.  Some of what he talks about I have experienced.  Primarily the fact that Levenger makes a lousy pen.  I bought several over the years and each had an ink flow problem.  Some of the pens were not exactly cheap.  I found that most of my upstrokes wouldn't make an line.  That experience made me think that I was not meant for the fountain pen. When I found the "Gregg Shorthand" Whal-Eversharp I found that it was mostly Levenger that caused me the problems.  The Whal writes very smoothly and makes a steady line.  The Whal is about 80 years old — it was made around 1928.  It is smooth on the paper.  I don't find that I have any problem dragging my hand through the notes.  The inks I use are pretty fast drying.  I don't find that it is necessary to flip the nib over to write.  Some of the things he talks about are just a result of his not knowing that using a fountain pen is slightly different than using a ballpoint pen.  It took me a while to get the hang of it. 

  2. You're right.  Couldn't be more embarassing. The Wahl was quite a find.  I was very jazzed that it had the Gregg emblem on it.  When I got it, the lever didn't work and the clip was missing from the cap.  I did a little searching and I was lucky enough to find a fountain pen enthusiast near my office who fixed it up, polished it up, and replaced the clip.  Syd told me that the pen was manufactured around 1928.  It has a No. 2 Manifolding point.  It's a great writing pen.   I recently found one of my old Shaeffer cartridge fountain pens.  I've been using that a lot lately.  For an obscenely cheap pen it writes pretty well.  This pen is literally old enough to vote.  I used to have a bunch of them.  I wish I had been more prudent.

  3. Just a quick correction:  It's "Wahl", not "Whal".  When I was a kid my dad had a Wahl fountain pen that lived in his desk drawer . . . it was always an object of great admiration for me, with its gold nib.  It's long gone . . . wish I still had it!   Alex

  4. Debbi: I have been using fountain pens for many, many years, and so far, the best one is a disposable I found on Amazon.  It's the PILOT fountain pen called "Varsity".  No refilling – just use and toss – and cheap enough so you can get bunches and use them freely.  I'm left-handed, but when I took my first stenography class in the early 60's, I forced myself to hold the pen "up and down" and not with my hand "hooked" over, the way many left-handers write.  Anyway, I love the Pilot Varsity pens – so much better than all the "new fangled" gel pens, felt tips, etc., etc. –Joseph

  5. That's funny.  I also modified my writing position because of my lefthandedness.  I turn my writing material on its side and basically write in and upward direction.  When I was in school my watch would get caught in the sprial binding so I started gradually adjusting the position of the notebook.    "Why didn't you just take off your watch?" you might ask?  I don't have a good answer.  It stopped the hook position for me.  🙂   I've seen the Varsity pens.  I'll have to give them a go.

  6. I have used the Pilot Disposable. They are quite good I have to admit. Nice consistent, and a big ink cartridge since you are filling up the whole barrely instead of just that little tube that you buy in packs of 5.

    Still disposable sucks. Liquid Ink runs out quite quickly and if you're writing heaps of shorthand or anything else, you'll have to chuck out a whole pen every week or two. I'm not an environmentalist, but boy those pens have to be shaped and glued and shipped. If only they made fountain pen cartridges which were a bit bigger. The ones for my fountain pen are so tiny its almost not worth buying them.

  7. Michael,

    Have you ever thought of getting Consumers Reports to pay you to
    test and evaluate the major pen name brands?

    Richard Harper

    On Fri, Jun 13, 2008 at 2:04 AM, MICHAEL_LISITSA
    wrote:
    > New Message on Gregg Shorthand
    >
    > Exerpiment with Fountain Pens
    >
    > Reply
    > Reply to Sender Recommend Message 7 in Discussion
    > From: MICHAEL_LISITSA
    > I have used the Pilot Disposable. They are quite good I have to admit. Nice
    > consistent, and a big ink cartridge since you are filling up the whole
    > barrely instead of just that little tube that you buy in packs of 5.
    >
    > Still disposable sucks. Liquid Ink runs out quite quickly and if you're
    > writing heaps of shorthand or anything else, you'll have to chuck out a
    > whole pen every week or two. I'm not an environmentalist, but boy those pens
    > have to be shaped and glued and shipped. If only they made fountain pen
    > cartridges which were a bit bigger. The ones for my fountain pen are so tiny
    > its almost not worth buying them.
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  8. If you're interested in fountain pens, there is a very active forum. http://www.fountainpennetwork.com

    Left-handed writers do not need left-handed nibs. That is one of those "the earth is flat" thoughts which rears its ugly head again and again.

    Left-handed writers simply turn the paper a bit clockwise.

    Overwriters, whether left-handed or right-handed, need quick-drying ink to keep from smearing what they have just written.

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