Pilot Custom 823 /w Fa Nib And Ebonite Feeds

[Honeybadgers]

 

I've had my 823 for about a week now, got the ebonite feeds from flexible nib factory, and tried out all three feeds with the #15 FA (Falcon) nib. This pen can only be ordered with the FA or Waverly nib specially from pilot, and the only authorized retailer of the FA/WA 823 is Tokyo Pen and Quill Shop. Yasukazu Hagiwara personally checks each one before shipping and ships them out (you have to contact him to have one special ordered) packaged wonderfully. The 823 comes in a rather disappointing typical pilot box. It'd have been nice to see it in a larger box with a small bottle of ink since this pen can't use cartridges, especially since this pen trades punches all day with the justus 95 for being Pilot's most expensive flagship pen.

 

 

It's a large thing. I'd say it trades punches with the Visconti Homo Sapiens Maxi in length, nib size, and section size. It's long, well balanced, posts deeply and securely.

 

 

Size comparison with a Pilot custom heritage 91, Platinum 3776, Visconti HS Bronze age, and early 90's 14k MB 149

 

 

 

 

 

The fit and finish are peerless. Not even my MB 149 is as nice. The plastic is polished perfectly. My only slight gripe in the color is that the finial, blind cap, and section are all solid brown. It's okay, but I think I might have preferred translucent finial and blind cap, and black section. The amber is definitely my favorite color among the options (smoke, clear, amber) No creases or seams from injection molding anywhere, the threading on the blind cap is perfect.

 

The shape is exactly what I want in a pen. I am all about the cigar/borderline torpedo shape and the japanese ball clip has really grown on me over the years.

 

 

The vac filler shames all my other vac fillers. TWSBI, Visconti, you can see when you fill the pen the hair-thin perfect seal that the gasket makes, it's glassy smooth to actuate and gives an easy 3/4 fill with a single use of the plunger.

 

The attention to detail on the plunger system is exquisite. The cap has inner ridges that serve two purposes, guiding the nib into the cap liner (which is opaque, something I prefer after the suffering that is trying to clean out a TWSBI cap liner - the only way to show me the nib is to just do away with a cap liner, a-la the pelikan m205 demo) and it also guides the cap around the barrel and keeps it from touching the blind cap, so unlike the visconti H.S., the cap can't accidentally mess with the blind cap.

 

As for being a vac filler, If you had reservations about having to leave the tail unscrewed for use, fear not. This pen has the option of not having a shutoff valve. It uses two separate gaskets on the rod, one to create vacuum, one to seal the section. I have gotten used to vac fillers and quite like the little ritual of unscrewing the tail any time I sit down to write, and it does hold a generous amount of ink, even in the stock feed, for at least 3-4 normal sentences, but if you just want a fuss-free writer, just unscrew the assembly from the rear and pop off the gasket.

 

Speaking of disassembly, I don't know if the section unscrews, but the nib/feed pull straight out, and removal of the plunger is easy - the TWSBI wrench fits it perfectly.

 

 

I do wish the nib had some scrollwork. it looks kind of lame, even with the elegant length of the tines and the cutouts. You can see the pilot #5 rhodium plated 14k nib has a ton of intricate scrollwork, and this pen's generally conservative appearance could use a little bit of drama.

 

 

Speaking of the nib, this nib is incredible. I don't know why it isn't a standard offering with the pen. It's glorious. It may not be dramatic looking, almost a little generic, but it's pretty much a perfect writer for someone who wants a soft everyday writer. It's vintage semiflex bordering on full flex. It does require a little bit of pressure, the tines don't just fall apart, but the pressure required to make it work is very reasonable for shades in spencerian writing, and bold, expressive lines.

 

The factory feed, however, is not quite up to task. it'll keep flowing on good paper, but if the paper has any real absorbance, it'll suck the ink straight out of the feed on the first flex. If you plan on just using it for signatures and normal everyday writing where you want softness and a little line variation in typical print/cursive, it's perfectly adequate. But if you plan on using it with more absorbent paper, dry inks, or real drawing/calligraphy sessions, you need an upgrade. And one exists. And it's very resonably priced.

 

 

Enter the Flexible Nib Factory ebonite feeds. They're technically made for the 743, but that pen uses the same #15 nib and feed, so the fit in the 823 is perfect. The machining on these feeds is flawless and the fit is factory perfect. They look like they came in the pen fresh from the factory. I couldn't decide if I wanted the 3 channel or 2 channel, and after emailing Joey at FNF, he recommended the 2 slot. but they were $25 each. So whatever (the red ebonite is $40) and I ordered both.

