Wing Sung 3008

[JonSzanto]

Pens made in China provide chances to experiment and educate ourselves. I’ve pulled a lot of nibs and feeds and put most of them back together, but not all of them. I don’t know how to learn without making mistakes, and it’s great for a beginner to make mistakes on a pen that costs less than $5.

 

I can totally agree with this, as long as the advice is also given that one shouldn't do similar things on expensive pens unless they know what they are doing. Making mistakes is one thing, making needless mistakes is a completely different kettle of fish.

[JonSzanto]

How many of you have found the metal to be excessively ductile and prone to bending and springing?

 

I didn't try to do anything to the clip on mine, but when I went to adjust one of the nibs (tines misaligned) I couldn't believe how flimsy and weak the steel was in the nib. Very poor alloy, will never survive a drop and probably can be splayed out with undue writing pressure (as in someone who is used to ballpoint/gel pens). Not surprising at this price level, but a pen that stops working is still not a bargain.

[abuomar]

I just pulled mine out using two jar grippers...one on the nib and feed, and one on the body. I have terrible grip strenght too. They make these thin grippers that are really great for nib pulling.

 

Thanks for the suggestion, but I don't have one of those jar grippers.Anyway, no need for it now, I soaked the feed up to the grip section overnight in a shallow cup of water, and most of the ink stains I saw earlier on the feed is now almost gone.

 

 

Pulling nibs and feeds constantly is a recipe for disaster. Great pens go for years, decades without having the nibs and feeds pulled. You'll eventually wind up with leaks. Sometimes OCD has a downside.

 

An interesting thought, I'll keep this in mind next time I go on a cleaning frenzy.

 

 

I have ruined a pen by pulling out the feed. It got bent and I wasn't able to put it back again. In the end it broke apart.

There is no point in cleaning a feed to 100%. If you wanna have a pristine pen for showing, then dont fill it, or use only destilled water.

If you want to use it for writing, you'll always have ink in it and don't see the stains. Flush the pen thoroughly and refill it with ink. That's all you need to do for maintenance.

Don't disassemble the piston, as long as it does not need a new lubrication. This will keep your pen in best form and extend its life.

 

Thanks for the advice. I use all my pens and don't buy them just for show, so I'll keep this in mind. I feel quite ok about disassembling the piston mechanisms on my TWSBI and other Chinese piston-fillers, but I'll never disassemble the piston mechanisms on my Pelikans. That being said, just now I reassembled the Wing Sung 3008. Both the disassembly and reassembly was very easy to do, quite a bit easier than on the 698.

 

My thought....

 

IF IT'S NO BROKE

DON'T FIX IT

 

Ian

 

Words to live by.

 

 

 

I've gotten really tired of seeing fine vintage pens with the feed snapped or the nib bent because "hey people pull nibs and feeds all the time how was I to know?".

 

I see your point, but sometimes, especially with vintage lever-fillers, I see no choice but to pull/unscrew the nib & feed to fully clean/flush the insides of the pen. It certainly makes for an easier job than operating the lever mechanism countless times to flush the pen.

 

 

If I was buying vintage pens more often I'd be just as frustrated. I bought one vintage pen and was just as frustrated lol

 

A lot of modern pens hold up well to that kind of cleaning, though. I'm not saying all. The feed on a TWSBI is fragile and easy to damage.

 

But the feed on the 3008 is obnoxiously difficult to remove. It's one I want to have loosen up. It makes you search for the most rubbery thing you can find.

 

Sometimes chinese pens can have Out Of the Factory residue on it that makes it even clingier.

 

I've given up pulling the feed out on mine. I have another Wing Sung, the 6359 (clone of Lamy AL Star) whose feed won't come out either.

 

 

How many of you have found the metal to be excessively ductile and prone to bending and springin

Metal of the nib or some other part of the pen, i.e. clip, etc?

 

 

A bit of sticky tape on the back of the nib and belly of the feed (ensuring none of the sticky tape leaves residue where ink might flow) allows you to pull off the nib+feed easily. A bit of rubbing alcohol cleans up sticky residue from the nib easily. For the feed, a good soak in water and a bit of elbow grease does the same.

If you have a sticky tape that leaves no gummy residue then you're golden. I use medical cloth backed tape. It's as sticky as anything else I've ever tried, but leaves gummy residue.

 

I've yet to try this. Thanks for the suggestion.

[JonSzanto]

I see your point, but sometimes, especially with vintage lever-fillers, I see no choice but to pull/unscrew the nib & feed to fully clean/flush the insides of the pen. It certainly makes for an easier job than operating the lever mechanism countless times to flush the pen.

