Sheaffer Inks

[Aurko]

I've noticed that the Sheaffer inks aren't discussed very often, and I think that's a shame. Though they only come in a few colours, they are well behaved inks that are very pretty in their own right (Sheaffer Turquoise has been one of my favourite inks for a very long time, and Sheaffer Green and Blue Black are pretty high up there for me as well). They are easy to clean out and are very mixable (for those who are interested in ink mixing). Furthermore, they're widely available and not very expensive at all.

 

I do realize that the other brands of ink have many more colour options, but I just want to know what the others on this forum think of Sheaffer inks, hence the poll.

[LittleSkink]

the new Scrip Red is pretty neutral, decent price and I like it for what it is

 

it might be me but I dont like the bottle. A wierd shape with odd labelling, it doesnt fit on my ink bottle shelf

 

 

I am using a freeby Scrip Blue cartridge at the moment and find it works nicely but is a little light in colour, so when I need more blue it will be Visconti

Edited March 13, 2014 by LittleSkink

[ajcoleman]

I have been very happy with the ones I have tried. Skrip blue is a serious contender for my favorite blue ink.

[Trebster]

"I like them" is the most positive response option? No poll response for "Sheaffer ink rocks my stripey socks?" Well there you have it - you answered your own question.

 

Sheaffer ink does rock my stripey socks. Of all the inks in my ink larder, Sheaffer is the one I reach for first. (.... the bottle is also un-tippable )

[GG917]

My experience with Sheaffer ink is limited to the black cartridge that came with my intensity pen: was ok on copy paper but it takes ages to dry on rhodia paper (more than 2 min)!

 

So that long drying time turn me off from Sheaffer inks... But I should try the blue cartridge that came along with the pen as well

[The Blue Knight]

I'm currently using skrip blue in my frontier and I really like it a nice solid everyday blue, far better then quink blue.

[swanjun]

I have exceedingly little experience with the modern crop (though I do love cartridge-only Sheaffer Pink!) but the colors of yore are some of my favorites.

Edited March 13, 2014 by swanjun

[haziz]

Excellent, well behaved inks. I would be using them a lot more, if I wasn't already very happy with my Waterman, Pelikan and Aurora inks. Sheaffer Skrip Red is my standard red.

 

Now that you have nudged me, maybe it is time to re-ink one, or several, of my pens with Sheaffer Skrip Blue, Blue Black or Black. Heck maybe I should go wild with Turquoise!

[Joane]

It's true the bottles are untippable but for my sometimes clumsy hands I find them highly droppable. The shape makes it diffcult for me to get a secure grip.

 

In the poll I answered dislike. That refers to the current Sheaffer ink. The original Skrip was my favourite. Blue-Black was my go-to ink from early school days and there was a period in the 1990s when they had a great colour array and I liked all of them. I prefer a more watery less saturated ink and the current Sheaffer seems to lean toward the viscous. The word "slippery" comes to mind. Now it's been a while since I tried it so I don't inow if my impression is accurate today.

[smiorgan]

Ambivalent -- the Blue-Black is fantastic, Red is good, Blue I found a bit boring and Black I had problems with bleeding through Clairfontaine paper. No other experience. Bottles are a love-hate thing as well, great that you can't tip them over but tricky when the level goes down.

Edited March 13, 2014 by smiorgan

[haziz]

Now that I am looking online, I never realized Sheaffer had a brown ink! Time to "complete" my collection of Slovenian Sheaffer Skrip inks and to order their green, brown and purple inks!

[Aurko]

For me personally:

Blue: Exactly what I expect from a blue ink; perhaps a tad dull but well behaved and nothing wrong with it

Red: A nice pure red, exactly what I would expect, and not at all boring.

Black: A bit more washed out than some other black inks.

Purple: I never really cared for ANY purple ink, except perhaps R&K Scabiosa.

Brown: A nice reddish brown that I liked, especially in broader nibs.

Green: One of my favourite greens, bright enough but readable with blue undertones.

Turquoise: One of my favourite inks, without a doubt. Vibrant, bright, and very readable.

Blue-Black: It took a while to grow on me, but on off white paper and with wet nibs it is lovely and my benchmark for other blue blacks.

 

None of these cause any problems when mixed with each other, and I personally like mixing Sheaffer Green with some of the Blue Black, 1:5 if I recall.

[Tas]

Sheaffer Blue Black is a rock solid performer and a great blue black.

 

Sadly, my bottle, like the child in class who never puts their hand up, doesn't get the attention it deserves . . .

[ac12]

Sheaffer Skrip and Parker Quink were the common man's ink in America when I grew up. And now it seems to be ignored in favor of European or Japanese inks. This ignores where the ink is actually made, but that these inks were once made in the US.

