Sheaffer Skrip Blue - Slovenia Production

[Sandy1]

Please take a moment to adjust the brightness & contrast of your monitor to accurately depict this Gray Scale.

As the patches are neutral gray, their colour on your monitor should also be neutral gray.

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Figure 1.

Gray Scale.

http://i783.photobucket.com/albums/yy116/Sandy1-1/InkyThoughts2010/INK576-1.jpg

Figure 2.

Swabs & Swatch

Paper: HPJ1124 24 lb. Laser Copy.

http://i783.photobucket.com/albums/yy116/Sandy1-1/InkyThoughts2010/Ink%20Review%20-%20Sheaffer%20Skrip%20Blue%20-%20Slovenia/INK919.jpg

Figure 3.

NIB-ism LINK

Depicts nib's line-width and pens' relative wetness.

 

WRITTEN SAMPLES: Moby Dick

 

Row Height is 8mm.

 

Figure 4.

Paper: HPJ1124.

http://i783.photobucket.com/albums/yy116/Sandy1-1/InkyThoughts2010/Ink%20Review%20-%20Sheaffer%20Skrip%20Blue%20-%20Slovenia/INK926.jpg

Figure 5.

Paper: Rhodia.

http://i783.photobucket.com/albums/yy116/Sandy1-1/InkyThoughts2010/Ink%20Review%20-%20Sheaffer%20Skrip%20Blue%20-%20Slovenia/INK927.jpg

Figure 6.

Paper: G Lalo, Verge de France, white.

http://i783.photobucket.com/albums/yy116/Sandy1-1/InkyThoughts2010/Ink%20Review%20-%20Sheaffer%20Skrip%20Blue%20-%20Slovenia/INK928.jpg

Figure 7.

Paper: Royal, 25% rag.

http://i783.photobucket.com/albums/yy116/Sandy1-1/InkyThoughts2010/Ink%20Review%20-%20Sheaffer%20Skrip%20Blue%20-%20Slovenia/INK929.jpg

Figure 8.

Grocery List

Paper: Pulp. One-a-Day calendar page.

http://i783.photobucket.com/albums/yy116/Sandy1-1/InkyThoughts2010/Ink%20Review%20-%20Sheaffer%20Skrip%20Blue%20-%20Slovenia/INK925.jpg

 

OTHER SAMPLES:

 

Figure 9.

• 'HAPPY!' on Glossy Card.
• Smear/Dry Time on Glossy Paper.
• Smear/Dry Time on HPJ1124.
• Wet Tests on HPJ1124.
• Wet Tests on Royal.

http://i783.photobucket.com/albums/yy116/Sandy1-1/InkyThoughts2010/Ink%20Review%20-%20Sheaffer%20Skrip%20Blue%20-%20Slovenia/INK920.jpg

 

GENERAL DESCRIPTION:

 

Type:

• Dye-based fountain pen ink.

Daily writer?

• Quite possible.

A go-to ink?

• Yes - when an active cool colour is requred.

USE:

 

Business:

• The ink is animated.
• It may be seen by some as too pale/light and lacking gravitas. (??)
• Not quite enough zip for mark-up, editing, etc.
• Does not suit error correction or grading of assignments - not enough zap.
• Retains its appearance across most papers, except the G Lalo (hard & dry), so may be fine for a 'personal' ink to be used with a given pen (work horse daily writer) and all manner of paper.

Illustrations / Graphics:

• Quite possible.
• It would be good for smaller areas especially when paper and pen are dry generating a pale Blue, at which density the Blue tends to be overtaken by the violet.

Students:

• Possible.
• Runs well on all sampled papers.
• It might be available at stationery shops, so cost avoidance of shipping expense may be possible.

Personal:

• Easily done.
• If one uses Blue for personal correspondence, SSB attracts but does not fully engage the reader.
• While not my choice for grim topics, changing between wet and dry writers alters the density, (light-dark), and so convey different nuances of expression.
• For pro forma business writing, a Blue-Black may be preferred.
• When the ink is pale, modest billet doux are within reach.
• If I were to receive a personal letter written in this ink, I'd be happy all right, but have the feeling that the writer is keeping the 'really really good stuff' for some one else. (Jealous, yes?)
• One could easily run any shaped nib with this ink. But it seems to top-out with the Safari, though a bit wider might be OK. The ink is not so wonderful that it invites being splashed about on the page.

PHYSICAL PERFORMANCE & CHARACTERISTICS:

 

Flow Rate:

• OK.
• I would prefer more wetness.
• (The 502 on HPJ1124 showed some hesitancy. I thought perhaps the pen was having a bad hair day, so I re-inked the pen and re-wrote the sample, which gave very much the same result. So that's that.)

Nib Dry-out:

• Not noticed.

Start-up:

• Prompt.

