Pilot Custom 742 Fa: Is It Fine "enough"?

[FountainClogger]

Hi guys, I'm strongly considering acquiring the pen in object, but before I pull the trigger I have a doubt that must be dispelled with your help. I am aware of all the issues of the FA nib & feed relative to ink flow and I'm OK with that. I would like to use this pen just to enliven my handwriting, I'm not going to do Copperplate of flex the hell out of it.

Now, the matter that concerns me is the following: is the FA nib fine enough for me? Let me expand: I really appreciate Japanese fine nibs and I found the they allow me to achieve an ideal line width. So, for instance, something significantly wider than a Platinum 3776 SF would be a problem. So, is the minimum line with achievable with the FA nib comparable to the line width of an average Japanese fine nib? Keep in mind I'm talking about regular writing with no deliberate pressure applied.

Thanks in advance for your answers.

[rollerboy]

I have a 912 FA. I was somewhat taken aback that it's minimum line width, writing normally, is wider than what I consider a typical Pilot F. See my comment in this FPN topic. I now have a 912 SF (in addition to the 91 SF I had at the time of the linked topic) and very much enjoy it.

Edited March 23, 2018 by rollerboy

[hinky]

The fine-ness of the FA nib is closer a medium of other Japanese nibs because the nib is so juicy and soft. If you have a very very light touch and use a dry ink, I suppose it can work for you. I've only ever tried an FA on a CH 912 filled with Namiki blue-black and it was such a lovely writer. 😊

 

But as I've said, out of the box, it's closer to a medium Japanese nib (normal writing pressure). I suggest you try it in person (if you can), or you can get a nib meister to grind it to a finer point. 😉

[FountainClogger]

I have a 912 FA. I was somewhat taken aback that it's minimum line width, writing normally, is wider than what I consider a typical Pilot F. See my comment in this FPN topic. I now have a 912 SF (in addition to the 91 SF I had at the time of the linked topic) and very much enjoy it.

 

The fine-ness of the FA nib is closer a medium of other Japanese nibs because the nib is so juicy and soft. If you have a very very light touch and use a dry ink, I suppose it can work for you. I've only ever tried an FA on a CH 912 filled with Namiki blue-black and it was such a lovely writer.

 

But as I've said, out of the box, it's closer to a medium Japanese nib (normal writing pressure). I suggest you try it in person (if you can), or you can get a nib meister to grind it to a finer point.

 

Thank you guys, I think I'll stay away from this nib then.

[hinky]

Well, if your preferences ever change (or eventually evolve) keep this pen in mind. It really is a nice writer (much softer and smoother than the Platinum SF). 😊

 

Oh, and glad I could help 😉

[A Smug Dill]

I have a 912 FA. I was somewhat taken aback that it's minimum line width, writing normally, is wider than what I consider a typical Pilot F.

I had a Pilot Custom Heritage 912 fitted with a #10 FA nib, a Pilot Custom Heritage 91 fitted with a #5 SFM nib and a Pilot Custom 74 fitted with a #5 SF nib. Of the three, it was the SF nib that had the broadest minimum line width; with an exceedingly light hand, I could get a line of English down on the page with almost needlepoint appearance using the other two nibs. However, even though I usually write with reasonably light pressure, the amount of effort it took to minimise line variation with those nibs was something else, and I couldn't get a page of fine-line writing consistently out of either the FA nib or the SFM nib.

 

All said and done, the FA nib and I just did not get along (and, no, it wasn't because I particularly wanted it to flex further than it was designed and engineered to do), and I could not do any semblance of normal writing with it in either English or Chinese, and there were so many times it frustrated me with uncontrollable variation in line width and with railroading, that I often wanted to shove the point of the nib into the wall or a rock.

 

Earlier today, I deliberately picked a wetter ink (Diamine Sherwood Green) to use in the 912 pen, and while I can catch a glimpse of the supposed ‘magic’ of line variation using a modern flex nib when I wrote a little bit on non-absorbent stone paper, once I put the pen to a page of trusty Bloc Rhodia No.16 80gsm paper I started getting problems again within a few lines of writing. Forget about a page or even a line of writing with controlled line variation but without ink starvation or railroading; I couldn't even put down my autograph using the FA nib reliably. In the end, I just wilfully kept writing ‘flamboyantly’ (much in the way I would sign my name), over and over again until the tines sprang, and then I pulled the nib out and snapped the metal in half with my hands out of frustration, even though I was quite cognisant of how much the pen cost me to buy.

Edited September 11, 2018 by A Smug Dill

[JunkyardSam]

Regarding line width -- you would absolutely be disappointed by its starting width. As someone else said, it's comparable to a "Japanese M" (or Pilot FM.)

 

The #10 FA nib seems to have a higher incidence of problems versus the #15 FA. I took the risk myself and ended up with a 912 that wouldn't write. I don't mean flexed, I mean it was inconsistent and had strange unpredictable skipping issues even when used normally. My friend at work has a 742 FA with the same issue.

 

My 823 FA is flawless in its performance. But... it's not particularly fine at the tip.

 

Have you considered a Pilot Falcon SEF?

 

Aside from that I'd recommend an 823 FA and having it ground down to a finer width by a skilled nibmeister.

 

Standard disclaimer not to overflex these pens applies.

[A Smug Dill]

I just fished out from the rubbish bin one of the last writing samples from my now-destroyed Pilot #10 FA nib, to show a comparison against some other Japanese nibs:

[Lloyd]

I had Mike-It-Work transform my 743's FA nib into a very smooth needlepoint that very rarely railroad tracks even under heavy flexing.

[Driften]

There is a replacement feed for the 743 FA nib that increases flow. It was talked about in the nibs area of the forum. Not going to make the nib write finer but could fix some peoples issues.