Favorite Ink For Your Snorkel?

[Witsius]

What's your favorite ink to use in your Snorkel? I've got a Snorkel due to arrive today, and I'm looking for inspiration for its first inking.

[AG_ORD]

Aloha Witsius,

 

First off, congratulations on your new acquisition. I recently picked up my first Sheaffer Snorkel Valiant with FX5 nib at the LA Pen Show in February, (I think vintage circa 1951-2?). It has become my favorite as I love the flexible performance of the FX5 Triumph nib, as well as the unique filling system.

 

I started out using Sheaffer Script black ink, which worked quite well. As mine has a flexible Triumph nib, I switched to using Lamy blue-black ink as it showcased more shading. The Lamy ink seems pretty benign and is a good compromise for using in a multitude of situations.

[bsenn]

What color is the snorkel? Oh, never mind, black goes with everything. Try black.

 

-B

[3rdlakerobert]

Diamine Red Dragon is fairly dramatic. Nice change from boring black, blue-black.

 

For something mature and dignified, with maybe a touch of tech, try Montblanc Toffee Brown.

[inkstainedruth]

Depends. What nib does it have? I have one that's an EF, and it's been very persnickety about inks. It did well with modern Skrip Purple. But, weirdly, it did NOT do so well with vintage Skrip Peacock.

Also, has your pen been restored? If not, or if you don't know for sure, I would have a pro check it out, just in case. Because if the sac is bad, or the gaskets need to be replaced, you can very easily get rust on the spring (and that is, apparently, very very bad...).

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[Witsius]

Depends. What nib does it have? I have one that's an EF, and it's been very persnickety about inks. It did well with modern Skrip Purple. But, weirdly, it did NOT do so well with vintage Skrip Peacock.

Also, has your pen been restored? If not, or if you don't know for sure, I would have a pro check it out, just in case. Because if the sac is bad, or the gaskets need to be replaced, you can very easily get rust on the spring (and that is, apparently, very very bad...).

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

 

 

 

Mine has a really fine nib. The size isn't marked, but I'd say it's an extra fine or a needle point. It's easily the narrowest tip I've ever had on a nib, even finer than a TWSBI extra fine I once had. Yes, it's been restored.

 

I wound up inking it with Aurora Blue.

[ink-syringe]

I have only one F Snorkel. I had a hard time finding an ink in it I liked. In general, for me, the thinner the line the darker and more high chroma I prefer the ink to me. Mine writes great with Visconti Blue in it. I like Aurora Blue too but found Visconti to pop a little more with that thin line.

[ac12]

Waterman BLACK.

Yeah, kinda boring.

 

What you will find out, if you have F or XF nibs, is that the finer nibs need DARKER ink, to maintain the visibility of the ink. As the ink line gets narrower, the eye sees more paper than ink, so the ink looks lighter.

Edited May 25, 2016 by ac12

[pajaro]

One Snorkel desk pen, usually filled with Sheaffer blue black in the old 60s small bottle. Sometimes I use Montblanc violet.