The Custom 823 Reconsidered

[Koyote]

 

I have one amber 823 with a nice B nib. I find that I don't use the pen all that much. I think the reason is the ink shut off valve. I usually don't have long stretch writing to do and I find that I have to open the valve every 2-3 writing bursts, in case i forget it, the ink in the feed runs out and the flow does not start immediately when I open the valve, some effort is required. I can defeat the valve, but I don't have the heart to do that on such a nicely made pen. FWIW, I have the same issue with my Dani Trio pens and I have reversibly defeated the ink shutoff valve on my favorite Mikado (Thanks Brian!).

 

Best

Hari

 

hari, you could just leave the shut-off valve in the open position all the time. The pen would then be no more likely to leak ink than any regular piston filler or vacuum filler that lacks the shut-off.

[hari317]

 

hari, you could just leave the shut-off valve in the open position all the time. The pen would then be no more likely to leak ink than any regular piston filler or vacuum filler that lacks the shut-off.

yes that is certainly a solution, but I am not comfortable with the gap between knob and barrel. I hold pens fairly back and i have a low attack angle on paper and the sharp edges of the gap bothers me. Shut off valves implemented in the onoto style are not my thing, but that is specific to me, many are happy with it.

[enricof]

BTW Enricof, thanks to this thread about your favorite pen, you are back posting on FPN, i think after a long gap? Welcome!

 

Been busy and short on cash (another Mikado on the way), tried to avoid temptations...

 

 

hari, you could just leave the shut-off valve in the open position all the time. The pen would then be no more likely to leak ink than any regular piston filler or vacuum filler that lacks the shut-off.

 

Not nice to see.

 

We are speaking about elegant pens, seeing the unscrewed blind cap actually bothers me more than having to unscrew it to write (also on the Mikado).

 

Probably I would prefer if the blind cap had to be unscrewed to shut ink flow (after all, if shut I would not be seeing/using the pen, that is the reason why I buy nice pens, isn't it?).

Edited March 11, 2014 by enricof

[hari317]

 

Not nice to see.

 

sent you the email with pics, hopefully you will suffer no longer.

[enricof]

sent you the email with pics, hopefully you will suffer no longer.

 

Got and answered the mail, guess I avoid surgery for the moment.

[cnjackson]

This has been an interesting exchange on the aesthetics of the 823. To my eye (never seen it in person) it looks beautiful--especially in the amber. But I think I would share enricof's distaste for the look of a slightly unscrewed blind cap. And that blemish (if that's what it is) is something that pushes me toward the Sailor 1911L.

 

I'm curious to know what others think and feel about the aesthetics of the unscrewed blind cap.

[enricof]

This has been an interesting exchange on the aesthetics of the 823. To my eye (never seen it in person) it looks beautiful--especially in the amber. But I think I would share enricof's distaste for the look of a slightly unscrewed blind cap. And that blemish (if that's what it is) is something that pushes me toward the Sailor 1911L.

 

I'm curious to know what others think and feel about the aesthetics of the unscrewed blind cap.

 

Having also the large size 1911 clear demo, I must say that IMHO there is no match against the 823, even with its unscrewed blind cap and black inner cap.

 

If you look my posts, you'll find many pics of the 823s and none of the 1911 (even if it is a great writing tool).

Now that I think about it, i reckon it's out of rotation since three or more years...

 

Sailor's nib is wonderful, but the 1911 looks and feels much cheaper (I must admit I'm biased against c/c pens in general and especially demos).

Edited March 11, 2014 by enricof

[cnjackson]

 

Having also the large size 1911 clear demo, I must say that IMHO there is no match against the 823, even with its unscrewed blind cap and black inner cap.

 

If you look my posts, you'll find many pics of the 823s and none of the 1911 (even if it is a great writing tool).

Now that I think about it, i reckon it's out of rotation since three or more years...

 

Sailor's nib is wonderful, but the 1911 looks and feels much cheaper (I must admit I'm biased against c/c pens in general and especially demos).

Thanks, enricof--that helps, and I'll look through your posts some more.

 

As for the Sailor--are you saying that you like it for its nib, but you find that it feels plasticky? Comparable to, say, a Safari?

 

Chris

[InkyWinky]

I don't think it is so simple to sell a pen and recover the money you spent when you fully disclose as having tampered with it at home (e.g. I pulled the stock nib and put the stock nib from another pilot into this). YMMV. also you stand to lose whatever warranty you have on a new pen.

 

Also nib swaps with a BB nib needs some skilful set up post the graft.

 

Two points...

 

• You might not recover all of your money 100% but you can recover a lot if the nib / pen combo you see is popular and is still unused.
• I do swaps on these nib frequently as they are simple friction fit and on my 823's have moved the nibs around to suit the clear/amber/smoke barrel with a particular nib. They pop out and pop in and I never had a feed or alignment issue. You can see that there is an easy to see channel that aligns the nib and feed for insertion.

