Wing Sung 3008

[k3eax]

This week my Wing Sung 3008 arrived. I had some high hopes after seeing positive reviews for it. I am sadly disappointed. It came apart in my hands and I had to re-attach top-nut, all attached parts inside, and the shiny band at the tip. When I started to use it it was VERY wet. Never saw such a wet medium nib. Ket alone an eastern-one. Within 5 minutes my hands were stained with ink. It leaks like an old bathtub. I cleaned it out and found the feed and nib to fit extremely loosly into the body. I can take apart by almost just looking at it. I don't know if I can fix that. (some teflon???) otherwise I will have to chuck it.

Try silicone grease.

[Seanchai]

This week my Wing Sung 3008 arrived. I had some high hopes after seeing positive reviews for it. I am sadly disappointed. It came apart in my hands and I had to re-attach top-nut, all attached parts inside, and the shiny band at the tip.

 

Of the five 3008s that I bought, the band at the tip was *very* loose on two of them. One of those two was the one that ended up being a parts pen. The other one of those two is okay and has been inked from day one with no problems, but I did have to grease it and tighten things down significantly, which wasn't true of the other three. (On the other three, I can't even work that band loose at all.) TL;DR, I bought five, one was garbage, one needed some work and some silicone grease, three were great. That's just a risk you take buying from China at this price point - if I bought 5 more pens, the ratio could be better, worse, or the same. That kind of thing isn't for everyone... you have to be the kind of person who likes the feel of a treasure hunt, I think.

 

If you absolutely positively need a pen to work, you're going to need to go up in price point or set something up where you can try before you buy (I do this with other chinese gear - buy in bulk for 4-5 people, let everyone who went in with me on it try everything out, and anything that's junk goes back to the very large chinese vendor I bought it from, who have a warranty. It works, but it does take a lot of coordination and it means refunds take a long time. I know of no way to do this with Chinese pens apart from buying from US vendors (ETA: insert trusted local vendor in your own country here) or patronizing only very specific ebay sellers with whom one has built a relationship or who clearly state their warranty policies.)

 

I'm not suggesting you buy 3008s in bulk, especially given your bad experience with the first one... but in general, with pens *this* cheap, it can be a good idea to get two for your first order, doubling the chances that you get one that's useable. I wouldn't do that with any pen over $5, but I often do it with the ones cheaper than that... it's saved me from having a poor impression of a particular model when actually it was the QC letting one of the pens down, not the design. Re: super cheap Chinese pens, I also don't usually buy models that are unknown to me without first being able to see them on video (whether on Youtube or through friends)... video can bring to light potential problems that still photos miss. That's *my* strategy for buying at this price point, but everyone has to find their own comfort level - and like I said, for some people it's just not something they want to deal with, which is okay too.

 

Sorry you had a bad experience with yours - they're great pens, but there's no getting away from the fact that there's an element of "lucky dip" involved.

Edited August 3, 2018 by Seanchai

[Nyanzilla]

Consideringt that a Twsbi costs about ten times as much. You can buy ten 3008 and still make a good deal if only half of them are good.

[Seanchai]

Consideringt that a Twsbi costs about ten times as much. You can buy ten 3008 and still make a good deal if only half of them are good.

 

That is, in fact, *exactly* why I have so many (and plan to buy more). Once you replace the screw, they're also an affordable way to get others interested in fountain pens... one's already about to go to my mother permanently because every time she sees it she finds a reason to "borrow" it.

[TSherbs]

And at the rate that TWSBIs seem to crack...

[sansenri]

 

I agree, but primarily because the TWSBI threads are sharp and I find them uncomfortable on my supporting finger under the section. No such issue for me with the 3008.

I had exactly the same experience, the TWSBI looks more durable, but the sharpness of the threads on my fingers is absolutely unbearable. I fortunately went into a shop to try the TWSBI with intention to buy, but gave up after holding it in my hand for 30 seconds.

The 3008 does not have this problem.

The screw in the cap is starting to rust though...how thoughtless not to use a better quality screw.

I may either need to find a replacement or protect it with some rust converter.

