Pilot Falcon (FA) Nibs Outlined

Within the occasion you’re accustomed to Pilot fountain pens, you’ve most definitely heard of the Falcon. Nonetheless, Pilot has plenty of merchandise with Falcon throughout the establish, and my intention is to elucidate all of them to you so that you simply’re as educated as potential when exploring selections or making a pen purchase.

To shortly summarize, there is a Pilot pen model often called the Falcon with a nib distinctive to that pen, after which there’s a completely completely different nib often called the Falconabbreviated as a result of the FA, which is in the marketplace on plenty of completely completely different Pilot pen fashions. Whereas every are associated to the establish Falcon and have some properties of softness and line variation of their writing, these are absolutely completely completely different nibs provided on completely completely different pens. Every are superior and value learning about!

On this weblog & video, as soon as I level out the Falcon, I’m referring to the Pilot fountain pen model and its corresponding nib. When discussing the FA nib on Pilot pens, I usually identify it FA instead of Falcon to distinguish it from the Pilot Falcon pen model. This aligns with how lots of the pen group discusses these, however it certainly’s good to focus on the potential confusion. This way, you may be certain of the actual pen or nib being addressed when you encounter it.

Pilot Falcon Fountain Pens

Let’s start with the Pilot Falcon pen, as a result of it’s basically essentially the most straightforward to know. Pilot has been offering this model for years, beforehand beneath the Namiki establish alongside their higher-end maki-e pens. It’s been branded as Pilot for just under a decade now, however it certainly’s potential you might come all through some outdated posts or motion pictures on-line referring to the Namiki Falcon, even on our YouTube channel within the occasion you come back far enough. Merely know that proper this second’s Falcons are the exact same pens, nonetheless with the Pilot branding instead of Namiki. It’s additionally known as the Elabo in Japan, however it certainly’s often called the Falcon elsewhere, along with throughout the U.S.

The Falcon is a implausible pen—comparatively compact and actually light, however it nonetheless feels solidly constructed. It has a flat excessive with straightforward traces, a couple of good trim rings, and a very conventional look. I considerably love the look of the clip on this pen, which is unique to the Falcon in Pilot’s lineup. It’s provided in 4 frequent colors: black, crimson, purple, and blue, all with rhodium trim, though you may even get the black one with gold trim.

There’s one different mannequin often called the Metallic Falcon, which makes use of the exact same nib and feed setup as a result of the resin mannequin, however it certainly’s barely larger and heavier.

Whereas the Falcon is a improbable pen in its private correct, the precept attraction is one of the simplest ways it writes. The nib on this pen could also be very distinctive. It’s smart why they identify it the Falcon on account of the nib appears significantly like a beak, with the nib tines raised elevated than the underside of the nib. I can’t think about one different nib with this type. Purportedly, the type of the nib assists throughout the softness of the nib tines. I’m undecided exactly why, nonetheless I can say it writes very effectively. I moreover suppose the feed, which is clear and swoops beneath the nib, appears really fascinating.

Pilot’s gold nibs are usually pretty springy, nonetheless the Falcon takes it to a distinct stage with its designated “mushy” nib. Pilot doesn’t present many soft-writing nibs on their pens, nonetheless the Falcon has always had mushy nibs and solely mushy nibs. I always try and be careful when using the phrase “flex” when talking about nibs, significantly if the producer doesn’t identify a nib versatile. Pilot doesn’t identify this versatile; it is a “mushy” nib. Nonetheless, it’s a mushy nib which will produce some line variation within the occasion you press down, so it normally will get compared with completely different flex nibs. I consider it’s acceptable for rare flexing of the tines, nonetheless you don’t must overdo it. In case you want true flexibility, you’ll must go to a nib specialist who modifies nibs, as this one has plenty of potential as a modified nib if that’s one factor you’re excited about.

