Wing Sung #235?

[Kelvandor]

So, while stumbling around flea-bay, I found two listings for the Wing Sung #235 with a "triumph style" nib.

 

Does anyone out there have any experience with one of these? Are they good writers? Does the quality and workmanship hold up?

 

 

Opinions? Comments? Snide Remarks?

 

 

 

-Kel

[EventHorizon]

I have been looking at the #233's on I Sell Pens and based on a little digging they appear to be a decent pen. Below are a couple reviews.

 

One here

And one here

[RevAaron]

I bought a used Wing Sung from an FPN member. I think it's a #237, in orange celluloid. I like it, though it's too fine of a line to be used too often by me. Not that it has much flex, but it does have more flex than any of the Triumph nibs I have used, which somewhat surprised me. I was also surprised at how similar the nib felt to most of the Triumph nibs I've used- consistent but bumpy feedback. Not sure what other qualifier to use, though don't take "bumpy" to mean unsmooth, toothy, scratchy or rough.

[Kelvandor]

Then the Wing Sung nibs are not as rigid as the Triumph nibs were/are noted for?

 

The Wing Sung would interest me greatly if I knew that the nibs are the same framing nails that the Sheaffers' had. I have a need for a FP that will handle single-sheet carbonless copy without worrying about damaging the nib through some pressure. The Triumph or Triumph Manifold sounds perfect, but getting one for the budget I have (rather small) seems to be quite a challenge.

 

 

Mayhaps there are other recommendations? Are there any other pens out there for a low-budget that have a nib of granite and can handle Noodler's?

 

 

...or am I just asking for too much?

 

 

 

-Kel

[Lexaf]

I do not think you are asking too much. I just checked the ISellPens site and as far as I can see the 233's are still for sale.

My experience: The Wing Sung 233 was one of the first fountain pens I ever owned. I was in school ( in the 1960's) and about 13 years old. I used it for many years. Later there were a Parker 45, a Mont Blanc Monte Rosa, and many after that, but the 233 always stayed with me like an old friend. Now it has been retired for many years already, but before I started to write this reply I dug it up and gave it a try. Dipped it once and: write! Nice fine line.

Stiff as a nail! I do not feel ANY flex, but flex doesn't seem to be you biggest concern...

A rugged, indestructible fountain pen with one of the nicest designs of nibs ever made.

Thanks Sheaffer for the nib design, thanks Parker for the airometric filler (yes you do need an ink pot!), thanks Wing Sung (sub brand of Chinese Hero Pen Factory now) for making it into a low budged pen and finally thanks IsellPens for still having it available for $5,-- only!

Need I say more!

 

Cheers,

 

Lexaf

 

 

Then the Wing Sung nibs are not as rigid as the Triumph nibs were/are noted for?

 

The Wing Sung would interest me greatly if I knew that the nibs are the same framing nails that the Sheaffers' had. I have a need for a FP that will handle single-sheet carbonless copy without worrying about damaging the nib through some pressure. The Triumph or Triumph Manifold sounds perfect, but getting one for the budget I have (rather small) seems to be quite a challenge.

 

 

Mayhaps there are other recommendations? Are there any other pens out there for a low-budget that have a nib of granite and can handle Noodler's?

 

 

...or am I just asking for too much?

 

 

 

-Kel

 

[RevAaron]

Then the Wing Sung nibs are not as rigid as the Triumph nibs were/are noted for?

 

Correct. The Wing Sung has some flex. Not a ton, but an amount common to a lot of 18kt nibs. Doesn't have the corresponding cushion, but the tines widen.

 

The Wing Sung would interest me greatly if I knew that the nibs are the same framing nails that the Sheaffers' had. I have a need for a FP that will handle single-sheet carbonless copy without worrying about damaging the nib through some pressure. The Triumph or Triumph Manifold sounds perfect, but getting one for the budget I have (rather small) seems to be quite a challenge.

 

I'm not sure what your budget is, but you can get Sheaffer's w/ Triumph nibs in the Marketplace for $20-40 pretty frequently. That might be too much, not sure. Put a note in the Want to Buy section, set your dollar amount, and see if anyone has one they want to sell. If you average out the cost of all my Triumph nibbed pens it comes to ~$25.