Lubrication:

• Quite good.
• The nib is very sure-footed on the page, which is of particular benefit when SSB is used for precision illustrations / tiny writing.

Nib Creeping:

• None.

Staining:

• None after 3 days.

Clogging:

• Not seen.
• Seems unlikely.

Bleed Through:

• None on papers used.

Show Through:

• None on papers used.
• Both sides of the sheet may be used.

Feathering / Woolly Line:

Absent.

Smear/Dry Time:

• Glossy: 12 - 15 seconds.
• HPJ1124: 15 - 20 seconds.

Water Resistance

• HPJ1124:
  • -2- on the 4S Scale.
  • "Over half is legible.
  • May provide basis for 'best guess' restoration. (Think Dead Sea scrolls.)"
  • Note: If one did not know that the text was, and it was written in my normal hand, then it is definitely a -2-, even though a -3- might be considered by some.

  [*]Royal, 25% rag:

  • Ever so slightly better than the HPJ1124, but still a -2-.

Smell:

• Very faint.
• Reminiscent of the white glue sometimes used for woodworking.

Hand oil sensitivity:

• Not noticed.

Archival*:

• Not claimed.

Clean Up:

• Quick and thorough with plain water.

Mixing:

• No stated limitation.
• It's fine as it comes from the pot.
• There may be a temptation to add a surfactant, such as PhotoFlo, to increase the flow. (I really don't think that modification is required.)

* No FP ink is certified as 'archival' by a recognised standards organisation. e.g. ISO, ANSI.

 

THE LOOK:

 

Presence:

• SSB gives me a rather strange feeling, rather like encountering a person wearing a business suit with black (referee) trainers.
• Stable without being rigid or brittle.
• Being a cool colour, it resides behind the plane of the page; and it can hold the reader without distracting her/him.

Saturation:

• Low.
• It appears more saturated and of even density (less shading) when run onto the highly absorbent Royal paper.

Shading:

• Definitely.
• Subtle, but apparent; not distracting.

Variance depending on pen+nib combos used:

• The change in density (light-dark) between writers is very evident.
• The density of the ink changes in accordance with the writer and the paper.
• Written samples on papers likely to be used should be evaluated and compared for each writer.

High Resolution Scans:

• From 51 on HPJ1124 LINK
• From 502 on Rhodia LINK
• From Estie on G Lalo LINK
• From Safari on Royal LINK

FIDELITY:

 

Is the name appropriate?

• Absolutely - its Blue.

SIMILAR COLOURS:

• Caran d'Ache 'Blue Sky'. Comparison LINK
• Caran d'Ache 'Blue'
• Readers, please chime in.

PAPERS:

 

Lovely papers:

• Crisp brilliant white paper.
• Does well on natural papers.

Trip-wire Papers:

• Those which are too dry or hard-surfaced.

Tinted Papers:

• Due to the transparency, care is required.
• Skrip Blue works well on a powder blue, and buff, but not an overly-yellow ivory or cream - the warmth will show-through the ink, generating an unwelcome green tint.

PrePrinted Paper:

• Not my first pick - limited by its transparency.
• Ditto for graphs, grids, charting. SSB can handle those tasks, but not so nicely on pre-printed paper.

Is high-end paper 'worth it'?

• Not really.
• Performance is quite fine on the HPJ1124.

OTHER THAN INK:

 

Presentation :

• 50ml. bottle in a transparent plastic box.

Country of origin:

• Slovenia. (As molded on bottom of bottle.)

Container:

• A clear glass bottle, shaped like a truncated cone. Base of 65mm ∅, with a maximum height of 50mm.
• The centred round opening is 23mm ∅.
• The Label includes the word 'ink', in ten languages; the colour of the ink is NOT written anywhere! Yikes!!
• The hard plastic screw cap has adequate grippy bits, but seems thin/narrow.
• Single tank, no filling aids, no sediment collector. Tsk.
• The cap is not child-proof.
• The cap seal seems to be plastic.
• The cap bears a sticker that supposedly represents the ink colour. It is not so accurate, but as Skrip has few colours in its palette, the sticker is fit for purpose.

Box:

• Clear flexible plastic.
• Too flimsy to remain intact for long.

Eco-Green:

• Poor: The box is unlikely to be recycled. (Why not use recyclable/renewable-source card stock?) Not the best decision. Tsk

Availability:

• Spotty in North America.
• Other locations? Please chime in.

ETC:

 

Majik:

• I don't see it.

Personal Pen & Paper Pick:

• Soooo many nice ones to choose from. Today I like the SSB from the Estie+B on the Rhodia. I very much like the way the transparency of the ink is readily apparent, the density is low, the shading is high; all balanced by the generous line-width giving a high % coverage of the page.

