Wing Sung 601. A Real Vacumatic, Modern Parker 51?

[Freddy]

For your consideration Ron Zorn and his Salad Spinner centrifuge:https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/12704-drum-roll-the-salad-spinner-centrifuge/

By the way....I do not disassemble me Parker Vacumatic pens or Wing Sung 601 to clean.

'Tis my personal opinion to so is absurd.................................

Fred

Gibson, please. Roger O. Thornton on a train with Eva Marie Saint......................

[truthpil]

Purchasing a tool for removing the piston is cheap and this makes flushing the pen an absolute snap.

 

Agreed, I think these are the most user-friendly vacumatics every made!

I love how every part just unscrews without much effort.

[WJM]

When I first learned about 601 my first reaction was that having an ink window was an improvement over the Parker 51 Vac. I once had one and I hated that I can't see whether the filling mechanism is even working properly.

 

A few weeks ago I finally ordered my 601 in army green, the piston type. Got it yesterday.

 

Guess what - no ink window. Great. The photo on the eBay offer showed one with ink window, and the seller has a separate offer for the window-less version. Guess I could ask him to make sure. No, I'm not gonna wait two months for a replacement. I'm just gonna stick with what I got.

 

I filled it with Waterman Serenity Blue. The line was extra fine and extra dry. I assume it could be adjusted, but instead I reached for my broken pen box and swapped in one from a cracked Wing Sung 618. This one is much smoother and much wetter, so now it's fine.

 

Apart from that, the pen makes an overall good impression. Compared to Hero 616 and Wing Sung 613 it's definitely made of better materials, much closer in feel to the Parker 51. Pretty much why I bought it, so overall I like it.

Edited August 30, 2018 by WJM

[truthpil]

 

Apart from that, the pen makes an overall good impression. Compared to Hero 616 and Wing Sung 613 it's definitely made of better materials, much closer in feel to the Parker 51. Pretty much why I bought it, so overall I like it.

 

I agree, although the nib isn't as wet and juicy like on my Parker 51s, the weight and balance feel the same. The 601 is the first Chinese Parker 51 homage that actually feels like a 51 to me.

[doggle2]

Just a quick question, how does the cap work? Does it grab onto the trim ring on the section like on the Parker 51, or does it grab onto the actual hood? I'm wondering, because Parker 51 rings protrude out from the hood, and this one doesn't protrude.

[truthpil]

Just a quick question, how does the cap work? Does it grab onto the trim ring on the section like on the Parker 51, or does it grab onto the actual hood? I'm wondering, because Parker 51 rings protrude out from the hood, and this one doesn't protrude.

 

To me it seems like the clutch inside the cap grabs onto the ring just like on a Parker 51. The lack of any scuffing to the hood after regular use (unless with the Jinhao 911... scuffed hood hell) also seems to indicate this.

[MuddyWaters]

How are these holding up? I think I will purchase one since I've been liking my Hero 51 clones.

[truthpil]

How are these holding up? I think I will purchase one since I've been liking my Hero 51 clones.

Like a tank. These are great workhorse pens!

[Honeybadgers]

zero issues with mine, the demonstrator hasn't even stained yet.

[penzel_washinkton]

Loving it in an EF nib, very dependable so far

[LiquidInk]

Any thoughts on the new 12k gold nib version?

[welch]

Any thoughts on the new 12k gold nib version?

 

If "the new 12k gold nib version" is this one, then it is a pen that would have surprised Kenneth Parker and Walter A. Sheaffer. It looks like a double-jewel Parker 51 Vac wearing a Sheaffer Triumph nib.

 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/2019-New-Wing-Sung-601A-Wave-Golden-Cap-Vacumatic-Fountain-Pen-Fine-Nib/283880742392?var=585321605172&hash=item42189c5df8:g:sEEAAOSwSmJdRaZg

 

I received a hooded WS 601 today. Impressive pen. Heavier plastic than a normal Chinese pen, those of the sort I bought about 15 years ago, like the Hero 616. Solid stainless steel cap, brushed down like the P-51 Special, with a finely detailed arrow clip, a Parker 51-like clutch ring so there is a definite cloomp as the cap fits on. Elegant purple jewels.

 

The insides design looks like a sensible modernization of the 51 Vac. Everything screws together in a logical way, so no working with a heat gun to melt shellac that holds a 51 hood in place. The 601 comes with a tool that looks like a converter, but holds a clear grease, probably intended to keep the plunger working smoothly. Part of the "converter" is actually a little wrench that unscrews the plunger assembly.