 

The Hero 200A, or another Hero, might be a great option. Still not really cheap, $25 at ISellPens, but you do get a 14k nib. Don't let the gold content fool you, it's pretty hard. I just gave my mom one, after she mashed up the tines on the once-heavenly cursive italic Kaweco Sport I bought from Pendemonium.

 

Also, the Parker Vector I had for a while had a really stiff, short, semi-hooded nib. Its rigidity might come from the fact that it's conical not unlike the Triumph. If your budget is under $20, you can get one of those for $7-15.

 

Make sure not to let anyone confused your request for really stiff with no flex. Some folks might recommend the Lamy Safari or Pelikano Jr, but steer clear. Neither have flex, but they a really aren't *nails* like the Triumph. A real stiff-as-a-nail nib is one you can't adjust using your fingernails, at least in my mind.

 

Aaron

[Kelvandor]

Actually, I have a Vector (it's one of only 3 pens I own). I hadn't thought about trying it out to see if it would handle what I needed a nail-nib for. If it does work, then I can at least use it until I save enough to get a proper Sheaffer Triumph. I"ll just have to syringe-fill the carts with ink, as I don't have a converter for it.

 

 

Thanks for the info, folks. I appreciate it

 

 

 

-Kel

[lovemy51]

Thanks Sheaffer for the nib design, thanks Parker for the airometric filler (yes you do need an ink pot!), thanks Wing Sung (sub brand of Chinese Hero Pen Factory now) for making it into a low budged pen and finally thanks IsellPens for still having it available for $5,-- only!

Need I say more!

 

Cheers,

 

Lexaf

 

i think you summed it up really well there! and yes, kelvandor, i use mine (brown celulloid 237 model) on carbonless (or carbon) copy paper.

[JDlugosz]

I bought two Triumph-style Wing Sungs, and one was just OK and the other was soo poor of a writer that I thought about sending it back. When I started doing nib polishing I got it working acceptably.

 

If it's anything like Hero, the low-end pens are intermittent in bulk. But for $10 or more mail-order I would expect one that works properly. In fact, that was one of the inspirations when I started selling Hero pens with my own QA.

 

--John

[JDlugosz]

I have a need for a FP that will handle single-sheet carbonless copy without worrying about damaging the nib through some pressure.

 

For Five bucks, it might be OK to wear through the pen eventually. They are indeed good-looking pens. I think the ultra-fine will help apply more presure to the page being a small area. It will be next week before I can dig out mine and check it out for that use (I'm on the road now).

 

--John

[bob_hayden]

 

I am torn whether to start a new thread to review the 235. This one is old, and discusses mostly other pens than the 235, but it does appeal to me to have just one thread on the pen, so here goes;-) I owned a 235 long ago and got rid of it. Another arrived just recently. This came as part of a lot of ten old Wing Sung NOS pens from jewelrymathematics on eBay at a cost of about $2.50 per pen. The exterior of the pen is shiny gold color metal with decorative grooves cut into it both longitudinally and circumferentially so the surface looks like graph paper. These grooves create some sparkle which I think was supposed to be eye-catching but to me looks cheap and tinsely. Still, the basic shape is attractive, the spring loaded pocket clip a nice touch for clipping the pen to something thick, and you can find plenty of old WS pens that are much more garish than this. Inside, the nib (somewhere between medium and fine on mine) and section are the commonplace WS take on the Sheaffer Triumph nib. My experience with these is that they tend to be scratchy or gritty, as was my first 235, but the nib on the latest one was fairly smooth to begin with and quite nice (though still with some tooth) after some work with Micro Mesh. Be warned though that the nib material is very stiff and hard. You will not be able to align this with a fingernail and smoothing may take a long time. But the good side of that is that this nib should handle a lot of abuse -- or many carbons. It does show more flex and line width variation than my real Triumph, but it's too stiff to obtain that line variation in normal writing. Appears to be bottle fill only. 15g inked -- amazingly light for a pen with a metal exterior.

 

IF you like a stiff and sturdy nib and can tolerate some tooth then the WS "Triumph:"nib can be a good choice. What pen to get it in may be a matter of taste in exterior design. This one is too flashy for me but others find my preferred 233 to be dull-to-ugly;-)

Edited September 11, 2018 by bob_hayden