Sheaffer Skrip Black (Slovenia)

[Liquidmetal490]

I wanted to evaluate Sheaffer Skrip Black and its performance on a variety of papers, specifically looking at how it performs on lower quality paper. Unfortunately I encounter a lot of low quality paper at work and school, and some very good inks that work well on paper such as Rhodia bleed and feather so badly on the regular copy paper and legal pads at work that I can't use them. I've included its performance on higher quality papers for contrast as well as water tests. I've also included scans of the backs of each type of paper (except Rhodia) so you can see how little or much show-through occurred.

 

This review features Sheaffer Skrip Black on average copy paper, bottom, mid, and high grade legal pads, Rhodia paper, and two types of filler paper. The pen used was a Sheaffer 100 with a fine nib. Some observations:

 

Copy Paper: Sheaffer Skrip produces a dark line on the copy paper. There was show-through, but it was light and I could see myself writing on the reverse side of the page if I really needed to. There was no bleed-through onto the next page.

 

http://i1379.photobucket.com/albums/ah154/vinceabz/SheafferSkripBlackonCopyPaperFront_zps2198a058.jpg

 

http://i1379.photobucket.com/albums/ah154/vinceabz/SheafferSkripBlackonCopyPaperBack_zps2c098c95.jpg

 

 

Tops "The Legal Pad" Yellow Legal Paper: This legal paper is on the bottom end of paper quality and more absorbent, thus causing much more feathering than on copy paper (which was expected). The show-through was sufficient to prevent writing on the opposite side of the page, and there was bleed-through, albeit only a few spots on the next page. I noticed I was writing faster on this paper to prevent too much ink from soaking into the page.

 

http://i1379.photobucket.com/albums/ah154/vinceabz/SheafferSkripBlackonTopsYellowLegalPaperFront_zps3fb69c72.jpg

 

http://i1379.photobucket.com/albums/ah154/vinceabz/SheafferSkripBlackonTopsYellowLegalPaperBack_zpsbac8faca.jpg

 

Office Impressions Legal Pad: There was light, but perceptible shading compared to the copy and Tops yellow legal paper. There was also zero bleed-through or show-through. Unfortunately the dry time was much longer (about 15 seconds). I suspect this is because of the more waxy like finish on the paper.

 

http://i1379.photobucket.com/albums/ah154/vinceabz/SheafferSkripBlackonOfficeImpressionsLegalPaperFront_zpsf95f1d33.jpg

 

http://i1379.photobucket.com/albums/ah154/vinceabz/SheafferSkripBlackonOfficeImpressionsLegalPaperBack_zpse899fdcb.jpg

 

Tops Docket Gold Legal Paper: performance was very similar to the Office Impressions paper, but the dry time was greatly improved. I suspect this is because the Office Impressions paper has the waxy surface that the Docket Gold paper lacks. The Docket Gold is a thicker/heavier paper and although a little show-through appeared, its not that much at all. I wouldn't hesitate to write on the reverse side of the page.

 

http://i1379.photobucket.com/albums/ah154/vinceabz/SheafferSkripBlackonTopsDocketGoldLegalPaperFront_zps77d4ba17.jpg

 

http://i1379.photobucket.com/albums/ah154/vinceabz/SheafferSkripBlackonTopsDocketGoldLegalPaperBack_zps9d96ebec.jpg

 

Rhodia: Sheaffer Skrip performed similar to the Office Impressions paper, but had the longest dry time on the Rhodia paper - almost 20 seconds to fully dry. Nothing at all showed or bled through. The shading of the Sheaffer Skrip was more pronounced on the Rhodia paper and there was no feathering.

 

http://i1379.photobucket.com/albums/ah154/vinceabz/SheafferSkripBlackonRhodiaPaperFront_zps5c283f95.jpg

 

Tops Filler Paper: feathering was noticeable but certainly tolerable. Unfortunately there was show-through sufficient that I wouldn't write on the back of the page. There was also a little bleed-through, but only a few spots on the next page.

 

http://i1379.photobucket.com/albums/ah154/vinceabz/SheafferSkripBlackonTopsFillerPaperFront_zpsf4fdeaa2.jpg

 

http://i1379.photobucket.com/albums/ah154/vinceabz/SheafferSkripBlackonTopsFillerPaperBack_zps9894308c.jpg

 

Mead Filler Paper: like the Tops paper, feathering was noticeable but not too bad. There was a little less show-through on the Mead filler paper than the Tops filler paper, but enough that I likely wouldn't write on the back side of the page. There was also a little bleed-through, but less than the Tops filler paper - literally only two tiny spots.

 

http://i1379.photobucket.com/albums/ah154/vinceabz/SheafferSkripBlackonMeadFillerPaperFront_zps17e28c29.jpg

 

http://i1379.photobucket.com/albums/ah154/vinceabz/SheafferSkripBlackonMeadFillerPaperBack_zps1948a96a.jpg

 

Water Tests: of the inks compared, Sheaffer seems on par with Perle Noire and Edelstein Onyx Black in terms of water resistance. I noticed that the ink tend to be more resistant to water on cheaper quality papers, which I suspect is because cheaper papers are more absorbent and retain more ink. More ink flowed off the Rhodia, Docket Gold, and Office Impressions paper than did from the Tops yellow legal paper and the filler papers.