 

"Modernization" means that the 51 Vac and aero were to be worked on at a Parker repair center. "No user serviceable parts". Starting about 1960, with the Parker 45, the company released pens that let an owner unscrew a part and swap in another.

 

Flushing it out? I don't bother to flush a Vac or aerometric 51; at most, I will plunge out as much ink as I can and then soak the pen overnight. Maybe over several nights if I going to store it. Otherwise, I write with various blue inks, and it's no big deal to shade in Parker Penman Sapphire to Diamine Sapphire Blue to Private Reserve American Blue, to classic Quink with Solv-X. Never felt the need to flush a P-51 when I change inks and never change inks every couple days.

 

For anyone who really wants to flush a 601, that is simple. The tool lets you pull the filling unit, and then you have an empty barrel.

 

Nothing in a 601 interchanges with a Parker 51, but if I were king, I would have Parker contract with Wing Sung to change the 601 slightly to be compatible with the old Parker 51 nib and cap, and then market the pen as the Parker 51 Next Gen, the P-51 Mark IV or V. The rest is all there: feed running through a finned collector that looks a lot like the P-51 collector, the breather tube, the arrow clip.

[peroride]

Nothing in a 601 interchanges with a Parker 51, but if I were king, I would have Parker contract with Wing Sung to change the 601 slightly to be compatible with the old Parker 51 nib and cap, and then market the pen as the Parker 51 Next Gen, the P-51 Mark IV or V. The rest is all there: feed running through a finned collector that looks a lot like the P-51 collector, the breather tube, the arrow clip.

Great review, thank you sire

I love my 601s and 51s now if they can only just play together.

Parker Louis DCI, please summon your roundtable to steer them in the right direction.

[Estycollector]

I love the 601, but I have given them all to friends and family. Now that I have a couple vintage 51's, I am less enticed to get another one. If I did, I might try to clear version. I am curious if the clear plastic is as good as the colored ones.

[IThinkIHaveAProblem]

I love the 601, but I have given them all to friends and family. Now that I have a couple vintage 51's, I am less enticed to get another one. If I did, I might try to clear version. I am curious if the clear plastic is as good as the colored ones.

i started with two clear ones. (before i got two double jewel ones)

 

One of them has micro cracks in the barrel now, visible in bright light when you rotate the pen in your hand, and it's empty.

I suspect it's partly my fault, i may have gotten a little aggressive with the bulb syringe when cleaning it out one day

I think i prefer my clear ones, but i don't think i can definitely say that the plastic is better or worse than my two DJ models.

 

One of my demonstrators now has a badly stained collector and breather tube from some of the inks i've used, like diamine registrars, it left a dark residue that needed to be wiped off, as do some of the bulletproof noodler's inks. I'm thinking of shelling out for a bottle of Parker Quink BB with Solv-X to try and clean it out ... That pen is my most frequently inked pen(almost constantly) (currently inked with some salix) and the one i take out the door with me when i take a pen/notebook like i said before in another thread, i wish there was a version made of lucite, that could take a P51 nib... throw in a medium octanium and bam, near perfect EDC pen.

[Mech-for-i]

well instead, the new all Steel version might be even better as an EDC

[IThinkIHaveAProblem]

well instead, the new all Steel version might be even better as an EDC

Ive only seen that in a 601A with the conical/triumph nib. Does it exist with the Parker style hooded nib?

Edited May 20, 2020 by IThinkIHaveAProblem

[Honeybadgers]

How are these holding up? I think I will purchase one since I've been liking my Hero 51 clones.

 

I don't use my turquoise one much since it has the old, now discontinued sac filler that the 51 did and was a little less pleasant to fill, but I use my clear piston style button filler one all the time. Have it inked with all sorts of stuff for long periods and it neither stains nor dries out, and it's proven to be a tank. Cap is still nice and

 

Still highly recommend to anyone who wants to try a 51. Apart from the "not a gold nib" fact, it's pretty much a perfect 51 homage.

 

And you just made me pick it up, and i dropped it. On my brand new carpet. I'm naming the new little red stain after you.

[Mech-for-i]

Ive only seen that in a 601A with the conical/triumph nib. Does it exist with the Parker style hooded nib?

Yes there are - the all steel variant is available in hooded, triumph, and open nib version all

[IThinkIHaveAProblem]

Yes there are - the all steel variant is available in hooded, triumph, and open nib version all

do you have a link!? i am very interested...

 

edit: nevermind, found one

 

tks! last time i had looked, it was 601A only.

Edited May 20, 2020 by IThinkIHaveAProblem