 

"Easy" seems like a high price to pay when something gets broken. Try to keep in mind that many of the pens that we consider vintage (a difficult term these days, but I consider pens from the 1960s or so, going backwards, to be true vintage) were not used for constant swapping of inks. A pen with a properly set nib and feed, especially one without a (typically) removable section were used with one basic ink and used repeatedly for writing. An occasional flush to keep things flowing and a refill of that ink was all that was needed.

 

Fast forward to the modern era with the mania for hundreds of inks and you have an issue... *if* you constantly change inks. I very highly suggest a few pens that are easy to clean and maintain - converter-fill pens - so that you can try out many types of inks. When you think you've found one that you like for a vintage pen, stick with it, or take the extra time to patiently flush the pen. Over time, feeds and sections shape themselves to each other - pen repair people usually mark the feed and section so that it can be replaced in the exact same orientation as when disassembled (for repair or restoration), ensuring a good seating and avoiding leaks and promoting good flow. Pulling a fragile vintage feed is rolling dice, which is why most pens of this sort have the section removed - still not an easy task - and the nib and feed knocked out from the rear with a knockout block to avoid damage.

 

Again, I only detail this because on a large forum like this many, many read these threads and think that the one True Way to clean a pen is to pull it all apart. If people don't occasionally detail why that isn't always the best or smartest way, damage can occur. You can always pick up another cheap Chinese pen, but you can't always (or easily or cheaply) replace parts on a fine pen from years ago. Forewarned is forearmed.

[bob_hayden]

DIY Repairs

 

I'm with JonSzanto here. It is not just fountian pen sites that include lots of DIY suggestions that are missing their warning label;-) I worked for a decade in mechanical engineering and I know enough to be cautious. OTOH, there are times when it is worth the risk of preceding with caution. I had two very nice Pentax DSLRs that became nearly useless with age. I replaced them and put them on the shelf where they sat for years while I studied the online advice until I felt I knew enough to attempt a fix. (Pentax might have been willing to fix them, but that would cost more than they were worth.) In the end, I got both working properly, but I was prepared for neither patient to recover, and was comfortable with that as the cameras were not much use to me in their hobbled state.

 

Ink in the Section of a Demonstrator

 

Many recent demonstrators from China end up with a significant quanity of ink in the section. I suspect this might be intentional, and that the reason is so that the entire clear plastic pen will end up the color of the ink. That's cool -- until you want to change to a different color ink. My experience is that the usual flushing will eventually get the section clean, but you will need to do an order of magniture more flushing. Another option with these very cheap Chinese pens is just to order enough so that they can each be dedicated to a single color of ink.

 

Durability of Nibs (and other parts)

 

 

I didn't try to do anything to the clip on mine, but when I went to adjust one of the nibs (tines misaligned) I couldn't believe how flimsy and weak the steel was in the nib. Very poor alloy, will never survive a drop and probably can be splayed out with undue writing pressure (as in someone who is used to ballpoint/gel pens).

 

About 1962 I bought a Sheaffer Lifetime pen. It looked like the PFM but was of normal diameter, It took cartridges or a converter. Then for some years I worked in a materials testing lab that was a harsh environment. It took its toll on the pen, which went back to Fort Madison a number of times. I always considered the damage to be the fault of the harsh environment, and not the pen, so I always returned it with a request for a quotation on the cost of repair. In every case, the pen came back, repaired, at no charge.I still have it, sort of. (I'm not sure any parts are now from the pen I originally purchased, but it's been more than 40 years since any parts have been replaced.) But the real reason to bring it up here is the day it slipped out of my hand as I swung my arm and stabbed its nib into the tile floor, where it was lodged solidly enought to stand erect, vibrating from the shock. I figured that was the end of the pen, or at least it would need another visit to Iowa, but once I managed to pull it out of the floor tile it wrote just as though nothing had ever happened.

[bobje]

Bob, forgive the off-topic post. Pentax Takumar lenses from the 1960s and ‘70s are gorgeous pieces of kit, and they’re reasonably priced additions to digital mirrorless cameras. In the process of purchasing several, I learned that they often come accompanied by “rear lens caps” that used to be called Pentax Spotmatic cameras. If you want one, let me know.

[bob_hayden]

Bobje, first I had to give up slide film because so few people were using it that the processors kept processing my slides as print film which really makes a mess of them. Then I moved farther away from civilization and even getting print film done became a hassle. So I have been all-digital for a number of years now. So thanks for the offer but film is just a headache here and now.

