Pilot Custom 823 - Medium Nib

[biancitwo]

I had an F. The nib was extremely stiff and rigid, a true nail, and the feedback was unpleasant. I tried to learn to love it, and failed. It's interesting that many perceive the 823 as being nicely soft. I sold it and in the end got a Sailor with an MF nib. In terms of writing, that's the level where I had hoped the 823 would be. If I ever stumble over an 823 with a M or B nib, I'll try it, but I'll never buy one untried.

The 823 nib soft? Hardly. Mine is stiff as a nail. However, it writes wonderfully. It was a daily carry with my Pelikan M605, until I obtained a Platinum 3776 Chartres Blue with broad nib. It writes wonderfully +. I have now obtained a Platinum 3776 Bourgogne with broad nib, which I immediately sent to Pendleton Brown for a CI nib. Nonetheless, I love my 823. I may not carry it, but I love writing with it.

[two2tone]

No -- not the one's I've met!

 

 

 

And japanese broads are not stubbish at all.

[amateriat]

Great review, Kelly (and I somewhat envy your handwriting). I came to the 823 in an odd way: after months of anticipation, I finally got to try the by-then-long-delayed Lamy Dialog 3 retractable at Fountain Pen Hospital, came away disappointed, then tried a Vanishing Point just for the hell of it. Loved that thing, but then tried a Custom 74, seriously loved that, and bought it on the spot, and all my existing Lamy FPs (2000 & Persona) were sold off. Then came my first 823, and then a VP. Somehow ended up losing my 823 (how, I still don't know), saved up for a while and bought another, and finally a second 823 less than a year later. So much for chronology.

 

I can safely say that I've never liked a pen on a day-to-day basis like I do the 823. I've gotten to pick up quite a few pens before and since, but it's been the better part of ten years now and I've felt no need to move to something else (well, except the VP). It works, works well, and works for a long time between refills.

[Honeybadgers]

I think I'll probably order another 823 in smoke with the waverly nib and a red ebonite feed. I just can't find a reason to complain about my amber with an ebonite feed and the FA - the FA is as soft as can possibly be achieved while still having a great everyday pen for all kinds of writing - though it can sometimes be a little wet for the cheapest papers.

[ImThatGuy]

I have 3 of these - an M, and F and a one with the custom FA nib from the Tokyo Pen Shop.

 

They're all lovely and I'd really struggle to part with any of them.

 

Thanks for the review

[penzel_washinkton]

Do you guys use the 823 with just one ink color or you swap inks with it?

I understand that the cleaning process might be more difficult without disassembling the plunger rod part

[Driften]

Do you guys use the 823 with just one ink color or you swap inks with it?

I understand that the cleaning process might be more difficult without disassembling the plunger rod part

 

 

Mine flushed out fine without taking anything apart.... I don't do it often since it holds so much ink but I expect I will be sticking to the current ink for quite a while as I like how it matches the pen.

[penzel_washinkton]

 

 

Mine flushed out fine without taking anything apart.... I don't do it often since it holds so much ink but I expect I will be sticking to the current ink for quite a while as I like how it matches the pen.

 

I was just thinking there will be water / ink residue behind the plunger seeing the PenBBS 456.

There is also something regarding warranty void if you disassemble the vacuum mechanism on the 823.

 

Thanks though for sharing!

[Driften]

 

I was just thinking there will be water / ink residue behind the plunger seeing the PenBBS 456.

There is also something regarding warranty void if you disassemble the vacuum mechanism on the 823.

 

Thanks though for sharing!

 

 

Actually what Pilot gets mad about is unscrewing the section from the 823. The pen comes with a sticker to not do that, but that is also where people have problems with the pen cracking. I think I saw someplace the twsbi wrench will unscrew the vacuum rod setup from the back of the 823, I've just never done it.

[penzel_washinkton]

Now that is new to me, that makes cleaning it a little less accessible if the section grip is not to be unscrewed.

[Driften]

Now that is new to me, that makes cleaning it a little less accessible if the section grip is not to be unscrewed.

 

 

Some people do it though, but some of the newer ones can't be removed if you try. So the answer would be to unscrew the tail of the pen instead which is how I normally cleaned my TWSBI 700r. The last time I cleaned the 700r that way I lost the rubber part on the rod and had to order a replacement from TWSBI.

[icevic]

I love vacuum fillers and I love Japanese nibs, so I keep on meaning to buy this one but I find the price is high for what you get, and there is always another pen for less that I want more. I'll get it someday, I suppose, but I feel they have priced it more like a collectible than a daily writer.

[jameswatts]

It's been a while since I've done one of these! I love this pen so much - if I had to get rid of every pen in my collection and could only keep one, this would be it (it even knocks my beloved Sailors out of the park, and if you've followed me on this forum at all, you know how difficult that is to do.)

 

I neglected to take good photos of the packaging but suffice to say, it is impressive. It arrived in a beautiful gift box with a bottle of Pilot Blue ink.

 

When I was trying to decide which nib size to get, I was frustrated to find a lack of reviews of this pen with stock nibs; I made the right choice with the medium, which is a perfect match for one of my favorite nibs (a vintage Wahl-Eversharp Skyline with an unknown nib size, but somewhere in the fine/medium ballpark.)