Yickity Yackity:

• I fear that many people, myself included, consider this to be a business ink or a 'default' ink. I suggest that making the effort and some deliberate choices, SSB can be used to great effect in different situations.
• Ah kushbaby, I imagine SSB is on your top shelf too, but perhaps not so close to the front row.

{*=x:x=*}~{*=:w:=*}~{*=V:V=*}~{*=:w:=*}~{*=x:x=*}

 

MATERIEL USED:

 

To be relevant to most members, I make an effort to use papers, pens & nibs that are readily available. For pens, I use those for which I paid $100 or less, new or used; and are 'factory stock' - not customised.

 

For 'One Of The Ten', the same set of pens are used throughout. LINK

 

A. Parker 51, Flighter^✩, Mark I + 14K XF nib.

B. Pelikan M200 + M200-series g-p steel XF nib.

C. Waterman England 502 + some-flex 14CT 2A nib.

D. Sheaffer 330 + inlaid steel M nib.

E. Esterbrook J + 9968 firm steel B nib.

F. Lamy Pink Safari + steel 1.1i nib.

 

^✩ I cannot determine if this pen is a true 'Flighter' - set-up for use at low atmospheric pressure.

 

For lines & labels:

• Pilot + steel XF with Montblanc Racing Green.

On these papers:

• HPJ1124 24 lb. Laser Copy.
• Rhodia.
• G Lalo, Verge de France, white.
• Royal, 25% cotton rag.
• Pulp.
• Glossy paper.
• Glossy card.

_________________

 

Images

• Scans were made on an Epson V600 scanner; factory defaults were accepted.
• Figures shown were scanned at 96 dpi & 24 bit colour.
• Images linked were scanned at 300 dpi & 24 bit colour.
• Scans were cropped and straightened; no other changes were made.

_________________

 

Densitometer Readings (FWTW)

Red 121

Grn 139

Blu 231

Lum 153

 

===============

 

-30-

Edited August 25, 2010 by Sandy1

[Sandy1]

Hi,

 

The Sheaffer Skrip Blue is the second ink to be reviewed in the 'One of the Ten' (OOTT) group of Blue inks.

 

When complete, the intention is to have the OOTT inks reviewed in the same manner, and compared in the same manner to the maximum practical extent.

 

Hopefully the OOTT reviews and comparisons will assist practitioners in choosing their lynch-pin Blue/s, and avoid unintentional purchase of equivalent ink/s. (As was seen in the comparisons of the Cd'A Blue Sky to Cd'A Blue to Sheaffer Skrip Blue.)

 

Also, the OOTT results should give common ground for claims, rumour and scuttlebutt to be discussed. Or be considered irrelevant, and so be ignored.

 

Bye,

Sandy1

[Sandy1]

COMPARISONS_COMPARISONS_COMPARISONS

[Sandy1]

COMPARISONS_COMPARISONS_COMPARISONS

Caran d'Ache Blue Sky LINK

[Sandy1]

COMPARISONS_COMPARISONS_COMPARISONS

Pilot asa-gao (OOTT) LINK

Edited August 25, 2010 by Sandy1

[geoduc]

Thanks, S1. I'm finding this review series very interesting and useful. All of your hard work is appreciated.

 

So far I haven't seen anything that unseats my current blue favorites (asa-gao and Visconti blue), but it's still early in the series and I'm looking forward to seeing the rest of the ten.

[Sandy1]

Thanks, S1. I'm finding this review series very interesting and useful. All of your hard work is appreciated.

 

So far I haven't seen anything that unseats my current blue favorites (asa-gao and Visconti blue), but it's still early in the series and I'm looking forward to seeing the rest of the ten.

Hi,

 

You're welcome.

 

I too am interested to see the rest of the ten! It's rather interesting to review an ink that one has either adopted as a favourite, or takes for granted, or has dismissed.

 

I do try to be objective about performance - the samples should speak louder than I do. I'm the author, so opinions expressed are mine alone.

 

Bye,

Sandy1

[Sandy1]

COMPARISONS_COMPARISONS_COMPARISONS

Pilot Blue (Bottle) Ink Link

[wykeite]

Hollow points on a grocery list ! My kind of Lady .

 

 

Great reviews too.

[bwnewton]

SSB is a good ink that I've tried to really like. I use it for newly restored vintage fountain pens. But, for everyday use such as underlining, marginalia, and jotting notes that will only be kept temporarily, I keep using Lamy Blue because from my experience it behaves even better than SSB and I like its shade of blue a bit better. Still, SSB is a good standard blue ink in my opinion.

[Goodwhiskers]

I like SSB because it behaves so well in any pen and on bad paper.

 

SSB, like some other longtime-brand blue inks, can be eradicated by sulfate/sulfite-salt eradicator markers such as those from Pelikan and (in Europe) Bic.

