FA nibs, what width would that be compared to usual nibs?

[Anne-Sophie]

 

 The idea to ask came to me while reading inkyelbows' blog post: "  How I Feel About My Pilot Custom 823 (Fa Nib) Right Now"

 

I always thought that Japanese - Asian pens nibs' widths were always slimmer than European.

 

But I have seen a post about a C nib, which looks like a broad and is a signature nib.

 

Is the C width only found on luxury pens?

 

inkyelbows' fountain pen is gorgeous, if, it were to come in silver or steel findings, I might be tempted.

 

 

[A Smug Dill]

2 minutes ago, Anne-Sophie said:

Is the C width only found on luxury pens?

 

That depends on what your definition or threshold of ‘luxury pen’.

 

Platinum's C (for Coarse) nib is available as an option on its entry-level #3776 Century (model PNB-13000) gold-nibbed pens. Perhaps ironically, it is not available on higher-end (and more expensive by several multiples) #3776 Century models such as the Jupiter Marble Ebonite or the Sandblasted Briar.

 

Pilot's C nib is available as an option on the Custom 742, which is one step above its entry-level gold-nibbed pens in the Custom product line. (Prior to the recent introduction of the Custom NS, there are no steel-nibbed models in that line.) The Custom 742 is nowhere near the luxury, top end of the line, populated by the likes of the Custom Urushi and Custom Enjyu models, however, on which the C nib is not available as an option.

 

 

 

 

[mke]

> Japanese - Asian pens nibs' widths were always slimmer than European

If you compare the same notation like "fine" or "medium" than there is also a difference among the Japanese nibs.

Typically: Pilot > Sailor > Platinum

 

And to compare it (approximately) with European nibs (Jowo e.g.):

Jowo F ~ Sailor M, MF

Jowo EF ~ Sailor F

Jowo XXF ~ Sailor EF, Platinum EF, UEF sometimes

                 ~ Platinum UEF

Jowo XXXF ~

The XXF, XXXF grinds, which I have are made by fpnibs.com. Other nib grinders might make different grinds with the same codes.

 

With Pilot, I have the impression that there is a big step between F and M.

 

The Japanese nibs, I compare with, are recent nibs: Pilot Custom series, Sailor 1911/L series and the Platinum 3776 series. Vintage nibs might be very different.

[Harold]

The C(coarse) nib is also available on the Custom 74, but not in the West. The only coarse nib I've used in the #5 nib size was more like a double broad than a triple broad. In my experience, Pilot's nib widths from medium up are identical to Western manufacturers' nib widths, but Platinum and Sailor are a step finer all across the board, except for their coarse and zoom nibs respectively - those are definitely beefy double broads by Western standards and this is also how they are positioned in their nib offerings, one step up from the broad nib.

 

I'd call Pilot's #15 size coarse nibs triple broad, and Pilot positions them like that as well; they actually have a double broad between the broad and coarse, unlike Platinum and Sailor. The #15 size coarse nib can only be found in the Custom 743, because Pilot would never put a nib that goes through ink quickly into a pen like the Custom 823 that has a large ink capacity. That would be too convenient.

[mke]

@Harold

>That would be too convenient.

🤣

 

I always recommend to tell them what you would like to buy from them - if you can write in Japanese, it would be best here https://ssl.pilot.co.jp/public/contact/agree.php?un=stationery&ca=support, but you can use English on Facebook or Instagram. See https://www.pilot.co.jp/company/english/global/ for links.

While you probably will not get an answer, "constant dripping wears away the stone" (Steter Tropfen höhlt den Stein).

[A Smug Dill]

7 hours ago, Harold said:

The C(coarse) nib is also available on the Custom 74, but not in the West.

 

Not as far as Pilot's official (Japanese) web site tells everyone.

 

 

Edited August 3, 2021 by A Smug Dill
I was wrong. See my subsequent post below.

[mke]

The Custom 74 with C nib was sold on Amazon and still seems available in some places: LINK1, LINK 2 - if really available or not is then another story (bait-and-switch deception is unfortunately too common on Ebay and Aliexpress).

 

[A Smug Dill]

31 minutes ago, mke said:

The Custom 74 with C nib was sold on Amazon and still seems available in some places: LINK1,

 

Thank you for that. Actually, you guys are correct and I was wrong; it is listed much further down on the same page on Pilot's web site, if I bothered to scroll down to the bottom. It has a different model number from the ‘regular’ Custom 74, on account of the ¥2,000+tax premium for the Coarse (or alternatively, Music) nib. Looking at the model number as which PGM listed it, it's probably old stock from before Pilot raised the MSRP of the Custom 74 and Custom Heritage 91 some eighteen months ago?

 

[Karmachanic]

My understanding is that Pilot FA nib is one size only.  F