Finally Ordered That Pilot Custom 823 I've Been Wanting

[Barkingpig]

A spot of a product called "goo gone" on a paper towel or tissue would be the easiest; a spot of vegetable oil will also do a similar removal of adhesive.

[NumberSix]

[insert drooling Homer Simpson gif here]

 

What do they say, like butter on hot glass? Yup. This baby is glorious.

[NumberSix]

A spot of a product called "goo gone" on a paper towel or tissue would be the easiest; a spot of vegetable oil will also do a similar removal of adhesive.

 

Excellent, thanks! I will look into it.

[JulieParadise]

Or maybe just try to stick the sticky off with sticky / Tesa tape (= make the goo adhere to the sticky of the tape), like fight fire with fire, sort of.

[Betweenthelines]

Good choice on the 823. In my opinion it is meant to be a 'knock around' workhorse pen and is meant to be used, heavily, so I do hope you end up using it in your classes!

[NumberSix]

Good choice on the 823. In my opinion it is meant to be a 'knock around' workhorse pen and is meant to be used, heavily, so I do hope you end up using it in your classes!

I ended up running with the Pilot Blue ink, and I did indeed use it tonight to take notes in class. It worked wonderfully. Yes, the medium line was a little thicker than an EF or F, but it just meant I needed to use a gentler hand.

[TassoBarbasso]

I dont imagine that Ill be carrying this $300 pen to class to take notes. But I wasnt very clear on that point, and it makes sense that someone would assume I was looking for a replacement for the pens I did buy specifically to take the class.😉

Why wouldnt you carry the pen to class? Ive always used high end pens for note taking with no issues I used to go to high school with an OMAS FP that costed more than my second-hand clothes and books put together yes, I always had a very peculiar pyramid of basic needs

 

At the end of the day, chances are that nobody will know how much your pen is worth. And nobody will bother you over that. And if they do, just say that its a present from a dear relative and you dont know the exact price.

 

Also, M nibs (or even B and BB nibs) are totally fine to take notes with, as long as you have a good ink capacity (and the 823 certainly does). Well, unless you have a small handwriting, of course

 

I used to take notes with a smooth oblique broad nib from a 1933 pen and never had issues.

[mke]

> Ive always used high end pens for note taking with no issues

In the office where I am working, I see hundreds of cheap ball-pens and mechanical pencils and one fountain pen. I saw that pen immediately because of the gold trim which you don't find with cheaper pens.. If there are somewhere people who have difficulties between "mine and yours" than they might see that pen quickly and might get attracted.

 

Fortunately, in the office where I work, I can let a $3000 pen lying on my desk without fear that it gets little feet.

[NumberSix]

Why wouldnt you carry the pen to class? Ive always used high end pens for note taking with no issues I used to go to high school with an OMAS FP that costed more than my second-hand clothes and books put together yes, I always had a very peculiar pyramid of basic needs

 

At the end of the day, chances are that nobody will know how much your pen is worth. And nobody will bother you over that. And if they do, just say that its a present from a dear relative and you dont know the exact price.

 

Also, M nibs (or even B and BB nibs) are totally fine to take notes with, as long as you have a good ink capacity (and the 823 certainly does). Well, unless you have a small handwriting, of course

 

I used to take notes with a smooth oblique broad nib from a 1933 pen and never had issues.

 

I did end up using it in class last night, and it worked great. I even forgot to unscrew the blind cap, and I ran dry half way through. But a couple of quick turns, and the flow started right up. I see a number of complaints around about that cap issue. I suppose it's a little unsightly if you're writing unposted, breaking up the sleek lines, but the cap posts right over it.

[NumberSix]

One issue I am running into with the pen's black barrel is that I can't really see the ink to know if I am getting a good fill. If I shine a flashlight on the pen against a white background, I think I can see where the blue ink stops and the empty space begins. But it's difficult. I "wrote it dry" this morning after just 24 hours, and there's no way even with class last night that I wrote enough to empty this barrel. That means it was a poor fill.

 

I may just need to be sure I am putting the pen deeper into the Pilot 70ml bottle and make sure the inkwell is nice and full.

 

Any advice on the topic would be welcome.

[Driften]

There are tricks to getting a vac pen fully filled. Try using the plunger more then once then carefully push the plunger nib up and then insert it back into the ink and finish the stroke. You should be able to find a YouTube video showing it done on a Visconti. But what would be really easy is use a Pinider traveling ink well. Then you are filling the pen nib up and it's easier for air to rise up and ink to flow into the pen. Makes a good way to fill pens on the go as well.

[OCArt]

+1 on Pinider or Visconti Traveling Inkwell and the Pilot 823!

There are tricks to getting a vac pen fully filled. Try using the plunger more then once then carefully push the plunger nib up and then insert it back into the ink and finish the stroke. You should be able to find a YouTube video showing it done on a Visconti. But what would be really easy is use a Pinider traveling ink well. Then you are filling the pen nib up and it's easier for air to rise up and ink to flow into the pen. Makes a good way to fill pens on the go as well.

[seoulseeker]

In surprised to hear the smoke barrel is so dark as to cause problems telling how much ink is in there.

 

Makes me glad I have the clear one

[Driften]

I have the amber one and it's very easy to see ink level as well.

[mke]

Yes, the smoky black one has just a hint of transparency.

[NumberSix]

In surprised to hear the smoke barrel is so dark as to cause problems telling how much ink is in there.

 

Makes me glad I have the clear one

 

 

I have the amber one and it's very easy to see ink level as well.

 

 

Yes, the smoky black one has just a hint of transparency.

 

Yup, it's just a hint indeed. Very challenging to see the amount. It's really my only regret about this pen - if I had realized, I would have chose the Amber, which was the one I initially wanted anyway. But at some some point, I decided to go for the black one instead.

 

Vanness doesn't do returns on inked up pens or open bottles of ink. I just emailed them and see if they will do a straight exchange for the amber pen. We'll see what happens. . .it's complicated by the fact that they seem to only have the B nib in stock for amber, and I don't think I want that one.

Edited February 21, 2020 by NumberSix

[NumberSix]

There are tricks to getting a vac pen fully filled. Try using the plunger more then once then carefully push the plunger nib up and then insert it back into the ink and finish the stroke. You should be able to find a YouTube video showing it done on a Visconti. But what would be really easy is use a Pinider traveling ink well. Then you are filling the pen nib up and it's easier for air to rise up and ink to flow into the pen. Makes a good way to fill pens on the go as well.

 

I am familiar with those techniques, having used a TWSBI Vac Mini in the past. It's just so much easier when you can actually see what the ink is doing. LOL

[NumberSix]

Good news! Mike at Vanness said he can swap my Med nib into an Amber body.

[Linger]

Pilot made one of their better decisions to include Europe in the regions where the 823 is now available. I bought mine (the Amber in M) last year at Goulet. With the import duties and VAT making it a not inexpensive pen. As of February this year, the pen available for a RRP (in the Netherlands) of around EUR 335-350. Granted, not cheap, but worth every euro.

[Pensei]

Sorry, coming in late here, but I wondered if OP or somebody could tell me what the "warning sticker" on the cap is. Mine is three or four years old and did not have such (also, mine shipped from Japan, so that might make a difference). I'm guessing Pilot decided to tell people to quit taking the darn things apart. By the way, great pen, and cool service by VanNess to do the exchange for you.