The Pilot pens that come with flexible nibs (Falcon, 743, 742, & 912) all come from the factory with injection-molded plastic feeds which are notorious for not being able to supply enough ink when the nib is flexed. The results are railroading, hard starts, etc. Basically the pen does not work well when the nib is flexed. Any pen with a flexible nib and a plastic feed will probably suffer with the same problems unless you flex carefully and very slowly.
Mr. Joey Grasty at the Flexible Nib Factory LLC in Texas makes and sells the solution to this problem in the form of affordable off-the-shelf drop-in feed replacements made of ebonite (hard rubber). Ebonite is hydrophilic (it likes water), which significally improves ink flow. The Flexible Nib Factory sells ebonite feeds that fit various pens. There's even one for the Zebra Comic G Nib. Check out the links below.
I dropped a Flexible Nib Factory 2-slit ebonite feed into my Pilot Custom Heritage 743 pen with flexible FA nib, the difference was wonderful! No more hard starts, no more railroading, no more having to write slowly when flexing. Now it's like I have a completely new pen - one that finally works properly. Since August 2018 I have been using the same ebonite feed trouble-free in my CH-743/FA pen which is always inked with the ever faithful Pilot/Namiki blue ink.
At my post time one replacement black ebonite feed for the Pilot 743 sells for $27.00 USD. With an estimated $5.00 additional shipping that's just 12.5% of the $255.72 cost for the CH-743/FA pen from Amazon w/free shipping (link below). A drop in the bucket when you consider the ebonite feed completely fixes a broken pen.
* Here is my FPN post showing how I installed the ebonite feed in my Pilot CH-743/FA pen:
* Zebra Comic Pen Nib- Type Professional - G Model - Titanium - Pack of 10 (PG-7B-C-K) 4.7 out of 5 stars 208 ratings Amazon's Choice for "g nibs for dip pens" $19.28
The Pilot pens that come with flexible nibs (Falcon, 743, 742, & 912) all come from the factory with injection-molded plastic feeds which are notorious for not being able to supply enough ink when the nib is flexed. The results are railroading, hard starts, etc. Basically the pen does not work well when the nib is flexed. Any pen with a flexible nib and a plastic feed will probably suffer with the same problems unless you flex carefully and very slowly.
Mr. Joey Grasty at the Flexible Nib Factory LLC in Texas makes and sells the solution to this problem in the form of affordable off-the-shelf drop-in feed replacements made of ebonite (hard rubber). Ebonite is hydrophilic (it likes water), which significally improves ink flow. The Flexible Nib Factory sells ebonite feeds that fit various pens. There's even one for the Zebra Comic G Nib. Check out the links below.
I dropped a Flexible Nib Factory 2-slit ebonite feed into my Pilot Custom Heritage 743 pen with flexible FA nib, the difference was wonderful! No more hard starts, no more railroading, no more having to write slowly when flexing. Now it's like I have a completely new pen - one that finally works properly. Since August 2018 I have been using the same ebonite feed trouble-free in my CH-743/FA pen which is always inked with the ever faithful Pilot/Namiki blue ink.
At my post time one replacement black ebonite feed for the Pilot 743 sells for $27.00 USD. With an estimated $5.00 additional shipping that's just 12.5% of the $255.72 cost for the CH-743/FA pen from Amazon w/free shipping (link below). A drop in the bucket when you consider the ebonite feed completely fixes a broken pen.
* Here is my FPN post showing how I installed the ebonite feed in my Pilot CH-743/FA pen:
http://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/339120-my-pilot-743fa-with...
* Here is where you can buy the ebonite feeds:
Flexible Nib Factory LLC
1448 Halsey Way #114
Carrollton, TX 75007
+1-214-945-3299
https://flexiblenib.com
* Zebra Comic Pen Nib- Type Professional - G Model - Titanium - Pack of 10 (PG-7B-C-K) 4.7 out of 5 stars 208 ratings Amazon's Choice for "g nibs for dip pens" $19.28
https://www.amazon.com/Zebra-Comic-Professional-Titanium-PG-7B-C-K/dp/B0...
* PILOT"CUSTOM 743 / Black" (nib : Falcon) 4.5 out of 5 stars 157 ratings $255.72 & free shipping, 3-day CONUS delivery.
https://www.amazon.com/PILOT-CUSTOM-743-Black-nib/dp/B001AXB8ZM
* Ebonite
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ebonite