Wing Sung 601 Nib

[apastuszak]

I own 2 Wing Sung 601 pens and I am really impressed with the fit and finish. The only thing I am not really fond of is the nib. I find it a bit too scratchy/feedbacky for my taste. I bought a "bobby" nib to put in my Wing Wung 601. That made the pen a lot smoother, but htat nib is a bit too "wet" for my tastes.

 

I'd prefer the writing experience and smoothness of a fine point Parker 51.

 

I've never smoothed out a nib using micro-mesh. But at the price of these pens, I am willing to give it a shot.

 

It's my understanding that these pens don't have a lot of tipping material, so I am concerned that trying to smooth out the nib may remove too much tipping material.

 

Has anyone smoothed out a nib on a Wing Sung 601 before?

[Ted A]

First off you absolutely need a loupe. You need to get magnification to be sure that the scratchiness doesn’t come from the tines being misaligned. If they are the fix may be simply to get the tips of the nib aligned. 

 

If the nib is aligned and still scratchy then smoothing is probably in order. You can check in the nib forum for tips on alignment. If you work a bit at a time, you can smooth the nib without noticeable loss of tipping material.

[apastuszak]

I need to order another Wing Sung 601 to experiment with.

[Waltz For Zizi]

I did some work on mine, but it was 601A, that has a normal nib, making it architect from a fine because it was unuseable as it was out if the box, and now it is one of my favorite pens.

[PenLovingE]

  On 10/12/2023 at 3:30 PM, Waltz For Zizi said:

I did some work on mine, but it was 601A, that has a normal nib, making it architect from a fine because it was unuseable as it was out if the box, and now it is one of my favorite pens.

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If you're still here I'd love to see pictures and get some tips. I bought extra bids for my 601 to do grind experiments. I pulled off a nice cursive italic and want an architect next. 

[Azulado]

The nib smoothness of a WS 601 is a difficult equation to solve. I say this because there are several variables to juggle. You say your Bobby nib is soft but excessively wet. Well, why don't you try a dry ink? Maybe the Pelikan 4001s would suit your requirements well. 
Sometimes it is not possible to match our favorite pen to our favorite paper and ink. You have to negotiate with reality. 
I tried to smooth out the tip of my WS 601 a bit, but at the same time I wondered if I wanted to kill its personality. No, I didn't. It's a fine tip, the fit is much more delicate than a medium or broad tip. The flow is important, that's why the Bobby seems soft to you. 
If you are sure the tines are not misaligned, you should first try different inks and papers. Then it is important to understand that the writing angle is more delicate than that of wider nibs. I think you can talk about a sweet spot. 
I am satisfied with my tip, I understand that this feedback is a characteristic of the fountain pen. More lubricated ink and the right paper can work miracles. 

I have other nibs whose shape is very similar to that of the 601. My conclusion is that it is very difficult to make them as smooth as a broad. In any case, I would limit myself to the edges of the nib slit. In the end, that's what produces the roughness, not the contact surface. Also, the nibs are usually spaced far apart. Those edges should be masterfully smoothed so they are not felt. 

[1pen2pen]

i've been messing with 601s recently -- having discovered i REALLY like hooded nibs -- and must say that @Azulado's words are pretty much golden. aside from expensive gold nibs and nibmeister grinds which i have no experience with i've come to the conclusion that there is a large hit-and-miss factor with 601 nibs.

 

having been quite successful doing amateur smoothing and tweaking other pens with full-size nibs i've found that my success with 601s is best described as woeful: there's not much there to work with and -- as the man said in the movie -- "sometimes you bite the bear and sometimes the bear bites you". in other words very much a "do your best and hope for the best" scenario and always, ALWAYS take it slow and easy. you will have successes -- one of my favourite pens these days is a 601 that i've tweaked to juicy perfection -- but i've got others tucked away in my stash that i worked on for hours and i'd now rather not talk about.

 

that said, what wonderful pens! simple, unassuming, but so reliable and almost always a pleasure to use. one of the great Chinese success stories when it comes to fountain pens IMHO and to be fair they are quite a number of such stories to choose from.

[Lithium466]

What are your thoughts on the 12 and 14K nibs we can find for these 601? Are they any softer than the steel nibs? Or just shinier nails?

