EFNIR: Sheaffer Skrip Black

[LizEF]

Extra Fine Nib Ink Review: Sheaffer Skrip Black

This is review #234 in my series. Here's the YouTube video:

Post-recording notes: This black leans cool, but looks neutral until I put it next to other blacks.  Noodler's Borealis Black is the closest comparison I have.  I fell asleep while looking at the slide under the microscope... This ink needs good paper. Cleaning was quick and easy.  The images all look sufficiently black to me....

Zoomed in photo (You can see a little feathering here. I think this ink must have a lubricant that encourages this. Stick with good paper!)

Screenshot

Scan of Completed Review

Absorbent Paper Close-up (top is puzzle paper like thick newsprint, bottom is old 20lb copy paper)

Line width (The "h" in Rhodia. Magnification is 100x. The grid is 100x100µm. The scale is 330µm, with eleven divisions of 30µm each. The line width for this ink is roughly 325µm. With 234 inks measured, the average line width is 296µm.)

Water Test Results

Previous Review: Waterman Radiant Pink.

Images also available on Instagram: @zilxodarap.

Want to influence the inky sequence? Take the "next ink" poll.

View a list of my inks, complete with review results in a google sheet.

Need to catch up on The Adventures of Quin and Makhabesh? Find the whole story here.

Hope you enjoy. Comments appreciated!

[yazeh]

@LizEF another fabulous review  for an "undeserving" ink. From what you say, it might be a good somniferous, I should try the next time, that I have a sleepless night

This seems to be one of the wettest inks, you've got, from the line width. 

It's funny how ink reviews can defer completely, depending where we are and the pens we use. I had a similar conversation with Inkguy, about another ink. His experience was an extremely wet ink, mine was an ink with flow issues

 

[LizEF]

16 minutes ago, yazeh said:

@LizEF another fabulous review  for an "undeserving" ink. From what you say, it might be a good somniferous, I should try the next time, that I have a sleepless night

  Thanks, Yazeh!  And, yeah, it's not very exciting - especially on a microscope slide.

 

17 minutes ago, yazeh said:

This seems to be one of the wettest inks, you've got, from the line width. 

I think the lubrication is contributing to the line width - though it's definitely not the widest line I've gotten.

 

18 minutes ago, yazeh said:

It's funny how ink reviews can defer completely, depending where we are and the pens we use. I had a similar conversation with Inkguy, about another ink. His experience was an extremely wet ink, mine was an ink with flow issues

Yeah, the science can say what it wants, but sometimes the pen seems to defy science!   And environmental conditions certainly impact ink behavior.  (I also wonder how much batch variation there is.)

[yazeh]

3 minutes ago, LizEF said:

 

 

Yeah, the science can say what it wants, but sometimes the pen seems to defy science!   And environmental conditions certainly impact ink behavior.  (I also wonder how much batch variation there is.)

Is your batch, made in Slovenia or is it from the new batch, made in China?

[LizEF]

43 minutes ago, yazeh said:

Is your batch, made in Slovenia or is it from the new batch, made in China?

No idea - it's a cartridge.  Probably the one that came with my Sheaffer Icon.  From Christmas 2021.

[Sailor Kenshin]

@LizEF, thanks once again for the review and serial!  Who's that lady, and why has Makhabesh chosen to grace her lap?

 

If I have this ink (and I can't remember), it's probably in cartridge form, too, but it's OLD.  Much older than yours.  I do have two of its comparison inks, the JH and Waterman, and the Waterman is ancient, way before the name change.  And it's probably evaporated a bit by now.

 

Can't wait for the next installment!  👍🏻🎉🥂

[LizEF]

16 minutes ago, Sailor Kenshin said:

@LizEF, thanks once again for the review and serial!  

You're very welcome!

 

16 minutes ago, Sailor Kenshin said:

Who's that lady, and why has Makhabesh chosen to grace her lap?

Non-spoiler alert!  Though I never mention it in future episodes, she's just some little old lady who mistook Makhabesh for a cat, and he decided to go along with it as a way to reduce the chance of the angry boatmen recognizing him.  (At least, that's his story and he's sticking to it!)

 

18 minutes ago, Sailor Kenshin said:

Can't wait for the next installment!  👍🏻🎉🥂

  Thanks!

[Penguincollector]

Thanks for doing this one- most of my Sheaffers are really wet writers except for an extra fine 440. Now hopefully I have a use for all of those free cartridges and an ink that might work better in that pen. I was also surprised by the lady, but I need to go back and re read the last chapter or two to get my bearings.

[LizEF]

25 minutes ago, Penguincollector said:

Thanks for doing this one- most of my Sheaffers are really wet writers except for an extra fine 440. Now hopefully I have a use for all of those free cartridges and an ink that might work better in that pen.

You're very welcome!

 

26 minutes ago, Penguincollector said:

I was also surprised by the lady, but I need to go back and re read the last chapter or two to get my bearings.

[InesF]

Thank you @LizEF for the review , for the story  and for the ... ooohhh, the microscopy is missing! 🥲

 

A black ink is a black ink because it absorbs next to all light. So far the science - and all story told.

 

The biggest surprise was Makhabesh mismatched as kitty-cat. There is so much to learn here, at fountainpennetwork, about cats, about water tests and about sphinxes!  Great! Thank you @LizEF and thank you @yazeh!

 

17 hours ago, LizEF said:

Yeah, the science can say what it wants, but sometimes the pen seems to defy science!  

Ok, @LizEF, you guess it: veto!

If something behaves strangely or unexpected and in a way it can't be explained afterwards, probability is high, we do not know all facts or, with a bit lower probability, magic is one of these facts!  🧑‍⚕️🧙‍♀️ (Maybe there is even something like "science of magic" or "magic of science", what do I know?)