That's convenient for students whose assignments and/or exams must be handwritten neatly in ink.

It's also convenient if you like to use ink for rough drafts.

Just remember that the eradicator solution affects the other side of the sheet of paper somewhat, so be ready to use the marker's blue end to fix that spot when you get to it.

 

Also like some other eradicable blue inks, SSB does not stand up very well to months of daily, daylong sunlight.

 

Paper with high sulfur content will fade SSB a little bit over the years, even in the dark, but shouldn't render it illegible.

[Sandy1]

SSB is a good ink that I've tried to really like. I use it for newly restored vintage fountain pens. But, for everyday use such as underlining, marginalia, and jotting notes that will only be kept temporarily, I keep using Lamy Blue because from my experience it behaves even better than SSB and I like its shade of blue a bit better. Still, SSB is a good standard blue ink in my opinion.

Hi,

 

I keep SSB mostly for personal correspondence, where I'm able to use different pens & papers for The Look that I want. I use this ink when I want an interesting transparency.

 

As you, I would be hesitant to use SSB as the ink in my work horse daily writer. (I use the old Quink BlBk.) However, SSB performed very well on the rather extreme range of papers, which is a strong plus for daily writer inks. Perhaps if I had a wetter writer - but that would be contrary to the nature of SSB.

 

Unfortunately, I've not used Lamy Blue so I can't remark on that ink. After the fiasco with Lamy Green, Lamy inks have lost their lustre. A few cartridges or a sample of Blue would not be amiss.

 

Bye,

S1

Edited September 6, 2010 by Sandy1

[Sandy1]

I like SSB because it behaves so well in any pen and on bad paper.

 

SSB, like some other longtime-brand blue inks, can be eradicated by sulfate/sulfite-salt eradicator markers such as those from Pelikan and (in Europe) Bic.

That's convenient for students whose assignments and/or exams must be handwritten neatly in ink.

It's also convenient if you like to use ink for rough drafts.

Just remember that the eradicator solution affects the other side of the sheet of paper somewhat, so be ready to use the marker's blue end to fix that spot when you get to it.

 

Also like some other eradicable blue inks, SSB does not stand up very well to months of daily, daylong sunlight.

 

Paper with high sulfur content will fade SSB a little bit over the years, even in the dark, but shouldn't render it illegible.

Hi,

 

Thanks for endorsing my finding about SSB running well on a range of papers.

 

The pens I'm using are proven performers - I don't need a nasty surprise during this elongated set of reviews & comparisons.

When/if I encounter a fussy writer, I now know to ink-up with SSB!

 

Thanks also for the tips on eradicators, and on the other hand - image durability.

 

Bye,

Sandy1

[Sandy1]

COMPARISONS_COMPARISONS_COMPARISONS

Herbin Eclat de Saphir LINK

[bwnewton]

SSB is a good ink that I've tried to really like. I use it for newly restored vintage fountain pens. But, for everyday use such as underlining, marginalia, and jotting notes that will only be kept temporarily, I keep using Lamy Blue because from my experience it behaves even better than SSB and I like its shade of blue a bit better. Still, SSB is a good standard blue ink in my opinion.

Hi,

 

I keep SSB mostly for personal correspondence, where I'm able to use different pens & papers for The Look that I want. I use this ink when I want an interesting transparency.

 

As you, I would be hesitant to use SSB as the ink in my work horse daily writer. (I use the old Quink BlBk.) However, SSB performed very well on the rather extreme range of papers, which is a strong plus for daily writer inks. Perhaps if I had a wetter writer - but that would be contrary to the nature of SSB.

 

Unfortunately, I've not used Lamy Blue so I can't remark on that ink. After the fiasco with Lamy Green, Lamy inks have lost their lustre. A few cartridges or a sample of Blue would not be amiss.

 

Bye,

S1

 

Please do not let Lamy Green be representative of the entire line of Lamy ink. Lamy Green and Lamy Red, in my opinion, are in separate categories from Lamy Blue, Black, Blue-Black (bottled), Turquoise, and Violet (cartridge only).

[Sandy1]

COMPARISONS_COMPARISONS_COMPARISONS

Comparison : Sheaffer Skrip Blue :: Pelikan Royal Blue Ink Link

[Sandy1]

COMPARISONS_COMPARISONS_COMPARISONS

To Visconti Blue My link

[Sandy1]

COMPARISONS_COMPARISONS_COMPARISONS

 

To Montblanc Royal Blue My link

[Sandy1]

COMPARISONS_COMPARISONS_COMPARISONS

Private Reserve American Blue : My link

[Sandy1]

COMPARISONS_COMPARISONS_COMPARISONS

 

Comparison to Noodler's Ottoman Azure My link

Edited December 28, 2010 by Sandy1