[1pen2pen]

@Lithium466, i see that @PenLovingE has tried and liked the 14k nib, see here -- 

 

[Lithium466]

Thank you!

[PenLovingE]

  On 3/23/2025 at 12:52 PM, Lithium466 said:

What are your thoughts on the 12 and 14K nibs we can find for these 601? Are they any softer than the steel nibs? Or just shinier nails?

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I have a 14k ef nib on one of my pens. There is a VERY small amount of bounce compared to my steel but it only takes the experience from "nail" to "rounded pencil". A few retailers on AliExpress sell a 14k or 12k nib/feed/capillary assembly that is easy to swap on a hooded 601. Usually around $45 and we'll worth the experiment in my opinion. 

 

Like many have said, check alignment with a loop and write  with less pressure. Good luck!

[Lithium466]

That is good news and bad news for me, meaning I'll have to buy one to try  😕 

 

[Shanghai Knife Dude]

I had the 601 steel f came in scratchy too. Then I used a loup to make sure it's alignment, then I managed to calm myself down and use the pen as it suppose to be. Every single stroke just reminded me its scratch. Within less than a course of a week, the moment I got used to its scratch, and forgot about it, it was the moment the scratch gone. It broke in. 

[Estycollector]

Never had an issue with normal writing tasks using the nibs that came on the 601's I have acquired. 

[jchch1950]

  On 3/25/2025 at 7:16 PM, Shanghai Knife Dude said:

I had the 601 steel f came in scratchy too. Then I used a loup to make sure it's alignment, then I managed to calm myself down and use the pen as it suppose to be. Every single stroke just reminded me its scratch. Within less than a course of a week, the moment I got used to its scratch, and forgot about it, it was the moment the scratch gone. It broke in. 

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Forty or fifty years ago, it was a common recommendation to fountain pen owners that you have to use the pen for some time before the nib gets the way you write. I'm not sure that was true with high-end pens, but it was at least with school pens. The other recommendation was that you should never lend your pen to anybody because the nib can change from your writing to that of the other person.

[Shanghai Knife Dude]

  On 3/26/2025 at 8:30 AM, jchch1950 said:

Forty or fifty years ago, it was a common recommendation to fountain pen owners that you have to use the pen for some time before the nib gets the way you write. I'm not sure that was true with high-end pens, but it was at least with school pens. The other recommendation was that you should never lend your pen to anybody because the nib can change from your writing to that of the other person.

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Either you break in your pen, or the factory did it for you with extra $$$, then you call it high end.

 

Slow down. Why is the rush? Pen is getting cheaper, man is getting even cheaper now. 

 

I just invented a Chinese saying: there wouldn't be a child skipping 10 months pregnancy. 

[Prof Drew]

Hi folks. I ordered a few feeds/ /capillary assemblies for the WingSun 601. The seller sent along the usual black plastic tool to remove the vacumatic assembly, but also came with this piece of folded aluminum. It's about 4cm (1 and 6/10th of an inch) long.

 

I keep bending this feeds when changing nibs on the 601, which is why I ordered a few.

 

I was wondering if any of you had any idea what this is used for, or was it perhaps simply sent to keep the feeds from being damaged in transit. Thanks.

 

PS Just for your information, when I tried to search AliExpress for the 601 feeds, I only found ones that were a bit expensive, so I decided to try AliExpress's upload a photo to search for the item. That helped me find a few that were half the price. I don't know if the AliExpress algorithm was giving preference to the higher cost item or if it was a question of search terms and automatic translation. In any case it was interesting since prices for some things are fluctuating a great deal there.

 

 

[Penguincollector]

I think that it’s a shim for your nib tines, @Prof Drew.

[Prof Drew]

Thanks @Penguincollector. That makes sense. I have little brass shims, but perhaps this is for those small 601 Hero nibs. Thanks much!

[Shanghai Knife Dude]

  On 4/4/2025 at 10:37 AM, Prof Drew said:

Thanks @Penguincollector. That makes sense. I have little brass shims, but perhaps this is for those small 601 Hero nibs. Thanks much!

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Use a gapping tool, much more precise. 

 

The main issue of Junlai nib is always uneven cut tint, regardless gold or steel of it.