Silver Sharpie Secrets?

[Max Warasila]

Is there some secret trick to getting silver sharpies to consistently write? All of mine seem to stop writing well, with only a few putting out ink consistently after the tips have been smashed to hell. Is it a problem with Sharpie, or is there something I'm doing wrong?

Thanks in advance.

 

[artable]

Sharpie tips should not get "smashed to hell" with proper use, at least in my experience. Maybe you're pressing too hard?

 

[Max Warasila]

I don't press hard at all - I've just noticed that the silver ones I loan out and come back smashed are the ones that actually flow. Poor phrasing on my part.

 

[artable]

I have no idea. I might conduct a science-y test though. Spike a sharpie that only you will use. Be careful with it, making sure you don't smash the tip. Lend out un-spiked sharpies, and test them all after while. If your sharpie doesn't write well and isn't smashed, and all the sharpies that are smashed are writing well, maybe you are doing something wrong and the tips are supposed to smash. If you want to be super science-y about it, spike the multiple sharpies that you give out different colors, and give the same sharpies to the same technicians every time. You can log sharpie behavior of particular technicians that way, and then you can find out what behaviors lead to the greatest sharpie-longevity.

Or you can buy another packet of sharpies. Maybe I've overthought this...

 

[Max Warasila]

I haven't cracked open the new pack I bought a few weeks ago - I actually marked the smashed ones, and they are both writing better than the particular sharpie I left unmarked for me to use. In fact, the one I marked for myself seems to only be writing in binder...

PS - the smashing is being done by "talent"

 

[artable]

In that case, maybe I'm *not* overthinking this. Maybe I'll get a pack of sharpies and do a test myself.

 

[Max Warasila]

I drew on a piece of scrap. Brand new one (I just took it out) is to the left, the two old ones are on the right. Top unsmashed, bottom smashed. The crap on the very bottom is from a very old one that finally died (good riddance). Sorry about choice of scrap paper - it had to be a non permeable surface.

 

[artable]

What do you use all this silver for anyways?

 

[gafftapegreenia]

Are you storing them point down like the package says?

I've always found that silver sharpies die quick and have less ink in them than a normal paint pen. Give me a silver paint pen over a silver Sharpie any day.

 

[Max Warasila]

Haha, I'm just being lazy and buying silver sharpies because I can find them. Essentially I'm using them as a paint pen for marking on dark surfaces, but they seem to be commonly requested when the "talent" has a signing, so I keep one around for them anyway.

And yes, I do store them point down.