Review: Pilot Custom 823 With Fa Nib

[aquoro]

Pilot Custom 823-FA Fountain Pen

The Pilot Custom 823 holds a couple of special places in my small collection of fountain pens thus far - it is my first vacuum filler, as well as my most flexible nib.

As a lefty, I have a particular attraction to copperplate calligraphy, and the #5 soft-fine nib I have in my Custom Heritage 92 was not going to cut it for the long term. When researching modern flex, I found the best options to be a large #15 Pilot FA nib (found in the Custom 743), or an Omas. Omas nibs seem to have a reputation for being easily sprung, so I decided to stick with Pilot.

I was resigned to have to settle for a cartridge-converter pen with the FA nib, but luckily, /r/fountainpens user l_iollan pointed me to http://www.japanshop-quill.com/ where they sell Custom 823 vacuum filler pens with FA nibs. Normally not offered by Pilot, this combination offers a unique marriage of a large ink capacity, an easy to operate/maintain filling mechanism, and a flexy nib.

Doing business with Yasukazu was a pleasure - quick e-mails, fast shipping, and included extras in the box added up to a great experience. And so, in less than a week, I found myself with a new pen.

http://i.imgur.com/LmuAHoQ.jpg

Appearance

Even though all three color options were available (amber, smoke, and clear), I chose to go with amber. The trim and nib are gold regardless of the color of the plastic, and I thought it matched best with the amber resin. The cap band engraving has "Custom 823" and "Pilot made in Japan" separated by stars.

http://i.imgur.com/S9uuLWv.jpg

The nib, as an FA "falcon" nib, lacks decoration, but has a distinct shape the resembles the sweeping look of a bird-of-prey's head. The cutouts on either side allow it to flex more than a standard nib shape.

This is a long pen - the longest one I own. But the diameter is quite thin compared to some monsters like the Montblanc 149. The length makes it comfortable to write with unposted, but because it posts deeply, below the vacuum piston cap, it can be used posted as well.

Filling

Filling the 823 is easy, and the piston moves so smoothly you can hardly tell it is creating a seal at all. I filled it with some Iroshizuku Tsukushi to match the color of the barrel, but the color of the ink barely shows through the dark, translucent resin. The weight of the pen increases substantially when filled, due to the 2.0+ ml of ink it can hold.

Writing

Writing with the FA nib is excellent in almost every way. I'm not sure if Yas does extra tuning or testing when he fits these nibs into the 823, but the flow and smoothness were exceptional out of the box. Unflexed, the nib resembles other Japanese fine nibs, if not for being a tad wetter. Strokes in all directions are smooth, with minimal feedback. I was worried about such a fine nib feeling scratchy on side-to-side strokes, but it was perfectly smooth.

Flexing is what this nib was made for though, and it performs admirably. Compared to my soft-fine, it takes less pressure to get the widest line, and it snaps back to a fine point faster. As long as I remember to unseal the cap before writing a lot, I've never had a problem with ink starvation or lack of flow. I expect this to be somewhat ink and paper dependent however, and Iroshizuku inks tend to have very good flow. At the moment though, I can fill entire pages with flex writing without having any railroading.

http://i.imgur.com/aLvMov6.jpg

Some railroading does occur, but it is mostly localized on certain parts of a page. This is probably due to residue and oil from my hands - I had this problem with another pen as well, and it was remedied to a great degree by washing the nib and feed in very dilute dish-soap water. I may clean this pen out in a similar way in the future.

Conclusion

Overall, I couldn't be happier with my purchase of the Pilot Custom 823 with FA nib. Thanks to Yas for being the only vendor to sell this pen and nib combination, and thanks to l_iollan for suggesting his shop! The 823 has not only joined my daily carry of pens for work, but also become my go to for learning and practicing calligraphy.

http://www.byjtseng.com/2015/11/pilot-custom-823-fa-fountain-pen-pilot.html

http://i.imgur.com/8p5ZW0W.jpg

Edited November 26, 2015 by aquoro

[dfo]

fantastic review.

[Algester]

Asahiya Kami Bungu-ten also sells a shop exclusive 845 which I normally get confused every so often... is it Aka-Urushi or Shuu-Urushi (Both in the red spectrum with subtle differences)

[Feanaaro]

Is the soft-fine a standard offering on the Custom 92? I thought they only had F-M-B, no "specialty" nib on the 92. I'd really like to get it with the soft-fine if available.

[Algester]

nope for SF you would need to get the heritage 91 first then put it into your heritage 92

Asahiya Kami Bungu-ten is only limited to the Fa and Cosu nib? for selected pens with number 15 nib

Edited November 26, 2015 by Algester

[aquoro]

Is the soft-fine a standard offering on the Custom 92? I thought they only had F-M-B, no "specialty" nib on the 92. I'd really like to get it with the soft-fine if available.

Algester is correct - I have both a 91 and 92, and swapped the nibs. You can see them both in the last picture!

Edited November 26, 2015 by aquoro

[da vinci]

Great review, thanks

[Florenze]

Chiming in late here, but thanks for an excellent review!

[senzen]

Very interesting! Thanks.

[fugel]

excellent review and very nice pen.

[WaskiSquirrel]

Very timely! I got a line on an option for a relatively low cost FA nib (with a pen attached). I really want to swap it with the one in my Pilot 823. I think this thread made up my mind!

[darazs]

Thanks for the nice personal review. It's great to see that vendors mke efforts to provide us with the pens we dream of!

[canibanoglu]

Great review! I've always wanted to get this pen but never actually pulled the trigger. I'm glad that you're liking yours.

 

I had two questions though. First, I really love that pen wrap, what is it? Second, I couldn't help but wonder why being a lefty makes you particularly interested in copperplate

 

Anyways, thanks a lot for the review!

[Behike54]

Congrats on your acquisition and having penmanship I just might do something regrettable were it guaranteed.

Most of all, I learned a lot and picked up a new vendor, and BAZINGA!

[Omaslover]

Congratulations and thank you for sharing.

[WmEdwards]

Thanks for sharing your review!

[mehandiratta]

thanks for the review...

I absolutely love this pen