Majestic Squire vs. Napoleon vs. Elegant Beauty/Sierr

[BruceA]

I'm interested in hearing from turners with experience with the above three pens, and comparisons of what you feel are the strengths/weaknesses of the kits.

The Napoleon kit appears to only be available from Canadian supplier William Wood-rite.
The Majestic Squire is from PSI, Exotic Blanks, Woodturners Catalog, and a few more suppliers. Looks like PSI is the only one that offers the Antique Brass model.
Elegant Beauty/Sierra are available from many suppliers.

The Napoleon and EB/Sierra use a 27/64th drill.
The Majestic Squire uses a 3/8" drill.

The tube length on the Majestic Squire is 2.00"
The tube length on the EB/Sierra is 2.21"
What is the tube length on the Napoleon? ____________

The Napoleon and EB/Sierra has a pressed-in top, but splits apart at the nib end of the blank.
The Majestic Squire has BOTH a pressed-in top and nib section. Which makes disassembly a challenge - any recommendations on how you get a Majestic Squire apart??______________

Looks like the wall thickness is greater on the Majestic Squire barrels. Less blank back-painting for acrylics??____________

What are your thoughts on customer appeal?

Thanks for your input!

 

[jewellmd]

I can't give a prospective on the Squire or the Napoleon, but I have turned several Sierra style pens. I've many 10-packs from here:

Legacy Sierra Pen Kit - Gold

They come in gold & chrome. Shipping is fair. The bit size is a 27/64" and assembles just like a Wallstreet II. Turn them two at a time, plastic, wood, antler all works very well.

The people who've bought these from me are very pleased. The pens seems to hold up well. Although one of my favorites to make (due to two at a time & having multiple turning mandrels), I'm working to broaden my horizons to get into other kits.

 

[magpens]

I am glad you raised this issue.

The Napoleon tube length is 2.21", same as for the Sierra twist and EB Sierra. As far as I know, the Napoleon is sold only by William Woodwrite (penblanks.ca). It is a Dayacom kit. It uses a 27/64" = 0.422" brass tube, as does the EB Sierra. The 1.8" long bottom (nib) section unscrews just below the bottom end of the blank for refill replacement leaving the transmission inside the barrel. The top section with the attached clip presses permanently into the top end of the finished blank. The blank and top section therefore rotate together to extend/retract the refill. The transmission, which is screwed onto the bottom section, is a removable press fit into the top section. You can pull off the bottom section, with the transmission attached, while holding the two halves of the pen firmly one half in each hand. You still have to unscrew the transmission from the nib section to replace the refill.

The Majestic Squire uses a 3/8" = 0.375" brass tube so that the finished blank has a thicker wall than either the Napoleon or the EB Sierra. With the MS, the nib end assembly is 1.9" long and presses permanently into the bottom end of the finished blank. The clip is integrated with a ring and short brass cylinder which is pressed permanently into the top end of the blank. The transmission screws into the top of the clip ring. The topmost piece is 1" long and is a tight press fit onto the top of the transmission. Rotating this piece causes the refill to extend/retract. To replace the refill you can unscrew this top piece with the transmission. Pulling it off the transmission is hard, and you still have to unscrew the transmission to replace the refill. You can also replace the refill by unscrewing just the small nib piece which may be the easiest way.

Both the Napoleon and the MS have a glass crystal glued into a recess at the bottom end of the clip. The clips are closely the same length. The Napoleon clip flexes nicely to allow the pen to be easily clipped onto a pocket. The MS clip is incredibly stiff and it's almost impossible to clip it onto a pocket.

The nicely flexible clip makes the Napoleon a better design IMO.

The EB/Sierra goes together and operates like the Napoleon. It has no crystal on the clip and the clip is made from folded metal unlike the cast clips on the other two.

To disassemble the Majestic Squire (MS) is challenging. This is because there is a hardware component permanently pressed into both ends of the blank's brass tube. With the Napoleon and the EB Sierra, only one end has a permanently pressed-in component.

The Napoleon is the most expensive of the 3 kits; *perhaps* that fact reflects better engineering and thus the stronger appeal for me.

I hope this information is useful to somebody. If it's not already clear, I favor the Napoleon.

 

[The Penguin]

I am glad you raised this issue.

The Napoleon tube length is 2.21", same as for the Sierra twist and EB Sierra. As far as I know, the Napoleon is sold only by William Woodwrite (penblanks.ca). It is a Dayacom kit. It uses a 27/64" = 0.422" brass tube, as does the EB Sierra. The 1.8" long bottom (nib) section unscrews just below the bottom end of the blank for refill replacement. The top section with the attached clip presses permanently into the top end of the finished blank. The blank and top section therefore rotate together to extend/retract the refill.

The Majestic Squire uses a 3/8" = 0.375" brass tube so that the finished blank has a thicker wall than the Napoleon and the EB Sierra. With the MS, the nib end assembly is 1.9" long and presses permanently into the bottom end of the finished blank. The clip is integrated with a ring and short brass cylinder with pressed permanently into the top end of the blank. The transmission screws into the top of the clip ring. The topmost piece is 1" long and is a tight press fit onto the top of the transmission. Rotating this piece causes the refill to extend/retract. To replace the refill you have to unscrew this top piece with the transmission.

