Pilot Custom 823 ?

I would like to know if any of you own this pen? Vac filler demonstrator, 14k nib that most everyone likes, seems to be a great pen. It's a good size and the price is not terribly expensive ( $250 give or take )

There are pens I would like to get before spending the money for this one. ( Pelikan, vintage, etc ) But for those of you who already own such pens, is the pilot on your radar?

Interested if any of you have thought about purchasing one. I know James has a tax refund coming......

I do ?, I haven't done my taxes yet, im actually bad for staking up 2 or 3 years at a time and getting a wollup of a tax refund and HST cheques in a lump some. But this pen is not on my radar at that price, Hovering around that is a few other pens i would like to sink into, but I only want one around that price range so i have to know ill like them and want to handle them personally

But ive narrowed down to a Sailor, or a pelikan i havent decided yet but will soon and who knows my tax refund may come this year and be put towards a pen yet. But im not sure its going to be this guy as i dont think ill have a full demo pen again

Bumping this thread.

I've been derailing discussing this pen in James' 92/912 threads and thought I would bring it over here instead.

I just heard back from engeika, and they confirmed that they will sell the 823 with a nib from the 743 line. I specifically asked about the sf, sfm, and fa nib, but they said yes to all of them, so I'm assuming they will do any 743 available nib. I also don't think there's an upcharge to get this service. I was told that all I had to do was order the pen, e-mail them, and in the remark section state what nib I wanted. This process will take some time, so there's more of a waiting period to get the pen. As I understand it, from another site in Japan that offers the same thing, these pens are special ordered from pilot themselves. I don't know if engeika does the same, but they probably do.

I really liked this pen before, but now that I can get Nibs from the 743 line, it makes it a virtual no brainer.


On a completely unrelated note, I really like to see how peoples pen buying habits change over time, since I started this thread. I was going to buy a Pelikan, and vintage, and James was only going to have one pen in this price point, and no more full demonstrators LOL.

Im pretty sure i have seen members with them, when I was buying the Justus it was between these two pens, and unlike my Visconti I think you can take an 823 apart to clean and relube... I know a twsbi wrench works on my 92.

From the research I've done, it does appear that the 823 can be taken apart with a Twsbi wrench. There's that whole inner section, outer section thing that looks interesting, to say the least, but it looks like it can be taken apart as a whole section.

Now I have to select a nib

I'm starting to lean towards the SFM. It looks like it has just enough give to make it interesting, while still being able to be a smooth everyday writer.

for the record one thing Pilot does as is renouned for os smooth fine nibs... the MF depending on pressure will write really fine to a thinner medium, i think the SFM would be an excellent choice for that

I've only been able to find this video showing a SFM in a 74. It's the second one used in the vid, and looks like it gives some good variation.

The pilot SFM starts around 1:20

well Yours would be a bit different as it would be the larger #15 nib, it may offer a more, not that you would use it, even in that video he is taking it quite wide for the letter size, but more importantly it may take a lot less effort to achieve the same result

syngent said:

Im pretty sure i have seen members with them, when I was buying the Justus it was between these two pens, and unlike my Visconti I think you can take an 823 apart to clean and relube... I know a twsbi wrench works on my 92.

Click to expand...

Don't want to hijack this thread, but, the nib on my Visconti Homo Sapiens and Wall Street can be unscrewed for cleaning. The Homo Sapien LE may be the same. Just be careful, obviously.

Yeah, I haven't found a sample with a #15. My hope is that I can find a nib that writes good as a non flexing daily driver, as well as some variation that might come somewhat close to the fa nib. I want something that needs a more concentrated hand in the non flexing, so that I can gain some better flexing with less pressure. The SFM looks like it might fit the bill.

I'm really starting to get excited about getting this pen, plus I think I'm going to get some Iroshizuku bottles to go with it. They seem to have really good prices on that as well. Gotta take advantage of the free shipping

Dave258 said:

Don't want to hijack this thread, but, the nib on my Visconti Homo Sapiens and Wall Street can be unscrewed for cleaning. The Homo Sapien LE may be the same. Just be careful, obviously.

Click to expand...

the nib can, but the plunger doesnt come out like a twsbi making very easy to clean the ink chamber behind the seal