 

What I can see from the magnified images looks much like the behaviour of an ink with low surface tension and high viscosity. The ink seems to creep along paper fibres (seen in the width measurement image) without being sucked in, pools there at the surface delaying drying time. Inks with such a property profile tend to behave more widely different, depending on the paper type.

 

But consider: it's black ink. 🤫 Time is better spent with the colourful rest of the ink world ...  

[yazeh]

4 hours ago, InesF said:

The biggest surprise was Makhabesh mismatched as kitty-cat. There is so much to learn here, at fountainpennetwork, about cats, about water tests and about sphinxes!  Great! Thank you @LizEF and thank you @yazeh!

@InesF& @LizEF Makhabesh is great source of inspiration  

4 hours ago, InesF said:

 

Ok, @LizEF, you guess it: veto!

If something behaves strangely or unexpected and in a way it can't be explained afterwards, probability is high, we do not know all facts or, with a bit lower probability, magic is one of these facts!  🧑‍⚕️🧙‍♀️ (Maybe there is even something like "science of magic" or "magic of science", what do I know?)

 

What I can see from the magnified images looks much like the behaviour of an ink with low surface tension and high viscosity. The ink seems to creep along paper fibres (seen in the width measurement image) without being sucked in, pools there at the surface delaying drying time. Inks with such a property profile tend to behave more widely different, depending on the paper type.

 

But consider: it's black ink. 🤫 Time is better spent with the colourful rest of the ink world ...  

Where science and magic meet! 

[LizEF]

6 hours ago, InesF said:

Thank you @LizEF for the review , for the story  and for the ... ooohhh, the microscopy is missing! 🥲

You're very welcome.  (The microscopy is missing lest I put you to sleep, too.)

 

6 hours ago, InesF said:

The biggest surprise was Makhabesh mismatched as kitty-cat. There is so much to learn here, at fountainpennetwork, about cats, about water tests and about sphinxes!  Great! Thank you @LizEF and thank you @yazeh!

  Well, she was an old lady.  Probably has poor eyesight....

 

6 hours ago, InesF said:

Ok, @LizEF, you guess it: veto!

If something behaves strangely or unexpected and in a way it can't be explained afterwards, probability is high, we do not know all facts or, with a bit lower probability, magic is one of these facts!  🧑‍⚕️🧙‍♀️ (Maybe there is even something like "science of magic" or "magic of science", what do I know?)

Never let knowledge get in the way of learning!  I expect we know the tiniest fraction of a fraction's fraction of what there is to know.

 

6 hours ago, InesF said:

What I can see from the magnified images looks much like the behaviour of an ink with low surface tension and high viscosity. The ink seems to creep along paper fibres (seen in the width measurement image) without being sucked in, pools there at the surface delaying drying time. Inks with such a property profile tend to behave more widely different, depending on the paper type.

All hail the Ink Analyzer!

 

6 hours ago, InesF said:

But consider: it's black ink. 🤫 Time is better spent with the colourful rest of the ink world ...  

Amen!

[LizEF]

1 hour ago, yazeh said:

@InesF& @LizEF Makhabesh is great source of inspiration  

Where science and magic meet! 

Makhabesh usually inspires me to snarky loyalty...  Perhaps that's his true name: Loyal Snark.  Now if only I could figure out Quin's true name, then he and his staff could link...

[yazeh]

38 minutes ago, LizEF said:

Makhabesh usually inspires me to snarky loyalty...  Perhaps that's his true name: Loyal Snark.

 

38 minutes ago, LizEF said:

 

 

  Now if only I could figure out Quin's true name, then he and his staff could link...

I was listening to an interview with a writer this morning. She said, she asked her characters and they guided her. Ask Quin, you might be surprised

[LizEF]

5 minutes ago, yazeh said:

I was listening to an interview with a writer this morning. She said, she asked her characters and they guided her. Ask Quin, you might be surprised

(There's just one problem - Quin doesn't know, either.  Apparently he and his staff are trying to figure it out (per review 231, Rohrer & Klingner Sepia).)

[yazeh]

3 minutes ago, LizEF said:

(There's just one problem - Quin doesn't know, either.  Apparently he and his staff are trying to figure it out (per review 231, Rohrer & Klingner Sepia).)

Then he's not ready to divulge it. You need to be patient 🐈

[LizEF]

51 minutes ago, yazeh said:

Then he's not ready to divulge it. You need to be patient 🐈

It's not that he's not ready to divulge it, it's that he doesn't know.  He has to discover it himself - figure out who he is.  Really grow up, I suppose.  (Hmm.  This suggests two things: 1. He may not be ready to link to his staff - perhaps he's unconsciously self-conscious about what that may entail; 2. Perhaps his father has to die - they say one doesn't really grow up until one's parents both pass away.)

[Sailor Kenshin]

36 minutes ago, LizEF said:

It's not that he's not ready to divulge it, it's that he doesn't know.  He has to discover it himself - figure out who he is.  Really grow up, I suppose.  (Hmm.  This suggests two things: 1. He may not be ready to link to his staff - perhaps he's unconsciously self-conscious about what that may entail; 2. Perhaps his father has to die - they say one doesn't really grow up until one's parents both pass away.)

 

That isn't true in my case...

 

😢

[LizEF]

8 minutes ago, Sailor Kenshin said:

That isn't true in my case...

 

😢

  Sorry, Sailor.  Perhaps it's something people just say to sound wise.  Both my parents are now gone, and I don't feel terribly grown up...

[Sailor Kenshin]

36 minutes ago, LizEF said:

  Sorry, Sailor.  Perhaps it's something people just say to sound wise.  Both my parents are now gone, and I don't feel terribly grown up...

 

I know the feeling.