J. Herbin Rollerball Fail

J. Herbin Rollerball

Sometimes, being left-handed really blows. I usually get this feeling whenever someone talks about fine calligraphy or rollerball pens. The classic Uni-Ball Vision rollerballs literally throw me into apoplexy because every time I try to use them, they skip, stutter or seize up completely. I believe that they were designed to roll for right-handed people but not lefties and I tend to avoid them. Somehow, when presented with the option of loading ink cartridges with fountain pen inks and using them with the J. Herbin refillable rollerball ($9.75) — I thought things might be different. As you can see from the writing sample above, I was wrong. Skipping, stuttering and generally making me a very unhappy writer.

J. Herbin Rollerball

To make sure that the issue was me and not the pen, my darling husband agreed to take the pen for a spin, pink ink and all. As you can see, it wrote fine for him though he did complain that it was clumping as he wrote, especially when he tried to write small.

So, the long and short of it is that you love the array of colors available in fountain pen inks, use a fountain pen.

Not recommended.

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  1. Are you a “pusher” or a “hooker”? No that’s not what you think. Do you write from beneath the line and push the pen or do you hook your hand over the top of the writing to pull the pen?
    Pushing tends to scrape the surface of the paper lifting the fibres and clogging the writing ball. Gel and water based rollerballs are more sensitive to this than oil based ballpoints.
    If you are a “pusher” this could explain why you have a problem with rollers.
    It’s another of those annoying things that seem to discriminate against southpaws.

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