The pen works really well though, it does not dry out, it does not skip, the nib is smooth though stiff, the pen is balanced and not too heavy, and the piston works well. The possibility to swap in a Lamy nib is also an interesting plus.

No doubt the best performing chinese pen I own so far.

[Mech-for-i]

 

That is, in fact, *exactly* why I have so many (and plan to buy more). Once you replace the screw, they're also an affordable way to get others interested in fountain pens... one's already about to go to my mother permanently because every time she sees it she finds a reason to "borrow" it.

 

Mom surely know how to best leverage parents benefit .... lol

[Seanchai]

 

Mom surely know how to best leverage parents benefit .... lol

 

Oh, yes, yes she does! I don't mind - she raised two congenitally disabled kids (my sister and I) to be fully functioning adults pretty much on her own, so we owe her a lot... plus she's a pretty cool mom. She doesn't suffer fools, and even though we're in our thirties now, she can still terrify both of us with a single look, but we're really lucky to have her as a mom. (Bet she never thought I'd be saying that when she was making me memorize famous historical speeches every summer as a kid "because I refuse to let you just turn your brain off for the entire summer...") Anyway, her birthday's coming up soon... I've got a 3008, a Lamy Safari, a Diplomat Magnum, a Delike Alpha, and a bunch of ink samples and notepads all wrapped up and ready to go for her, along with some other stuff. Which is why I'm trying to keep her paws off *my* 3008s, lol... toward the end of the month she's going to have her own pen collection; she just doesn't know it yet.

[bobje]

You have discerning taste in pen gifts, Seanchai!

[TSherbs]

I had exactly the same experience, the TWSBI looks more durable, but the sharpness of the threads on my fingers is absolutely unbearable.

Like fingernails on chalkboards for me. Unnerving.

[gwsmallwood]

Do you happen to remember what size the screw is? I'm taking mine to ACE this afternoon to try and find a replacement. I, too, love using this pen, but the screw has started to rust on me. I've had this thing inked up for a month and it never once hard started or gave me any skipping or leaking issues.

 

I took the cap screws out the day they arrived and replaced them with SS screws... better a 50 cent fix now than problems down the road.

[Nyanzilla]

Thats really weird. I've got eight of these pens and none has got a rusty screw. My first one has been continuously filled with ink for 1.5 years now.

[JonSzanto]

Thats really weird. I've got eight of these pens and none has got a rusty screw. My first one has been continuously filled with ink for 1.5 years now.

 

Your comment is a perfect definition of "poor quality control".

[MuddyWaters]

These were basically my favourite pens but unfortunately my beloved pen's nib flew off one day while I was writing with it. I haven't felt like ordering a new one since.

[gwsmallwood]

Do you happen to remember what size the screw is? I'm taking mine to ACE this afternoon to try and find a replacement. I, too, love using this pen, but the screw has started to rust on me. I've had this thing inked up for a month and it never once hard started or gave me any skipping or leaking issues.

 

 

Appears to be M4 x 0.7. Couldn't find one that works with the length, so I'm going to have to try to grind this one down a bit.

[tomtom42]

M4 is correct and 7 mm length is at least close.

I got a brass M4 x 10 and marked the length from the old one before cutting it. Brass is a lot easier to work with than stainless steel without power tools...

 

br,

Tom

Edited November 11, 2018 by tomtom42

[A Smug Dill]

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 could not agree more. Some mistakes cost more than others, but one cannot live one's life without making any mistakes, and only consciously choose only to make cheap mistakes and never costly ones.

 

One saying someone (I forget who it was, even though the message is forever burnt into my brain) once told me was, "Experience is what you get when you don't get what you want." There's nothing wrong with actively and knowingly doing reckless things, with the full awareness of what one stands to lose if things don't turn out well, and we only get experience from the exercise instead of what we actually want. I'm more than happy to do reckless things to Wing Sung 3008 (and other cheap Chinese) pens, of which I have 22 and just ordered another four; right now most of them (except for a handful that is currently inked) sit completely disassembled in a cheap box. If someone is happy to do reckless things to a Pelikan M600 or vintage whatever (that I generally have no appreciation for anyway) pen they own, then bravo for them.

 

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.

