Sheaffer Skrip Black Warning/informal Review

[Aurko]

Though I am very fond of all the other inks in the Sheaffer Skrip line up, I have to say that I despise Sheaffer Black. Not due to it's saturation or lack thereof, but because of how awful the behaviour of the ink is. I have tried and used a bottle of every other current skrip ink but I refrained from purchasing a bottle of Sheaffer Skrip Black up until recently (after I spilled a bottle of Noodler's Old Manhattan Black, sadly). I was expecting a well behaved, if not somewhat washed out black. I found the ink to be VERY feathering prone regardless of the pen in question. It also seemed to bleed through most papers. The ink managed to make my Rhodia paper feather and bleed (it only bled while using a flex nib). It is not really waterproof, but really none of the Sheaffer inks are all that water resistant so I never expected that anyway.

 

In conclusion, though I highly recommend every other ink that Sheaffer has to offer, I cannot recommend Sheaffer Black at all.

[Mr Rob]

Interesting. That doesn't sound like the bottle of Sheaffer Black I own and use almost daily. I found it to be very well behaved, even on relatively cheap paper--no feathering or bleedthrough--to say nothing of its behavior on higher end paper such as Rhodia. Could you have obtained a bad bottle?

[wastelanded]

Most likely a bad bottle. I bought a bottle of Skrip BB last year that had SITB.

 

Black Skrip is my last resort pen tester. If the pen won't write with it, then I know it's the pen.

[y_bauluck]

In my case, I have been using Sheaffer Skrip Black for months without issues. Writing mostly on 80gsm HP all purpose paper without bleed through and no feathering when writing with a Lamy Safari EF. When I do write with a Sheaffer 300 with an M nib it does feather a bit on the same paper but no feathering on better paper like my Oxford Optik paper.

 

You probably received a bottle from a bad batch, mine were all made in Slovenia with number 2 embossed on the bottom (if that helps).

[Aurko]

True; it is very possible that I received a bad bottle since it really does not seem to match up to my experiences with other Sheaffer inks. I'm just putting that out as a warning, since it is quite possibly the worst ink I own. I'm glad to hear that others have had better experiences with the ink though.

[ac12]

On the bottle, is a there a picture of a nib, and if so, does the nib point up or down.

I think nib down is the latest formulation, and I think it is thicker than the older inks.

I use Skrip black (label with nib pointed down) in my Sheaffer calligraphy pens, and I have not had any feathering or bleed-through problem on 16# Brazil notebooks and composition books. On 16# paper I get shadowing, which is expected for a light paper, but not bleed-through.

[Andyroo]

I've found that it can bleed through a bit too, from a wet nib.

[LucasD]

I also have a bottle of sheaffer black and can say it has given me no trouble at all. I almost finished an entire bottle and it seems to be one of the best inks around.

[bwnewton]

I have found Skip Black to be a very well-behaved ink, unlike your experience. I'm guessing you received a rare dud bottle. Like you, I appreciate the Sheaffer line of ink.

[smiorgan]

Perfect timing. I normally use Blue-Black Skrip cartridges for travelling, love the colour and the behaviour. Just tried a black cartridge I got with the pen, and it bleeds and feathers on Rhodia and Leuchtturm paper. Surprised it's so different.

Edited February 11, 2014 by smiorgan

[sopa]

Though I am very fond of all the other inks in the Sheaffer Skrip line up, I have to say that I despise Sheaffer Black. Not due to it's saturation or lack thereof, but because of how awful the behaviour of the ink is. I have tried and used a bottle of every other current skrip ink but I refrained from purchasing a bottle of Sheaffer Skrip Black up until recently (after I spilled a bottle of Noodler's Old Manhattan Black, sadly). I was expecting a well behaved, if not somewhat washed out black. I found the ink to be VERY feathering prone regardless of the pen in question. It also seemed to bleed through most papers. The ink managed to make my Rhodia paper feather and bleed (it only bled while using a flex nib). It is not really waterproof, but really none of the Sheaffer inks are all that water resistant so I never expected that anyway.

 

In conclusion, though I highly recommend every other ink that Sheaffer has to offer, I cannot recommend Sheaffer Black at all.

 

My experience with Sheaffer Skrip Black is exactly the same. It feathers horribly on most papers, including papers that I consid very fountain pen friendly. There's no SITB. The bottle is marked Slovenia and 1 at the base, if it helps.

[ac12]

Very curious how this ink behaves so differently for different people.

 

Question to those that have bleeding or feathering.

Is your pen writing WET?

A WET pen is a candidate for feathering and bleed through.

It may simply be a case of a pen/ink mismatch, and you just need to switch to a dryer ink.

 

@Aurko

My suspicion is your statement "The ink managed to make my Rhodia paper feather and bleed (it only bled while using a flex nib)." I interpret this as simply too much ink on the paper. With my flex pen I can make well behaved inks bleed through paper that they normally write just fine on. This is simply a case of over saturating the paper with ink, beyond the ability of the paper to handle, so it feathers and/or bleeds through.

[stoof2010]

Question aboit the numbers on the bottom of the skrip bottles...

My turquoise has a 1 and my skrip red has a 5.... are they just numbers signifying the mold it was formed in or what?

[Glen1981]

I have just finished a 20 yr old cartridge of sheaffer black in a triumph imperial? with a M nib and it feathered with every paper I tried it on. I have just put Herbin ink in the pen and it is not feathering at all.

[ac12]

 

I have just finished a 20 yr old cartridge of sheaffer black in a triumph imperial? with a M nib and it feathered with every paper I tried it on. I have just put Herbin ink in the pen and it is not feathering at all.

 

I understand the old formulation in the yellow and blue box/bottle is wetter than the current formulation, and this would be consistent with that.

[jasperchai]

Hi. I too experience the Sheaffer black to be feathering and bleeding on my current writing notebook. I thought it was my pen starting to have problem. But i guess it's not since a few of you also experiencing it. Using the same pen and i ink it with sheaffer blue, no feathering and bleeding and on the same notebook. Both bottle is with a No.4 at the bottom.