Both the Napoleon and the MS have a glass crystal glued into a recess at the bottom end of the clip. The clips are closely the same length. The Napoleon clip flexes nicely to allow the pen to be easily clipped onto a pocket. The MS clip is incredibly stiff and it is almost impossible to clip it onto a pocket.

The nicely flexible clip and the ease of replacing the refill make the Napoleon a better design IMO.

The EB/Sierra goes together and operates like the MS. It has no crystal on the clip and the clip is made from folded metal unlike the cast clips on the other two.

To disassemble the EB/Sierra is challenging, as is the case with the MS. This is because, for both pens, there is a harware component permanently pressed into both ends of the blank's brass tube. With the Napoleon, only one end has a permanently pressed-in component.

The Napoleon is the most expensive of the 3 kits and, perhaps that reflects better engineering and stronger appeal for me.

I hope this information is useful to somebody. If it's not already clear, I favor the Napoleon.

am I missing something here? I'm pretty sure I've turned over 100 SEB pens and there is only a press fit on one end.

 

[magpens]

"am I missing something here? I'm pretty sure I've turned over 100 SEB pens and there is only a press fit on one end."

You are right. I thought I was holding a SEB when I was writing that, but it was an Aero. Sorry

I have editted my "review". Thanks for pointing out the error.

 

[SteveG]

Quote magpens: "...The Majestic Squire uses a 3/8" = 0.375" brass tube so that the finished blank has a thicker wall than either the Napoleon or the EB Sierra. With the MS, the nib end assembly is 1.9" long and presses permanently into the bottom end of the finished blank. The clip is integrated with a ring and short brass cylinder which is pressed permanently into the top end of the blank. The transmission screws into the top of the clip ring. The topmost piece is 1" long and is a tight press fit onto the top of the transmission. Rotating this piece causes the refill to extend/retract. To replace the refill you have to unscrew this top piece with the transmission. Pulling it off the transmission is hard, and you still have to unscrew the transmission to replace the refill."

This statement for replacing the refill is mistaken. The writing tip will unscrew, making this the simplest possible pen design for ease of replacing the refill. No need to pull the pen apart.

This is one of my favorite designs to sell, as there is much less a chance for user problems, including inadvertent unscrewing of pen components when twisting to extend the refill.

 

[magpens]

Yes, you are right. I was holding a M. Squire when I was writing, but it's tip would not come off. I picked up another MS and the tip does indeed unscrew. Thanks for pointing this out and sorry for my mistake. I have editted my "review" to reflect this fact.

 

[Dale Lynch]

Hi Bruce, the LeRoy Major from Smitty's is almost the same as the Napoleon.The Major is final twist where as the Napoleon is barrel twist.Others may be able to correct me but I thnk there both manufactured by Dayacom.

 

[Charlie_W]

The Napoleon is indeed a very nice pen and will use the Sierra style artist blanks.
I have purchased from Bill and Lilian in the past...great service. The shipping across the border is steep though.

You CAN purchase this pen here in the states....same Dayacom Pen...different name. It is a Le Roi Elegant Major and is available from Smitty's Pen Works in New Jersey. It is available in two finishes.
Again, these pen Componets are machined and finished very nicely!

Edit: I will need to check and see if they have the same twist mechanism.....tomorrow!

 

[magpens]

Charlie and Spanx,

Thank you for pointing out that Smitty carries this pen under a different name. That is useful information.

Yes, Bill and Lilian at William Wood-Write do give excellent service. I know that cross-border shipping is expensive. I get that the other way around to you !!!

You have the advantage of dollar value, though. Ours has declined pretty seriously !!

 

[Charlie_W]

Hi Bruce, the LeRoy Major from Smitty's is almost the same as the Napoleon.The Major is final twist where as the Napoleon is barrel twist.Others may be able to correct me but I thnk there both manufactured by Dayacom.

Spanx is correct here. Finial twist for the Le Roi Elegant Major and Barrel twist for the Napoleon. I had just recently ordered some of the Majors but had not gotten to assemble one yet. I checked the tubes with a caliper and they are the same.
Both have the Dayacom stamp on the back of the clip. While both parts press into the tube on the Major, the finial unscrews for ink replacement.
Otherwise, they seem identical in appearance.

First pic is a Napoleon. The second and third pic is the Major.

 

[magpens]

Charlie, thanks for that update.
It would seem that the Major is like the Majestic Squire in being finial twist.
Please check to see if the small nib piece unscrews for refill replacement. Thanks

 

[Charlie_W]

Charlie, thanks for that update.
It would seem that the Major is like the Majestic Squire in being finial twist.
Please check to see if the small nib piece unscrews for refill replacement. Thanks

The nib does not unscrew on neither the Napoloen nor the Elegant Major.
The Napoleon pulls apart in the middle like a Sierra
The finial cap/tranny unscrews on the Major for ink replacement.

See pic in earlier post.

 

[kingkeyman]

Nice thread, good information!