PSMK1

the first pen stand made. it is a prototype, and a working prototype. it features full mobility, cheap, and fully functional.
mobility: it disassembles for easy carrying, and assembles in seconds. as long as a twsbi eco.
cheap: takes about 14 ice-creams sticks, some glue and about an hour that includes designing. making time is about 30 minutes at most.
fully functional: it can take a big and long twsbi eco or a short muji pen. the base is stable enough, and the portion which supports the pen is fully stabilized. there are some artificial drains and intended made drains to ensure the pen stays in place.

Some details are in the picture, but it should be simple enough to understand how it works, and how it can be make. as mentioned, the key is in the design, and the design is there. you can make one yourself very easily.
Now to name it: PSMK1.  time to work on PSMK2.

Top view when kept for movement. as long as a twsbi.

side view.

bottom view

transforming it into a pen stand. it takes a twsbi eco easily.

Takes a short muji pen too.

the piece of the pen stand which slides out to become the pen support. note that angle cut which is the key to this pen stand's design.

the groove or the drain to make sure the pen cap stays in place.

The stopper at the other end of the pen stand to make sure the pen doesn't slide off. it can be beautified later, but that's not for the lazy me.

the inside of the pen stand bottom. the angle cut is the same as the pen stand support so that it flushes together when kept.

the 2 pieces support to ensure the stability of the stand.

pilot con-10. Not a true converter.

Quite some time back, there was a discussion about the "converter" which came with metro, or as it is officially called con-10. I had warned that this is not a real converter to store ink for use by the pen, but rather use for quick washing of the pen only because there are incidents where the rubber sac collapses on the side and get stuck in the pen body. That happened to me 3 times in my pilot 78G and birdie when i used it 20 years ago. 

 

Today, i happened to chance upon this from a metro user. This photo serves as the main proof of what can happen to this con-10 when used like a con-20. Be warned, because it is real and can cause a lot of mess.

The Dark Square. a conversion of a ball-point pen from farrer hotel.

Long story very short. This hotel gave me a nice looking ballpoint pen. The body looks nice, and it deserves an upgrade. I modified it to be a fountain pen using a cartridge, for now. The pen body has a rubber coating, which is undergoing treatment now to prevent it from getting sticky.

Wing sung 659 / Lucky / Pilot 78G clone review

well, this might be something you are waiting for a while. is wing sung 659 the new pilot 78G? well, the answer isn't a definite yes...

1) nib and feed unit:
well, it can go into a pilot 78G without problem, but the 78G nib and feed unit is loose on the wing sung. and to be very accurate, the feed of a 78G isn't the feed of a penmanship. the black feed is a 78G, thicker by a micro mm, the transparent blue feed is the penmanship feed. it is of a different material too.
with the wing sung nib and feed in the 78G, it writes without problem. the only thing is the EF doesn't feel different from the F. i need to do a little more experiment to confirm that.





2) the converter:
now that is where it gets exciting. the converter will fit a pilot 78G, and to top it off, it has a bigger capacity than a con-50 but yet will fit a 78G. by comparison, it is smaller than a con-70. and it costs about $1 per piece as compared to a con-50 that costs at least 8 times more? well, it is an alternative.

3) can it be ED?
wing sung can be ED, i tried with water with no leakages. the demonstrator ED will be a killer, but i shall leave that to you to show its beauty.

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For the moment of truth about wing sung 659. For the record, they were not wrong to state that their nib is of super quality, unlike pilot's superior quality.

The ink used is pelikan brilliant red. it did not harm the other pens which i used it in.
Firstly, the body will stain. the feed holding area, the converter has stains. the feed has stains too. that can be removed, but compared to the platinum cool's feed, it is not pleasing to see.


 
 
 

My past experience with the original wing sung is that its quality is inferior to hero, especially when it comes to its gold plating. I have a wing sung pen used 20 years ago which the gold plating totally disappeared due to the ink used. At that point in time, wing sung is still not under hero. and my hero gold plated pens stood the passage of time.

 Thus i was skeptical about the wing sung 659 gold plated nib. I was right. the ink did strip the gold off. The gold plating is of inferior quality like it was when it was still wing sung. Hero's technology did not get imparted over, as I was informed. Note that the steel nib below will still function, except that it doesn't look as nice.

Pilot 78G clone/ Wing Sung 659 frosted edition and unknown edition

 

pilot con-40

 

1) fitting: Yes, it fits an elite 95s, but.....even if it fits, i still cannot see the ink window, so why am i sacrificing the ink volume that a con-20 can give me again? it can also fit an old elite rather tightly, and of course it can cap.

 

  

 

 

2) length wise, it is almost as long as the con-50.

top to bottom:
con-70
wing sung lucky converter (fits a pilot)
con-50
con-40
con-20
con-10 (aka washer)
pilot VP cartridge cap

3) details? well, the piston is single layered compared to a con-50, that's a con. 

the piston cannot extend to where the metal gate is, there is a gate, that's another con.

 

 the metal gate to block the 4 metal balls also blocks simple cleaning, another con. 

  

the metal piece on top of the converter seems to be click-fit and cannot be removed at the moment, it turns but does not come out, another con.

verdict? con-50 and con-20 seems to be better. Pilot, please do not discontinue them.....

pilot 78G - Kai