Pilot Falcons are made in mushy extra-fine, mushy improbable, mushy medium, and mushy broad, though we don’t generally stock the mushy broad anymore on account of lower demand. The mushy extra-fine and mushy improbable are literally the bread and butter of this pen, likely on account of the thinner nib sizes allow for additional dramatic line variation. Pilot does such an superior job on their finer nibs. The EF might have just a little little bit of drag nonetheless gives you the thinnest line. I personally identical to the improbable basically essentially the most, as a result of it nonetheless produces a very improbable line nonetheless feels noticeably smoother on the internet web page. It really merely relies upon upon your alternative.

This higher-priced pen is definitely an funding, however it certainly’s nonetheless very rather a lot on the cheap end for pens with gold nibs, and this one makes a serious distinction in the best way it writes attributable to that nib.

Pilot FA Nib

Now that we’ve coated the Pilot Falcon and its intense, beaky nib of goodness, let’s concentrate on its cousin, the Pilot FA nib. When you see a Pilot Falcon subsequent to an FA nib on a pen identical to the Custom-made 743, you presumably can immediately see they’re visually strikingly completely completely different. The FA nib would not have the beak-like bend; it’s flat all one of the simplest ways down, equivalent to most completely different nibs. Nonetheless, it has some distinctive cutouts on the edges.

These cutouts aren’t just for aesthetics; they decrease the stiffness of the nib, a technique moreover used on completely different nibs like Conklin or Monteverde Omniflex nibs and JoWo flex nibs, resembling our Goulet flex nibs. These comparability nibs are all stainless-steel, so when this methodology is utilized to a gold nib identical to the FA, the influence is additional pronounced. The thought behind these cutouts is that a lot much less metallic permits for additional flexibility of the tines, offering you with a softness identical to the mushy nib of the Pilot Falcon. That’s the place the two nibs normally get blended up on account of most people talk about every on the subject of their flexibility and line variation, which is a selected attribute they every present.

The FA nib is only one dimension, which I uncover pretty akin to the Pilot Falcon mushy improbable nib. By the use of the tip end result on the internet web page, significantly referring to line variation when writing with stress, the FA and Falcon mushy improbable are just about indistinguishable. Nonetheless, the writing experience feels completely completely different. Due to the tactic the tipping on the nibs is ground, the FA nib writes best in a additional upright place, spherical a 50-60 diploma angle from the writing ground, elevated than the Falcon. I personally write with a lower angle, so the FA nib requires some adjustment for me to hold it steeper than I naturally would to realize the desired line variation.

Proper right here throughout the US, we’ve had the Falcon pen model for pretty some time, nonetheless the FA nib has solely been on the market proper right here for plenty of years. The FA nib was first on the market on the Custom-made Heritage 912which makes use of Pilot’s #10 dimension nib—type of in-between a German #5 and #6 nib from Bock or JoWo. Simply recently, Pilot provided the Custom-made 743 with the FA nib, which has Pilot’s #15 dimension nib, roughly the size of a Bock or JoWo #6.

Apart from the final bodily dimension, I can’t visually see rather a lot distinction between the two sizes of the FA nib, nonetheless I uncover the #10 nib on the Custom-made Heritage 912 FA nib to be a little bit of finickier regarding the writing angle—it must be methodology up extreme. I actually really feel identical to the #15 nib on the Custom-made 743 is additional forgiving on this aspect; presumably it’s the marginally longer tines. It’s not an enormous deal—it’s merely one factor I seen when using them every. Within the occasion you write with a lower pen angle and all else is similar as you, consider the Custom-made 743 FA nib over the Custom-made Heritage 912.

There you’ll have it—the variations between the Pilot Falcon fountain pen and the Pilot Falcon (FA) nib. Whenever you’ve acquired any questions, please use this weblog put as much as overview up on the Falcon or FA nibs. As peculiar, you presumably can always ask questions by reaching out to our Purchaser Care workforce at Goulet Pens. Write on!

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Posted by Brian Goulet