One Ink, Three Pens

[KellyMcJ]

Sheaffer Skrip Blue Black is quite the chameleon depending on which pen you use (in a very wet pen it turn out to give modern "boutique" inks a run for their money!)

 

http://i.imgur.com/gBJIdyb.jpg

[AmandaW]

I generally dislike blue inks because they remind me of the hideous Bic we used in high school (ugh, shudders at the memory). The greyness of the Sheaffer Skrip Blue Black especially from bold nib is actually rather attractive.

[Pentode]

While it's true that Sheaffer Skrip isn't a "boutique" ink (and it's price reflects that) it's been in production - with various changes to the formulae - since 1922.

Call me crazy, but I suspect Sheaffer knows at least a little bit about how to make ink - or, at least, how to choose a company in Slovenia to make it for them! Okay, the selection of colors is limited and it isn't crazy-saturated like some other brands, but it remains, after 95 years, a good quality, well-behaved ink.

 

I've had very good luck with the black and blue/black from various decades in every pen I've ever tried them in. I like other inks, too, but I don't consider Skrip to be sub-par in any way. It's good ink - as your examples clearly demonstrate!

 

Thanks for posting the comparison.

[Sandy1]

Hi,

 

Many thanks for the comparo!

 

SSBlBk is another one of those under the radar high performance inks that are just right for churning-out grist for the mill on naughty_word paper : let's just write.

 

For personal writing, Ms Fussy often adds a whisper of Lamy Blue or Diamine Denim to boost the Blue / Indigo aspect that gives it a bit of bounce.

 

Bye,

Ms Fussy

Edited July 14, 2017 by Sandy1

[KellyMcJ]

Oh for sure. I don't think Skrip is inferior...I do have 3 pens inked with it after all...but it does have a reputation for not being super saturated. Until it meets a vintage beast that lays down a glistening line that takes a solid 30 seconds to dry.

[Pentode]

Oh for sure. I don't think Skrip is inferior...I do have 3 pens inked with it after all...but it does have a reputation for not being super saturated. Until it meets a vintage beast that lays down a glistening line that takes a solid 30 seconds to dry.

 

I wasn't suggesting that you thought it inferior; you wrote the post, after all! I think many others, wowed by modern color palettes and saturation, find it too pedestrian nowadays.

 

As you point out, many vintage pens write very wet and Skrip was originally formulated at a time when those pens were new and the norm. Most ink from that era was far less saturated than what is available today. Take, for example, Parker Quink Washable Blue or Washable Black which seem very anemic but actually do okay in a wet writer. (I'm just using them as an example - I don't actually care much for either one of those inks!)

 

I had an interesting discussion with Ron Zorn at the recent Long Island Pen Show during which he pointed out that those older, less saturated ink formulae were the inks that pen manufacturers used to design their pens around and so it makes perfect sense that both the vintage pens and the vintage (or vintage-styled) inks work best when used together.

[KellyMcJ]

 

I wasn't suggesting that you thought it inferior; you wrote the post, after all! I think many others, wowed by modern color palettes and saturation, find it too pedestrian nowadays.

 

As you point out, many vintage pens write very wet and Skrip was originally formulated at a time when those pens were new and the norm. Most ink from that era was far less saturated than what is available today. Take, for example, Parker Quink Washable Blue or Washable Black which seem very anemic but actually do okay in a wet writer. (I'm just using them as an example - I don't actually care much for either one of those inks!)

 

I had an interesting discussion with Ron Zorn at the recent Long Island Pen Show during which he pointed out that those older, less saturated ink formulae were the inks that pen manufacturers used to design their pens around and so it makes perfect sense that both the vintage pens and the vintage (or vintage-styled) inks work best when used together.

I was wondering about that. Another good example is Waterman Inspired blue. I always wanted to love the color but wound up hating it....until I put it in a vintage pen. It sings in that pen!

 

I had wondered if vintage pens were wetter or if it was just mine. I'm told paper was a lot better back then. Manufacturers started to cheap out when ballpoints came around because they'll write on anything.

[Pentode]

I'm definitely not the best authority, but I find that my vintage pens tend to write wetter than my modern pens.

 

Pens can be adjusted to write wetter or drier, of course, but I think vintage pens - before being tinkered with - tend to be wetter. I'm sure there are far more experienced collectors here who have a bigger control group to work with and could make a more studied argument.

[fjoly79]

Very nice comparison, KellyMcJ and by the way, beautiful penmanship!

[KellyMcJ]

Very nice comparison, KellyMcJ and by the way, beautiful penmanship!

 

Thanks!!!!!!

[bobje]

Sheaffer red, brown, blue-black, all superior inks. Amanda is right -- the grayness of Sheaffer blue-black is interesting.