 

 

 

My Custom 823 is a fine, but it has been from the instant I removed it from the box one of my favorite pens. Wrote two plays with it and took countless interview notes. Can't praise this pen enough.

[Mongoosey]

I tried the 823. I loved it except that it was too heavy for me.

 

Thankfully there's the 743.

[ssaini]

I absolutely love my 823 Medium Nib and KellyMcJ Nailed the characteristics of nib. I recently bought Pelikan M800 Souveran (Fine Nib) in Classic green and I am very disappointed. i am not trying to step on any one's toes but simply expressing my experience and opinion.

 

Pilot C 823 Best Points in my Eyes

 

1) Number one has to be this gorgeous Medium Nib which writes very smooth, juicy, a bit of spring to it and a hint of feedback ..

2) The ink capacity. Fill it and you you will have a few long writing sessions before you need to re-ink it.

3) The quality of the construction. There threads are buttery smooth, the holding section is perfect size (for my hands) , the weight is beautifully balanced.

4) Looks are subjective. I like the classic looks of the Pen and really want to buy Custom 743 to add to my collection.

 

Pelikan M800

1) The nib although Fine writes almost as broad as my C823 but it is not all all smooth and has a lot of feedback. I use Clairefontaine Classic Notebook (Cloth bound) 90GSM.

2) The threads are not as smooth as Pilot but I don't like the step up to the barrel. Also the metal ring at the bottom section digs into my fingers (personal opinion and the way I hold the pen)

3) The Nib on Pleikan is gorgeous looking but is also like a nail when writing.

4) Probably it's my mind making things up but I more thing I noticed with Pelikan Blind Cap, When I twist it clockwise to fill the ink, there is an odd resistance that feels like may be I am cross threading the blind cap threads.

 

I wish I had bought Pilot Custom 743 instead of M800.

[penzel_washinkton]

Pelikan M800

1) The nib although Fine writes almost as broad as my C823 but it is not all all smooth and has a lot of feedback. I use Clairefontaine Classic Notebook (Cloth bound) 90GSM.

3) The Nib on Pleikan is gorgeous looking but is also like a nail when writing.

 

Surprising, I always thought that the Pelikan Souveran line would have a buttery smooth nib performance and some degree of nib flexibility.

Might want to reconsider buying one in the future, as gorgeous as it is.

[Uncial]

Took a little while for me to remember it, but the place for the interesting nib choices for the 823 is Tokyo Quill. Google brings up its website easily. They require patience because they only seem to get them in very, very small batches from time to time and they tend to sell out within two or three days. The FA nib is a very beautiful nib with a lot of expression and flex. In terms of modern flex nibs it is the best out there that I have tried by a very, very long margin. I think they must also adjust the feed because in all the time I've used it, it has never skipped or railroaded.

[Uncial]

Oops, wrong thread, sorry. But info is still probably relevant and useful!

[ssaini]

 

Surprising, I always thought that the Pelikan Souveran line would have a buttery smooth nib performance and some degree of nib flexibility.

Might want to reconsider buying one in the future, as gorgeous as it is.

Please don't let my experience deter you from buying M800. May be I got a one with not properly tuned nib. But one thing I can say for certainty is that there is no match for pilot in terms of consistency and great out of the box experience.

 

Pilot nibs are second to none. But each individual is different with different taste and writing styles.

There is a reason why so many people rave about M800. No doubt looks are really good but my experience in writing is underwhelming.

 

One more thing I would like to point out about the difference in service of these 2 companies.

 

I bought pilot prera before custom 823 and after finishing the supplied cartridge when I used the con40 converter, I had issues filling it up fully. I could not get it past the half way fill mark. I emailed pilot Australia and without questions they are sending me a new converter.

 

I cannot say the same thing about Pelikan. First I emailed their Australia support and the email address was non existent. Then I emailed the pelikan head office (Germany) address and yet to hear anything. I am in touch with the authorised reseller from who I got the pelikan. In Australia, unfortunately you cannot send the pen back once you have used it, unless there is a manufacturing fault. This nib with lots of feed back and not smooth does not fall under manufacturing fault but under tuning. So I guess I have to live with it...

[BaronWulfraed]

I bought pilot prera before custom 823 and after finishing the supplied cartridge when I used the con40 converter, I had issues filling it up fully. I could not get it past the half way fill mark. I emailed pilot Australia and without questions they are sending me a new converter.

 

I suspect it won't help... Given the size of the CON-40, if the pen section is "dry", you need half the converter piston travel just to fill the feed/section with ink, before it even gets to the converter.

 

My practice, for decades, is to withdraw the pen from the bottle before I've fully retracted the piston, turn the pen nib to the sky, retract the piston to get the ink from the section... THEN turn the piston out, to push the air through the feed/section -- when the ink stops bubbling and forms a small pool around the base of the nib, invert pen back into bottle, and retract the piston again. {and then lift the pen out and, unless I intend to write immediately, let out two or three drops of ink to provide a single air bubble in the converter -- to handle heat expansion of the ink}