 

http://i1379.photobucket.com/albums/ah154/vinceabz/SheafferSkripBlackWaterTests_zpscfee65b0.jpg

 

Overall, I am impressed with Sheaffer black. Although the drying time on higher quality papers could be annoying, it performs well on cheaper papers often encountered in the workplace today and designed to work with ballpoint pens. Glenn Marcus from glennspens.com has remarked of Sheaffer Skrip Black, "All I can say is that after a week, the ink is still in my pens and I am not finding any reason to flush and change brands. That in itself says a lot about the ink." I have to agree with him and think I'll be using this ink for the run of the mill office work for a while to come!

Edited December 2, 2014 by Liquidmetal490

[ac12]

With all the boutique inks, the old standards (Sheaffer Skrip and Parker Quink) are being forgotten.

The good thing is, they are cheaper than the boutique inks. So if they work for you, another benefit is the lower cost.

[carlos.q]

The water test is amazing! Thank you for the review of this readily available but underappreciated ink.

[FPgal]

Thanks so much for this review, especially with the images for both sides of your test sheets! I am currently using a bottle of Sheaffer Skrip black and was worried that it was clogging up my Waterman Phileas. But your images show that the writing comes out clearly and very black. A good thing! I also really appreciate the water test, as well as your attention to the more ordinary kinds of paper we use in the everyday world. (I also mark papers with my fountain pens.)

[dcwaites]

Sheaffer Skrip Black and Parker Quink (Permanent) Black are two of the few fountain pen inks that will work in virtually dip pen without modification.

 

Either (or both) should be in every penner's ink-drawer, alongside Noodler's Black.

[FPgal]

I would use Sheaffer's Skrip all the time if the bottle still had the old form, with the little shelf inside so you wouldn't need to dip the pen all the way down into the bottle. I have heard something about the formula being changed over the years, too. I wonder if that happened at the same time the bottle design changed.

[cimmerian]

Would you say this ink is very slightly violet tinted?

 

I first noticed it when I badly smeared a notebook in the rain: there was a vague hint of violet in the smears. Now that my bottle is almost up, I can see it on the glass:

 

 

Also, I'm curious to know how come I find references to this ink here at FPN as "Slovenia" or "pre-Slovenia". A quick search on Google told me Sheaffer moved their offices to Slovakia a couple of years ago but their production went to China after they closed their facilities in Ohio.

[FPgal]

The pictures made me want to ink up with Skrip black just to see if there's a hint of violet. I just looked at the bottom of my ink bottle and it says "Slovenia." The glass is molded so that you can read the letters. I wonder if something new has occurred, etc.

[cimmerian]

I just looked at the bottom of my ink bottle and it says "Slovenia." The glass is molded so that you can read the letters. I wonder if something new has occurred, etc.

 

You are correct! I don't believe that I had never looked at the bottom of my ink bottle! It was right there all this time: SLOVENIA and the number 3.

The pictures made me want to ink up with Skrip black just to see if there's a hint of violet.

 

With me, at least, there's not a hint of violet as I write, only on pretty bad smears or as I swish the remaining ink inside the bottle.

I kinda wanted this ink to have violet shading, though.

Edited August 2, 2015 by Marcelo Ferrari

[cimmerian]

In case anyone's interested, I bought a 50 ml bottle of Sheaffer Skrip Blue-Black and in the back it states:

 

© MMIX Sheaffer Pen, a division of BIC USA Inc., Shelton, CT 06484

Sheaffer Slovakia s.r.o., Priemyselná 1, 926 01 Sered, Slovak Republic

 

And it has the letters SLOVENIA and the number 2 on relieve on the bottom.

 

Now why it says Slovenia on the bottom but it's made in Slovakia... I've got no clue. Perhaps the glass is Slovenian-made?

 

[carlos.q]

I actually had to look this up: http://www.slovak-republic.org/slovenia/

[cimmerian]

"Staff of Slovak and Slovenian embassies meet once a month to exchange wrongly-addressed mail!"

 

That cracked me up!

[fuadhilmy]

I've been using Sheaffer Skrip Black for several years and I am satisfied with it, because it works well on most good quality copy paper. Besides, it seems to me that the ink itself doesn't really stain the plastic cartridges, therefore it is quite save to say that it is fountain pen friendly, that it is not hard to flush the ink clean from the feed.

I almost empty a bottle and I intend to get another black one.

Edited September 8, 2015 by fuadhilmy

[cybaea]

In case anyone's interested, I bought a 50 ml bottle of Sheaffer Skrip Blue-Black and in the back it states:

 

© MMIX Sheaffer Pen, a division of BIC USA Inc., Shelton, CT 06484

Sheaffer Slovakia s.r.o., Priemyselná 1, 926 01 Sered, Slovak Republic

 

And it has the letters SLOVENIA and the number 2 on relieve on the bottom.

 

Now why it says Slovenia on the bottom but it's made in Slovakia... I've got no clue. Perhaps the glass is Slovenian-made?

 

 

I wonder what the item number is - my (recently acquired) bottle has 'Item #94231' and is marked '1' at the bottom; otherwise it is identical.

(Except that mine never seems to dry on Tomoe River paper at least. Even after blotting! Horrid stuff.)