[WaskiSquirrel]

This has been an interesting exchange on the aesthetics of the 823. To my eye (never seen it in person) it looks beautiful--especially in the amber. But I think I would share enricof's distaste for the look of a slightly unscrewed blind cap. And that blemish (if that's what it is) is something that pushes me toward the Sailor 1911L.

 

I'm curious to know what others think and feel about the aesthetics of the unscrewed blind cap.

 

It doesn't bother me at all. It's just part of using the pen.

[Koyote]

I really want one of these, but man, that would be the most expensive pen on my desk. I would have to give up Scotch for a year to justify it.

[cnjackson]

 

It doesn't bother me at all. It's just part of using the pen.

Thanks, Waski!

[Dr.Grace]

The unscrewed blind cap only bothers me when I'm trying to slip the pen into an elastic pen loop. But it's easy to screw it down when you need to. I typically don't like brown-colored pens, but the amber goes beautifully with the gold-tone rings. This is one of my favorite pens. I absolutely love it.

[cnjackson]

The unscrewed blind cap only bothers me when I'm trying to slip the pen into an elastic pen loop. But it's easy to screw it down when you need to. I typically don't like brown-colored pens, but the amber goes beautifully with the gold-tone rings. This is one of my favorite pens. I absolutely love it.

Thank you, Dr. Grace--I'm coming around to the 823 nicely. I think I'm about to pull the trigger--just waiting to hear back from a seller!

 

C

[tinta]

Is there any option that I'm not aware of to get a Pilot nib wide enough to customize into a fairly wide italic?

 

If a BB is not available (& it would be a narrower Japanese version of a BB) what other nib would Pilot have that could fit into an 823, & have enough tipping to be stubbed to either a 1.1 mm or the smallest at 0.9 mm?

8.00 to 1.1 mm is my normal range of stub/italic nib sizes for all my writing activities.

 

I would not want to use a nib of another Japanese manufacturer to fit into the 823 & end up with a frankenpen.

 

Love the pen, the shape, the concept of its filling system, but not the nibs that are available.

At least the ones that can be currently sourced from North American dealers.

Edited March 13, 2014 by tinta

[Koyote]

Is there any option that I'm not aware of to get a Pilot nib wide enough to customize into a fairly wide italic?

 

If a BB is not available (& it would be a narrower Japanese version of a BB) what other nib would Pilot have that could fit into an 823, & have enough tipping to be stubbed to either a 1.1 mm or the smallest a 0.9 mm?

8.00 to 1.1 mm is my normal range of stub/italic nib sizes for all my writing activities.

 

I would not want to use a nib of another Japanese manufacturer to fit into the 823 & end up with a frankenpen.

 

Love the pen, the shape, the concept of its filling system, but not the nibs that are available.

At least the ones that can be currently sourced from North American dealers.

 

You should contact John Mottishaw at nibs.com to see if he can grind the Custom 823 Broad nib into a stub of that size. I'm betting that he can make a .9mm stub for you.

[tinta]

That is where I inquired first. The 823 can be had with a Pilot B, which is of a smaller Japanese size,...virtually a medium nib. Not much tipping material to work with.

This would give a 0.6, maybe a 0.7 mm italic, still on the small size for me. At one time I had a Sailor nib in B & it was quite narrow.

 

Till now, I can only see two options:

 

-either there is a large size Pilot BB or Music nib that would fit into the pen, which could be then customized.

Maybe there is a wider nib available to the Japanese/Asian market that I do not know about?

 

-or I would have to re-tip the nib to a wide enough blob (maybe by Greg Minuskin), then have him stub it to the "huge" nib specs that I prefer. That may be a complicated & costly venture.

[saskia_madding]

Okay, I have to weigh in on this. Guys, I know the Custom 823 is a Japanese nib and so it should be thinner than Western models, but be careful here. The Custom 823 nibs are WET, and that can often make you expect a M line (with the B nib), but actually get something closer to a B on some pens (Visconti excluded ... those things are fire hoses!)

 

Here's something I posted a long time ago, and I hope it helps.

 

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php/topic/199360-pilot-custom-823-nib-medium-vs-broad/

 

Also, for those interested in nib swapping (which I did), here's the BB on a 743 - http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=131135653955

[The Good Captain]

I'm still really loving the Diamine/Cult Pens Deep Dark Brown in my amber 823. Wonderful combination.

[cnjackson]

Okay, I have to weigh in on this. Guys, I know the Custom 823 is a Japanese nib and so it should be thinner than Western models, but be careful here. The Custom 823 nibs are WET, and that can often make you expect a M line (with the B nib), but actually get something closer to a B on some pens (Visconti excluded ... those things are fire hoses!)

 

Here's something I posted a long time ago, and I hope it helps.

 

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php/topic/199360-pilot-custom-823-nib-medium-vs-broad/

 

Also, for those interested in nib swapping (which I did), here's the BB on a 743 - http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=131135653955

Wow Saskia--that sample of the 823 B vs M is extremely helpful! I still haven't heard back from Pisuke about the nib switch, so I may go with the B, which looks really wonderful in your samples!

 

Chris