Want to Buy Beginner fountain pen, Calligraphy bits

MattKing said:

I can barely hold a pen in my right hand - not much chance of my righting with one in that hand.
So even the nuns would have given up!
The story is that Canada has a higher than average percentage of left handed males. That is most likely due to how advantageous being left handed is for those playing hockey .
One fun fact (??): historically, left handed people score statistically better on IQ tests. Most likely that is because traditional IQ tests rewarded persistence, and if you are still left handed after all the attempts to change you, you are really persistent!

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I think there are more left-handed baseball players.

guangong said:

Matt, I admire your resistance. My aunt told me that before school I was left handed. I am now ambidextrous.

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My grandmother was right handed but sewed with her left hand. I'm right-handed but hold my playing cards as a left-handed person.

eli griggs said:

The one where a 3# cut of shellac is the ideal glue for replacing sacs (latex or silicone) in old fountain pens.

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Regular shellac flakes dissolved in alcohol OK? Have long been aware of shellac being used as an adhesive (Permatex automotive gasket adhesive, in old Soviet cameras, for attaching rubberized silk fabric to rollers), but never thought of it in this particular application, didn't know if other additives were needed.

guangong said:

Matt, I admire your resistance. My aunt told me that before school I was left handed. I am now ambidextrous.

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Not resistance - adaptability.
I never actually had any pressure to try to change. The world, however, is full of examples of things that are better designed for the right-handed.
Fountain pens (in a left to right writing world, and Hasselblads being two examples .
Whereas Mamiya medium format equipment is eminently usable.
There are many things I can do quite well - including driving a manual transmission car, shifting with my right hand. I just can't easily use my right hand to change the station on the radio.
I'm not sure how accurate this is, but apparently when I was first diagnosed (cerebral palsy) back in my infancy, the tests led the specialists to opine that I would otherwise have been right handed.

4season said:

Regular shellac flakes dissolved in alcohol OK? Have long been aware of shellac being used as an adhesive (Permatex automotive gasket adhesive, in old Soviet cameras, for attaching rubberized silk fabric to rollers), but never thought of it in this particular application, didn't know if other additives were needed.

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Yes, regular Shellac flakes in alcohol.

Instead of denatured alcohol though, I use Everclear liquor, highest alcohol content, iirc, 95% and orange Shellac flakes.

This works well and I don't like denatured alcohol sitting around for some kid to sicken themselves with nor the denaturing materials in it.

I adapted this habit when I had my open studio space in a place with handycapped kids in art classes and it works well.

4season said:

Regular shellac flakes dissolved in alcohol OK? Have long been aware of shellac being used as an adhesive (Permatex automotive gasket adhesive, in old Soviet cameras, for attaching rubberized silk fabric to rollers), but never thought of it in this particular application, didn't know if other additives were needed.

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It's also used to isolate small electrical wires and was used with paper wraps in some old household electrical wiring.

MattKing said:

Us left-handed writers read this thread with horror and trepidation .

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A traditional fountain pen nib is fine, but of course the wide and thin parts of the letters are reversed. As a lefty myself when I did calligraphy I had to use left handed nibs to get the orientation correct- worked just fine. I think I used Speedball nibs for the fancy stuff.

eli griggs said:

It's also used to isolate small electrical wires and was used with paper wraps in some old household electrical wiring.

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I've learned something new today, thanks!

juan said:

I have a Parker Duofold from the 20s with a crack through the gold nib. I understand that can be repaired if I don't mind ruining the engraving on the nib, which I don't. Anybody have any experience with someone who can do this repair?

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I believe there is/are at least one vendor (vendors) that can do this at fountain pen shows, and they use a special cutting tool to cut/recut the nib's ink slit correctly.