 

There aren't any needless mistakes, unless you also assert that there are things one neither wants to nor needs to learn, and is quite willing to forgo the benefit of that knowledge. If someone makes a mistake, that certainly must mean there's a lesson in there they haven't learnt before making that mistake, and perhaps they'll need to make even more similar mistakes before they finally learn the lesson.

 

It's not up to me to 'wish' someone else would learn the lesson from ruining a $4 new Chinese pen instead of a $4000 out-of-production pen model they own, as if the latter was somehow valuable to me personally and thus my concern.

 

Your comment is a perfect definition of "poor quality control"

 

Not really. Quality control is about consistently producing and delivering the outcomes that the product manufacturer or service provider specifically intends, to individual consumers en masse. If there was no design intent, technical specification, product warranty or industry regulation that requires the screws to not rust within X months, then variation in how quickly corrosion occurs and becomes evident in pens after X months is by definition a lack of consistency but not inherently evidence of poor quality control.

 

I used to work in a multi-billion-dollar corporation as one of the internal 'inquisitors' that all other departments fear and loathe, and Six Sigma quality control was our doctrine.

 

Appears to be M4 x 0.7. Couldn't find one that works with the length, so I'm going to have to try to grind this one down a bit.

I don't have any calipers, and was therefore 'content' to go on blind faith trusting some faceless stranger's report of success, instead of unscrewing the cap on one of my WS3008 pens and doing the measurement myself. That report said M4 x 0.5mm is the size of the screw (which is about correct, after I made some comparisons), but that M4 x 0.4mm plastic screws worked as replacements. I just received a bunch of M4 x 0.4mm clear plastic screws and, nope, they don't work for that purpose. I've place an order for M4 x 0.6mm screws of the same type just now, since I cannot find any M4 x 0.5mm ones.

[bob_hayden]

I am seeing these pens on eBay now for as little as $1.47 postpaid to the US of A. The low price, the quality control issues mentioned above, and the fact that most pens advertised on eBay as "Wing Sung 6359" are look-alike pens made by others make me wonder if that is the case here so that pens listed as "Wing Sung 3008" may be made by anyone.

 

Re the rusting screws, I am reminded that many years ago I bought some Chicago Cutlery steak knives. They were very good and made in USA. I decided to buy another set but found they had shifted production to China. The Chinese handles seemed to be made of different wood but the second batch of knives worked just as well as the first. (By "worked" I mean that all these knives are mow many years old, have never been sharpened, and remain sharper than anything anywhere near the price.) I was so fond of them that I decided to buy another set as a gift. But in the hardware store I found half a dozen sets available -- all with blades that were already rusty!

 

In addition to quality control issues at pen factories we may have issues of quality control with the suppliers to pen makers. Wing Sung may have ordered stainless steel screws, but what they got may have come from the same plant as the rusty "stainless steel" steak knives.

[bob_hayden]

I just received one of these (in pale purple)

 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/2018-Wing-Sung-Metal-Plastic-Fountain-Pen-Extra-Fine-EF-Nib-0-38-0-5mm-Gift/202093127801?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&var=502211527432&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649

 

sold under this eBay heading

 

2018 Wing Sung Metal/Plastic Fountain Pen Extra Fine EF Nib 0.38/0.5mm Gift

 

though the listing covers numerous different pens. I don't think it is a real Wing Sung -- it is not so marked, and is missing the metallic trim ring around the open end of the cap and has a Safari-like pocket clip that looks like a paper clip (not a flattened paper clip). $2.39 postpaid to the US of A. In any case, I like it better than my two real 3008s. The cap posts on the metal ring beneath the filler twisty rather than on the twisty itself, and the clone writes a bit better than the real thing. The posted cap does not wobble or turn. The clip is very tight which may be a bug or a feature.

Edited December 26, 2018 by bob_hayden

[RoyalBlueNotebooks]

bob_hayden, I had three of those. Very inexpensive pens, they write better than my WS 3008, I used to use them daily, for months. But they're extremely difficult to clean out, and I'm not one for keeping the same color in the same pen for long. I don't demand perfect cleaning abilities from piston fillers, but I was uncomfortable with how much ink these pens' feed retained.