Pens for "leftys"

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Twindaddy813

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I have a question that I was asked today that I didn't have an answer for so I hope you guys can help me out. I had a person ask me if I made pens for left handed people. I was a little confused by this question because I thought all pens were for either hand. I asked what he meant and he said that a lot of pens skip when writing left handed due to the angle the pen is held. I was wanting to know of this is a issue with the ink refill, or something else. So I hope maybe someone here has ran into this issue before and can help me out.

Thanks,
James
 
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I'm a lefty and have problems with fine point rollerball pens, they tend to feel a bit "scratchy" for me, and occasionally skip. My wife is a lefty and loves fine point rollerball pens. Left handed people "Push" the pen, so sometimes the point digs into the paper a bit and will skip depending on how hard they press and the angle. It's going to vary by person though.

The Schmidt 888 and easyflow 9000 work well for me without being too expensive, so I use them.

Keep different sizes on hand and let them test and choose which one they like.
 
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Another thing to consider is if you are doing pens that have a specific layout like a laser inlay pen. I assembled one for a customer and didnt think much when I pressed it together, but the customer was left handed so the graphic was facing the opposite direction. It's a question i'll ask from now on when the situation presents.

Kind of like a coffee cup handle for lefty's is facing away from the person drinking. Just my two cents.
 
I am a strong bias lefty and left eye dominant to match -

Not all left handers hold pens the same way -- some keep the wrist fairly straight, and some tend to curve it towards the body (some call it a crabbed grip). The movement patterns with the nib are different depending on how the pen is gripped.
 
My pens not only write left or right handed...they write in any language :eek:. I also take my coffee black with cream and sugar.
Seriously, for leftys I swap out the fine point rollerballs and replace it with a Pilot G2-10 refill. They fit right in there and have a bold line, impossible to dig in the paper. Try that and see it it works for you.
 
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I had a lefty use a cigar pen of mine and he told me it kept closing as a result of way it twists to open and close. Does anyone make one that won't close.
 
Smulax said:
I had a lefty use a cigar pen of mine and he told me it kept closing as a result of way it twists to open and close. Does anyone make one that won't close.
Click to expand...

Give him one that twists in the finial, or have him try a bolt action pen or a clicker?
 
I only offer my response because I have made a number of pens for "lefties", and I collaborated closely with them. As to sets that have graphics on them: I always turn the image toward the writer while in the writing position (nib down). Typically, as with most all folks, a pen is inspected in this position for not only its appearance but also its feel in the writing hand. As to the actual writing: the comments by the other left-handed members is so right. We were all taught to write left to right, which obviously favors right-handed folks. Lefties are forced to cross over their writing field as they proceed, and this causes issues with smearing inks. It is my understanding that this is why many use the "crab claw" technique of holding the pen. Obviously, when choosing a cartridge best suited, not only do they need the same smoothness and glide, but also a faster drying ink to minimize possible smearing. I apologize for the length of my reply, but I think this subject is well worth our attention.
 
I would suggest telling your kids and grandkids to be careful. Everyone is born right handed and stay that way until they make their first mistake. At least that's what I've been told.
 
I'm right handed and have trouble spelling with some pens, doesn't seem to matter what refill is in them.
Curt
 
True story. I am left handed. In military school, they tried and tried to make me write right handed. Now i can do both, but i am left handed, right eye dominate, and all sports are right handed. Anyway, yes although i love fine point pens. But i hate writing with them. I love .o5 pencils, but i rip the paper. And I only use the twist pens i make if the twist hardware is STIFF. If the hardware is a loose piece. Ummm, very easily twisted? I wont use them as they will retract as i am writing. I have made a pen for a co-workers wife. He didnt tell me she was a lefty. And she complained that the pen kept retracting. I asked if she was left handed. I asked him to return the pen and i replaced the twist hardware.
 
Funny, I'm left handed and I've never had problems with a twist pen retracting, and I use them all the time. Like TurtleTom, the reverse rifling in the 1911 never seemed to have a detrimental effect on my shooting so maybe I'm just lucky?
Others have talked about the various ways lefties write. I suspect some types (the "pushers") have much more trouble than others.
 
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