Left-handed Nib from Lamy

A look at the Lamy Left-Handed (LH) nib.

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The opinions are my own, based on my own experiences with the product. Not to be used for reference or as gospel.

[kellieashman]

I love how you say being a left handed FP user is some kind of witchcraft! I’m a left handed side writing and I use a standard nib with no real issues, except perhaps a bit of smudging from time to time. I’ve always thought LH nibs were a bit of a gimmick, seeing this I’m certainly prepared to change my mind. Thanks and best wishes from Tassie

[kevinu.k.]

EDITED: Thank you! You've answered something that was bugging me. You've also prompted me to take a closer look.

I am a leftie underwriter. I use Lamy Al-Stars quite a bit (Four in a range of colours for laying out annotated analyses). The left handed nibs are more commonly smoother out of the box for me, but the mediums can be just as good and the LH's can be scratchy.

One of the issues with Lame nibs is that there is quite a bit of variation in writing width and smoothness / scratchiness within a particular size if nib. The scratchy ones tame down quickly with some ten rolling figure of eights drawn on on mylar film, first with a 1mu and then a 0.5mu. Finishing with some good quality cardboard.

Using a x15 loop and looking at 4 LH nibs and 4M nibs:
The grind was consistent to LH or M.

There is no oblique grind on the LH nibs as you had supposed.

The difference between the nibs is seen as follows: Hold the nib horizontally at eye level. Looking at the side. Imagine the iridium(?) writing tip as a water droplet hanging down from the nib. The LH nibs have the forward lower edge of the 'ball' slightly more flattened. That is if you imagine pushing the pen along the paper in the direction of the tip, then that area is slightly flattened, or the curve eased. There are no differences looking at the tips dead on. e, g, pointing the tip straight at ones eye.

So, you are definitely right. What they call a LH nib is really a nib for LH over-writers who are doing quite a bit of pushing. Which is why I feel little difference between it and a M nib, as I am underwriter. That is my elbow hangs by my side and the paper is not quite square to my body.

Well I hope this is helpful to someone. Thank you for the great, and thought provoking video.

[SydMaven]

Wife and I both lefties. I turn my paper anticlockwise about 40deg. and write over the top to avoid smudging. She turns hers about the same clockwise but writes 'under.' Never had an issue with standard nibs (perhaps because we started with dip pens and ink wells at school.)
Thanks for the info. on lefty nibs regardless. Cheers.

[sandyl]

Thanks. This was very interesting. Lamy certainly is a smooth writer at a reasonable price. I appreciate your taking the time to address how left handed people can experience using a fountain pen differently from right handed folks. I enjoy your videos.

[barbarah-p]

Thanks for the video. It's really interesting. I'm a left-handed under writer. I never really thought much about using a left-handed nib. I have no problems with the nibs I do have on my fountain pens. I never considered writing with a fountain pen as a leftie, to be anything mysterious. Since I'm an under writer, I don't drag my hand through my writing. :)

[ellenowlin]

great video. i’m a sort of combo overhand and sidewriter so you’ve sold me on getting the lamy left handed nib. could feel that scratch of the right handed nib in my soul during the overhanded portion 😖

[gijsbertnoordam]

As a left overwriter, I do enjoy the LH Lamy nib, but for my style of writing, replacing an M with a F or EF has a more positive effect than the LH. What also appears to work well for me is the PVD coated Lamy nib, or the 1.1 mm.

[ashleyclark]

overhand writer who is just starting out here - noticed an immediate difference. felt like butter compared to any other pen.

[barbarawest]

This was interesting, Mick! I'm an overwriter and I bought a Safari with a regular <F> nib several years ago. I wasn't terribly impressed and have not used it much. But I got curious when the <LH> nibs appeared in the US, and bought another to try out.

You're right, I can't see any difference in the tip at all without using a magnifier or loupe. Even with one, the difference is barely detectable. But the darn thing does feel smoother to me than my older, conventional Safari nib.

[johnwhalen]

Incredibly interesting and helpful video. Only thing I didn’t get to see is what your hand looked like after 😂. My big question with fountain pens is if the age old lefty problem of ink all over ourselves is worse with these kinds of pens or if it’s about the same.

[joangreenfield]

I’m a left-handed overwriter and my smoothest nibs are from PenBBS. They call their standard nibs “Round Fine” (RF) and “Round Medium” (RM) — and they hit the paper beautifully from any angle.

[dominicajb]

Great video and long overdue! We need more writing technique videos for left handers, I find it can be tricky to imitate the fluid Spencerian cursive with my handwriting because of the angle and how much I have to extend the pen when writing cursive.
I switch with underhand but my nearest and most fluid writing is by overhand, although my arm cramps easier. Your handwriting Mick did look quite fluid when you wrote overhand too.
Thanks for the nib explanations and please do more left hander videos! :D

[martynsnan]

Fascinating. Thanks for the explanation, Michael.

[WantedVisual]

The LH nib actually does come standard on the Safari, Vista, Nexx and abc... But mostly in countries where stores order them for school supplies. Pelikan makes one, too, for their school-quality lineup, but that one, afaik, always has to be ordered in unless (maybe) the pen has an ergonomic grip molded to a left hand. Those nibs are about 30% less than Lamy nibs, though. Same is true for the A nib.

[ericshayhoward]

Thanks for this! I'm super new to fountain pens and have been thinking about this a lot. My issue is that I'm not really a predominately overwrite or underwriter or side writer - I tend to do whatever I need to do to keep my hand away from the ink, depending on where I am on the page. I guess if I HAD to pick one I did the most, it would be side writing, but that's probably just because of writing in small notebooks and journals, where my hand can align with the text off of the page and still reach the majority of the line width with the pen. But, I'm glad there's not much of a difference between the left-handed nibs and the regular nibs.

[Vee]

Thank you. I wanted to try another nib choosing between extra fine and left handed. As I’m an under writer I think the extra fine will give me a different experience. So this video was helpful.

[granolasteeve]

Great informative video. I'm a fountain n00b, a southpaw — and a recent Lemy user. Exactly what I suspected in that since I'm an 'underwriter', no real need to switch out for the LH nib...

[SimonDalziel]

Fantastic video, really informative. Exactly what I was looking for.

[cindyvermillion]

Thank you. I was just about to purchase a Lamy and this advice is helpful to me as a lefty.

[mikedavis]

thanks so much! Depending on where on the page i am, and how im sitting, and size of notebook or paper, i find myself switching between overhanded and underwriting. so this was very informative! :) 😁