 

I can say that Joey was right - if you plan on using the pen exclusively on great paper, for serious spencerian or copperplate, or a ton of drawing with big expressive lines, or exclusively want to use very, very dry inks like pelikan 4001, You want the 3 slit. It'll be my special occasion feed. But the 2 slit does the job for the majority of inks in the majority of situations, without firehosing bad paper or taking 25 minutes to dry on tomoe, so that's the feed you want if you plan on using the pen every day. It'd be really, really cool if Joey was able to contract with pilot directly and sell them ebonite feeds for the 743 and 823 so they were standard with the pen. It's worth the little bit of extra cost and ebonite feeds are just that little bit more "wow! they really put some extra time into this"

 

 

In the end, this is one of my new favorite pens. It's really the MB 149 of japanese pens to my mind. It's got some serious flare but is packaged in an austere, elegant way. It has some of the drama of a demonstrater but the dark amber color really keeps it subdued. The nib isn't dramatic looking, but performs dramatically. The fit and finish are unquestionably excellent and with the ebonite feed, this pen is up there with my MB 149, visconti divina metro, and heavily customized flex TWSBI vac700R. My kids are gonna fight over it.

Edited November 11, 2018 by Honeybadgers

[Driften]

I have the 823 with a B nib and it's one of my top pens. Mine was the US model and came in the big box with a bottle of ink. I think it's mostly the Japanese market ones that come in the smaller box. I like the dark brown trim with my Amber model. It was a surprise to see it since pictures don't normally show off the color properly. I put mine up there with my my favorite pens from Pelikan (m805) and Montblanc (146). It does have a similar feel and balance on costs a fraction of what being the other two cost new. I wouldn't try to unscrew the section on the 823. Besides the note from Pilot saying to not do it, it has been a source of cracks from people that have. People say the newer ones are sealed better to prevent users from removing the section. Besides when you can remove the piston from the back I don't see the need. I have never taken mine apart.

 

Hope you enjoy yours for many years.

[Honeybadgers]

I think my section is sealed to the barrel. I tried gently but it was on there tightly enough to make me think that it shouldn't be screwed with. I agree that I don't see a reason when the plunger disassembles from the rear.

[penzel_washinkton]

Congrats on the new 823, how does it compare to the Pilot CH 91 nib? I have the CH 91 in Fine but had to spread the tines to increase flow of the ink.

Edited November 11, 2018 by penzel_washinkton

[Driften]

  On 11/11/2018 at 12:20 PM, penzel_washinkton said:

Congrats on the new 823, how does it compare to the Pilot CH 91 nib? I have the CH 91 in Fine but had to spread the tines to increase flow of the ink.

 

 

The 823 is a much nicer pen than a 74/91/92. Larger pen, larger nib, higher quality feel, and different balance. I would expect most Pilot F's to write with the same flow as the nib you have now. Pilot gold nib M's on the other hand normally write wet. My 823 with a B nib does not write as wet as my several Pilot M's do, but it's nice as is and I haven't needed to adjust it. If you go with the FA nib like above it's the feed holding things back not the nib adjustment and these replacement feeds seem to do the trick.

[bobje]

Your video of a handwriting sample provides useful information about how the nib flexes. Thank you for producing and including it.

[penzel_washinkton]

  On 11/11/2018 at 6:23 PM, Driften said:

 

 

The 823 is a much nicer pen than a 74/91/92. Larger pen, larger nib, higher quality feel, and different balance. I would expect most Pilot F's to write with the same flow as the nib you have now. Pilot gold nib M's on the other hand normally write wet. My 823 with a B nib does not write as wet as my several Pilot M's do, but it's nice as is and I haven't needed to adjust it. If you go with the FA nib like above it's the feed holding things back not the nib adjustment and these replacement feeds seem to do the trick.

 

Okay, was looking to a more finer nibs (EF) if I were to get the 823 . Thanks for the insight

[Honeybadgers]

You can get an 823 with a pilot fine from the factory, that and this nib are the finest nib you can get from the factory. If you want a PO nib or an EF, you need to buy a pilot 743 and swap 'em

 

I only have one CH91, and it has a soft fine nib. That nib is a HAIR finer than the FA nib, but is generally the same. If you like the 823 FA nib but don't have the budget, a custom 74 or 91 with the soft fine nib is the next best thing. That nib is fine, precise, and has some flex (though again runs into railroading problems)

 

If I could get Joey to make ebonite feeds for the 74/91, I'd probably have five or six more.

Edited November 14, 2018 by Honeybadgers