[abuomar]

 

"Easy" seems like a high price to pay when something gets broken. Try to keep in mind that many of the pens that we consider vintage (a difficult term these days, but I consider pens from the 1960s or so, going backwards, to be true vintage) were not used for constant swapping of inks. A pen with a properly set nib and feed, especially one without a (typically) removable section were used with one basic ink and used repeatedly for writing. An occasional flush to keep things flowing and a refill of that ink was all that was needed.

 

Fast forward to the modern era with the mania for hundreds of inks and you have an issue... *if* you constantly change inks. I very highly suggest a few pens that are easy to clean and maintain - converter-fill pens - so that you can try out many types of inks. When you think you've found one that you like for a vintage pen, stick with it, or take the extra time to patiently flush the pen. Over time, feeds and sections shape themselves to each other - pen repair people usually mark the feed and section so that it can be replaced in the exact same orientation as when disassembled (for repair or restoration), ensuring a good seating and avoiding leaks and promoting good flow. Pulling a fragile vintage feed is rolling dice, which is why most pens of this sort have the section removed - still not an easy task - and the nib and feed knocked out from the rear with a knockout block to avoid damage.

 

Again, I only detail this because on a large forum like this many, many read these threads and think that the one True Way to clean a pen is to pull it all apart. If people don't occasionally detail why that isn't always the best or smartest way, damage can occur. You can always pick up another cheap Chinese pen, but you can't always (or easily or cheaply) replace parts on a fine pen from years ago. Forewarned is forearmed.

 

Thank you. I'd say this is sage advice and like the others above it, I'll keep it in mind. Especially when I'm flushing my 1930's Sheaffer 275 Balance sometime in the near future.

[dcwaites]

...

 

Ink in the Section of a Demonstrator

 

Many recent demonstrators from China end up with a significant quanity of ink in the section. I suspect this might be intentional, and that the reason is so that the entire clear plastic pen will end up the color of the ink. That's cool -- until you want to change to a different color ink. My experience is that the usual flushing will eventually get the section clean, but you will need to do an order of magniture more flushing. Another option with these very cheap Chinese pens is just to order enough so that they can each be dedicated to a single color of ink.

 

...

 

The section contains the collector, a series of fins and slots. The function is to contain any blurps of ink from the ink reservoir, and then feed the ink to the nib via the feed slit in a controlled manner. It is supposed to get ink in there. Each pen should have a collector, it's just that in most pens you don't see it.

 

Certainly, many photos of the clear pens on eBay have the collector over-full with ink, just to show off. If I have a collector that full, usually because I have just filled the pen, I try to get as much of that ink either into the ink reservoir, or back into the bottle. Normally, the ink should just be wetting the fins, and you should be able to see through most of the slots.

[Mech-for-i]

Bobje, first I had to give up slide film because so few people were using it that the processors kept processing my slides as print film which really makes a mess of them. Then I moved farther away from civilization and even getting print film done became a hassle. So I have been all-digital for a number of years now. So thanks for the offer but film is just a headache here and now.

 

Talk about that, its getting to the point where I find it difficult to do my own B&W processing and prints. Just getting the supply is a headache .. and now I've find the magic of both Quadtone/Hextone ( or more ) colro and Greyscale printing on inkjet .. I am not looking back

[dkeester]

I just picked up a four pack of these from ebay with F nibs. They also have the locking pistons. I am looking forward to trying them out. These are my first Chinese FPs.

 

Now I just need to decide what inks to use in them... I feel like I should load them up with some funky colors just for the effect.

 

As cheap as these were, I feel like Chinese FPs could become an obsession.

[abuomar]

 

Talk about that, its getting to the point where I find it difficult to do my own B&W processing and prints. Just getting the supply is a headache .. and now I've find the magic of both Quadtone/Hextone ( or more ) colro and Greyscale printing on inkjet .. I am not looking back

 

And here I am thinking shooting, processing and printing my own B&W films here in Malaysia is a headache...

[FrankH]

My thought....

 

IF IT'S NO BROKE

DON'T FIX IT

 

Ian

Or the tinkerer's motto:

 

If it's not broken, fix it until it is.

[RoyalBlueNotebooks]

Update on my three Wing Sung 3008.

 

I went to a city nearby with specialized stationery stores to pick up another Lamy F. Now I have 2 WS with Lamy F and one WS with Lamy M. My actual Lamy Al-Star....

 

Anyway. The Lamy nibs DO NOT WOBBLE on the WS 3008 feed, unlike the Lanbitou 3059.

BUT I've had leaks with two pens. With one pen, no matter the nib, Lamy or stock, air bubble or no air, it won't leak. It's perfect. On the other two pens, I have to write very quickly because the ink accumulates on the tip of the nib in excessive quantity and sometimes leaks on the page in a drop.

