The Pilot FA nib shouldn’t be in the Pilot 742 or 743.

There, I’ve said it. It’s a very flexible nib, the closest to vintage flex of all modern nibs, but being in a cartridge/converter filler and having such a stingy feed just cripples it. Pilot, do us all a favor. Change the feed and make an eyedropper for this poorly-served nib. You should have an eyedropper in your archives!

When I first got my Pilot 742 FA, I was very impressed. After several fills, I couldn’t ignore how often it would stutter in the middle of a stroke – the ink flow simply couldn’t keep up. I think for a normal (read: non-flex addict) user, this would not even emerge as a problem. I cracked the feed when I tried to remedy the flow problem.

I pulled out the FA nib, and after several failed tries, found a Vacumatic feed that seemed to fit, and installed both in a Waterman 12.

Frankenpen Xtreme

I have taken to calling it the Frankenpen Xtreme.

Tighter shot of FA nib

The FA nib tended to stand away from a flat feed, so there was no flow. The Vac’s rounded feed worked a lot better.

Vac feed with Pilot FA nib

And here’s how it behaves now.

Pilot FA vs Wahl 2

Flex example

Pilot FA sample