Polaris, Patriot, Euro, Sierra....HUH?

[Haynie]

In my search for a black satin pen kit I I also decided that I would look at the different pen styles. I looked at the Penn State site, and the Wood Turner's Catalog and came to the realization that I was looking at the same pen styles but they had different names.

At Penn State the style is Polaris, at Wood turner the style is Patriot.

Mighty confusing for a newbie. Is there a standard out there for the different kits, or do I just need to wade through it?

 

[PenMan1]

The names will come in time. I recently made a mistake having custom blanks made. I just specified "Elegent Beauty" to the blank maker. He thought I meant Dayacom Elegent Beauty, which uses the same tubes as CSUSA's Aero. What I should have specified is Berea Elegant Beauty which uses a larger tube similar to a Sierra.

The names just take awhile to learn. There is a chart in the library here which breaks down tube sizes for each of the popular sellers. Studying this chat will help you identify the components that use the same sized tubes

 

[jlord]

In my search for a black satin pen kit I I also decided that I would look at the different pen styles. I looked at the Penn State site, and the Wood Turner's Catalog and came to the realization that I was looking at the same pen styles but they had different names.

At Penn State the style is Polaris, at Wood turner the style is Patriot.

Mighty confusing for a newbie. Is there a standard out there for the different kits, or do I just need to wade through it?

Don't forget that Berea calls the same style a Carbara. I also find that not all sellers carry all available platings for each style. You may have to go to different sellers for different platings & they may be labeled by a different name.

http://www.bereahardwoods.com/pen-kit/supplies/pk-carabara-ballpoint.html

 

[Fibonacci]

I went through the same thing for a while. You get used to it.

The primary reason for having different names for what appear to be the same thing is intellectual property. Properly speaking, each vendor owns thier name, and likely gets their parts from a different source. There are significant differences in quality between kits of the same "type", so that is something to watch out for.

As an example, I have some Sierra kits from Exotic Blanks. I also have some Classicas from CSUSA. They look basically the same in the catalog, both use the same bushings, and go together the same way. The Sierras fit tightly together and have very smooth action. The Classicas have just a bit of wiggle where the blank meets the nib section. The nib section is just a hair undersized. That said, the Classica is a lot cheaper. As far as I know, it is the only Sierra style pen under $10 that you can get with a gunmetal finish. (I could be wrong)

CSUSA also sells the Sienna, which is a more expensive version of the same thing that I am told does not have that play.

I have bought and will likely to continue to buy the Classicas despite this due to their price. The majority of the people that I show them to cannot tell the difference between a $15 Sierra Elegant Beauty in Platinum/Black Ti and a $3.50 Classica in chrome and gunmetal. I can make Classicas for much cheaper, and thus sell them for much cheaper.

At the same time, I have bought and made several of the Sierra Elegant Beauties for people who were discerning.

The point of all of this is that there are differences, but one is not inherantly "better" than another. There is a tradeoff between quality and price and you have to decide where that line sits for you.

 

[Smitty37]

With what

I went through the same thing for a while. You get used to it.

The primary reason for having different names for what appear to be the same thing is intellectual property. Properly speaking, each vendor owns thier name, and likely gets their parts from a different source. There are significant differences in quality between kits of the same "type", so that is something to watch out for.

As an example, I have some Sierra kits from Exotic Blanks. I also have some Classicas from CSUSA. They look basically the same in the catalog, both use the same bushings, and go together the same way. The Sierras fit tightly together and have very smooth action. The Classicas have just a bit of wiggle where the blank meets the nib section. The nib section is just a hair undersized. That said, the Classica is a lot cheaper. As far as I know, it is the only Sierra style pen under $10 that you can get with a gunmetal finish. (I could be wrong)

CSUSA also sells the Sienna, which is a more expensive version of the same thing that I am told does not have that play.

I have bought and will likely to continue to buy the Classicas despite this due to their price. The majority of the people that I show them to cannot tell the difference between a $15 Sierra Elegant Beauty in Platinum/Black Ti and a $3.50 Classica in chrome and gunmetal. I can make Classicas for much cheaper, and thus sell them for much cheaper.

At the same time, I have bought and made several of the Sierra Elegant Beauties for people who were discerning.

The point of all of this is that there are differences, but one is not inherantly "better" than another. There is a tradeoff between quality and price and you have to decide where that line sits for you.

gunmetal and what? I have gun metal grip and finial with Gold Titanium in a finial twist version for a lot less than $10.00

 

[ed4copies]

At Exotics, we call it the Diplomat-gun metal and gold or gun metal and chrome. Works well, but it is NOT a Berea mechanism--which works better (IMO) and costs more.

 

[Fibonacci]

gunmetal and what? I have gun metal grip and finial with Gold Titanium in a finial twist version for a lot less than $10.00

Aren't yours finial twist?

That is another kind of beast.

 

[Fibonacci]

I was specifically looking for Gun Metal/Chrome.

That said, I stand corrected as far as Ed's stock. The Diplomat 2 is available with gun metal. I had thought that it was a black plastic like the regular sierras.