 

*Question: is this phenomenon called ink burp or ink leakage? Thank you in advance.*

 

I thought it was because of the Lamy nibs, so I've reverted to stock nibs, but it still happened.

Then I thought it was because of the air in the barrel, and I unscrewed the pistons until I couldn't see the air bubble. I still got occasional leaks (less often though).

 

Since I like the Lamy nibs so much more than the stock nibs, I decided to keep on using them and occasionally keep the nib up in any pause during writing.

 

So far I quite like the Wing Sung 3008. Its circular grip is a nice break from the Lamy grip that's starting to grate on my nerves. But I could love this pen without the ink issues.

 

If any student/artist/writer-on-the-go is reading this thread, be mindful of the fact that the cap of the Wing Sung 3008 canNOT be posted. For reasons fathomable to one one, my older sister just tried to post the 3008 I lent to her, and when she removed the cap from the barrel, the cap turned the piston knob and spilled a drop on her sketch with ensuing screams. Please do not try to post this pen.

[JonSzanto]

*Question: is this phenomenon called ink burp or ink leakage? Thank you in advance.*

 

• If the ink reservoir is full, suspend the pen by the end of the barrel (piston knob), nib pointing down; if ink drips out, you have an air leak somewhere, possibly a poorly designed or manufactured feed
• If ink comes out excessively in the pen and it has not shown the behavior in the previous point, it could be that the plastic of the barrel is fairly thin and the warmth of your hand is warming and expanding the air in the chamber, causing the pen to 'burp' (this is common in old eyedropper pens); if this is the case, the only thing you can really do is keep the pen as full as possible - the ink doesn't tend to expand from warmth, just the air pocket
• It is not common for a pen to leak simply from a particular nib; I wouldn't suspect Lamy nibs as being poorly made such that they would cause a leak, but it is possible that if they are an ill fit (the one on mine is just a small bit looser than I would prefer), it might lift off the feed and allow a quick intake of air in the channel, allowing a bit of ink to spill forward.

The joys and sorrows of imperfect writing objects.

[RoyalBlueNotebooks]

 

• If the ink reservoir is full, suspend the pen by the end of the barrel (piston knob), nib pointing down; if ink drips out, you have an air leak somewhere, possibly a poorly designed or manufactured feed

This is my case. It does this both with its stock nib and with the Lamy nib, although with the Lamy nib the ink leaks much quicker, in a matter of seconds. Whereas with the stock nib it takes 30 seconds to a minute for a drop of ink to gather on tip of the nib.

The fit of the Lamy nib on the Lanbitou is worse than the fit of the Lamy nib on the Wing Sung, but at least it didn't cause this. I guess it's the feed then.

Thank you for the prompt reply.

[JonSzanto]

This is my case. It does this both with its stock nib and with the Lamy nib, although with the Lamy nib the ink leaks much quicker, in a matter of seconds. Whereas with the stock nib it takes 30 seconds to a minute for a drop of ink to gather on tip of the nib.

The fit of the Lamy nib on the Lanbitou is worse than the fit of the Lamy nib on the Wing Sung, but at least it didn't cause this. I guess it's the feed then.

Thank you for the prompt reply.

 

If this is the case, your pen is leaking air somewhere. The reason why the nib itself is not an issue is explained with an example: a soda straw. Take a straw, dip it into a glass of water, put your finger over the upper end to close it off and pull the straw out of the glass. Even though there is nothing stuck in the bottom opening of the straw, no water drops out as long as your finger is in place. Remove the finger and all the water spills out. Somewhere in your pen, air is leaking into the ink chamber, just like in the straw and so the ink will drop out.

Edited December 25, 2017 by JonSzanto

[bob_hayden]

 

Even though there is nothing stuck in the bottom opening of the straw, water drops out as long as your finger is in place.

 

Did you mean to say water does NOT drop out as long as you keep your finger on the top end of the straw? (It's a great example.)

 

I would also mention that on my 3008 it is easy to bump the filler knob which can then push too much ink into the section and feed which could also cause this problem. There could also be an air leak by this knob.

 

To test if your hand is warming the pen try writing with mittens on;-)

[JonSzanto]

Did you mean to say water does NOT drop out as long as you keep your finger on the top end of the straw? (It's a great example.)

 

Argh!!! I am certain that happened in an edit, but thanks for catching it! (I've fixed it - NO .water...)

[minddance]

LanBiTou dries up all my inks; Wingsung 3008 preserves inks very well. The transparent cap 3008 does not have an 'inner' cap; the painted versions do. Both do not dry ink out.