 

I use a few Sheaffer Skrip inks (current formulation) and I like them:

• Red. It is a nice clean red. I like it at Christmas to alternate writing with green ink. Interestingly it goes on bright, then darkens as it dries. Very readable even out of an old Parker F nib (similar to a Lamy XF).
• Turquoise. Reminds me of the old Peacock Blue. But visually difficult to use with ruled paper, where the color of the ruled lines is similar to the ink.
• Black. Used in my Sheaffer calligraphy pens, and it does just fine.

I was told that Sheaffer inks do not work in non Sheaffer pens, but I have not had any problem using them (red & turquoise) in a Parker 45 and an Esterbrook SJ. So I am puzzled as to where/how this advice came to be.

 

The bottle is troublesome when the ink level drops, but I plan to move ink into an ink vial using an ink syringe, so I can get the ink on the bottom of the bottle.

I wish they would remake the old bottles with the ink well, but that would probably be an expensive bottle to make.

[lapis]

Skrip red (Slovenia) is a great red in general. Richard says it's his Number 1 Red. It used to be mine, too until I discovered Diamine's Poppy. Skrip black and a few others are IMO too watered down.

 

Mike

[Mr Rob]

Sheaffer Black emerged as the leader in my quest to find an everyday black ink to complement Noodler's Black when I don't need NB's bulletproofness. I must confess I haven't tried any of the others, though.

[queenofpens]

That refers to the current Sheaffer ink. The original Skrip was my favourite. Blue-Black was my go-to ink from early school days and there was a period in the 1990s when they had a great colour array and I liked all of them.

 

Agreed. For a few years, I have been looking for a satisfactory replacement for the 60's Sheaffer blue-black - or what I remember as the old color and I may be totally wrong about what color I think I remember - which I used in my teens after rebelling against washable blue. The current blue-black seems to have a green tinge that I find unpleasant.

 

Ambivalent, because I also acquired last year a vintage Shaeffer pen that I really like - but it will not use any of the several converters I have tried. So it is back to cartridges for that pen. Turquoise, yes, which is nice and fairly close to Peacock, and I got some of the darker purple to try. I liked the old lavender, the 90's shade of gray, and maybe the King's Gold - although it seemed inconsistent, or I may have inadvertently mixed it with a little dark blue, having forgotten to clean a pen thoroughly, and got a lovely color from the mixture.

[lapis]

 

Agreed. For a few years, I have been looking for a satisfactory replacement for the 60's Sheaffer blue-black - or what I remember as the old color and I may be totally wrong about what color I think I remember - which I used in my teens after rebelling against washable blue. The current blue-black seems to have a green tinge that I find unpleasant.

 

Ambivalent, because I also acquired last year a vintage Shaeffer pen that I really like - but it will not use any of the several converters I have tried. So it is back to cartridges for that pen. Turquoise, yes, which is nice and fairly close to Peacock, and I got some of the darker purple to try. I liked the old lavender, the 90's shade of gray, and maybe the King's Gold - although it seemed inconsistent, or I may have inadvertently mixed it with a little dark blue, having forgotten to clean a pen thoroughly, and got a lovely color from the mixture.

I'll buy that. The inks we had in school (Sheaffer/Skrip blue and blue-black) -- made in U. S. A -- were great colours, all were saturated and all had character. Not to mention the well-bottles.... The corresponding black I bought later was also great. But a lot of these colours issued today as Skrip/Slowenia inks IMO look all watered down. The blue-black, as mentioned above, today is way too green and/or grey. But that's the same joke for Waterman's and Parker's blue-blacks today.

 

Barf

Edited March 13, 2014 by lapis

[ac12]

he he

QueenofPens, I similarly rebelled against blue, but dropped blue and went all the way to black.

 

I have had trouble with a couple Sheaffer converters. They did not fit tight around the nipple, resulting in a messy leak

That was when I learned to test the converters for fit as soon as I receive them, and not wait till I need to use them to find out that they do not fit tight, long after the return window has closed.

 

The other problem I ran into is that a couple of my Sheaffers do not have the barrel length to accommodate the length of the converter. For those, I syringe filled the cartridge from a bottle.

 

 

@lapis

You need to get the latest formulation. The label has a picture of a nib pointing down.

I understand that the older formulation, the label with the nib pointing up, is indeed watery.

Edited March 13, 2014 by ac12

[queenofpens]

I'll buy that. The inks we had in school (Sheaffer/Skrip blue and blue-black) -- made in U. S. A -- were great colours, all were saturated and all had character. Not to mention the well-bottles.... The corresponding black I bought later was also great. But a lot of these colours issued today as Skrip/Slowenia inks IMO look all watered down. The blue-black, as mentioned above, today is way too green and/or grey. But that's the same joke for Waterman's and Parker's blue-blacks today.

 

Barf

 

 

Thanks for confirming that I have not totally lost my color sense in my old age. Nobody else I've seen has complained about the greenish gray tint so I was beginning to think I must have imagined the old color I thought I remembered.