Is cross blue ink suitable for a vintage pen?

August 27, 2022

Hello everybody,

I am currently restoring a Sheaffer Snorkel Statesman and fingers crossed should be using it by the end of the day!

I was just wondering if cross blue ink (as seen in the link at the bottom) will be a safe choice for testing it out and keeping in there for a while? It is the only ink I have with me at the minute so am hoping it’s the answer I want to hear 😉

Most of my other inks are notorious for crudding and making a mess of the sac (e.g diamine oxblood/diamine pumpkin) so want to double check before loading this cross ink up.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Cross-Fountain-Pen-Bottle-Ink/dp/B000EWQ18Y

Also, I believe that the main culprit for this is said to be red pigments, but does anybody have any idea as to whether pelican brilliant violet or waterman inspired blue would also be safe in the long term?

thanks very much,

JT

August 27, 2022

No experience with cross inks but it should be fine. The waterman inspired blue should also be fine. I use waterman mysterious blue or parker blue black as my “testing” ink.

wrt the crusting in red inks: i don’t have personal experience with the crusting, but yes the common thread seems to be the red dyes. Purples are said to stain apparently, but i don’t know about pelikan specifically

good luck with the restoration. Post pics when you’re done!

August 27, 2022

4 hours ago, IThinkIHaveAProblem said:

No experience with cross inks but it should be fine. The waterman inspired blue should also be fine. I use waterman mysterious blue or parker blue black as my “testing” ink.

wrt the crusting in red inks: i don’t have personal experience with the crusting, but yes the common thread seems to be the red dyes. Purples are said to stain apparently, but i don’t know about pelikan specifically

good luck with the restoration. Post pics when you’re done!

I’m back and with a what seems to be working snorkel!

Here are the pictures as promised 👍

I am very happy with how it turned out, being my first resto for a while and my first snorkel model. Not sure fun is the right word but it was certainly a rollercoaster and a lot of excitement - felt like a bit of a project rather than a simple resac job like on a lever filler etc.

Quite happy with the pen itself and it’ll definitely be one to take back to university with me. Think I’ll be on the lookout for another one but with a slightly wider nib in hopes it’ll feel like my other pens as I’m not used to thinner Sheaffer offerings.

Thanks very much 😃

EDIT: Last thing, I was also surprised to find it had a white O-ring in the barrel. Not sure if it was original or not but I’ve never seen anybody mention white replacements. Was a bit of a nightmare to get out though as it was totally rock solid…