Gatsby vs Sierra vs Wall St II vs...
- Thread starter vakmere
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OKLAHOMAN
Member
Berea Hardwoods is the company that first named it the Sierra, and has it as a registered name so even though the others are clones of it the names have to be different. BTW most if not all are made by different manufactures.
ed4copies
Local Chapter Manager
Only the Berea sierra is made by Berea's factory in Taiwan. Berea sells to WoodCraft, so the Wall Street II and III (sierra vista) are also identical (although there MAY be a difference in the plating) to Berea.
The rest are made elsewhere. Some claim Taiwan, many are Chinese.
BTW, this also means the transmissions are NOT interchangeable. The size and threading is NOT common from one manufacturer to the next.
The rest are made elsewhere. Some claim Taiwan, many are Chinese.
BTW, this also means the transmissions are NOT interchangeable. The size and threading is NOT common from one manufacturer to the next.
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Thank you, I also see the pricing is slightly different for those kits depending who you get them from.
Kenny Durrant
Member
Without going into details of the manufacturer the difference that makes me choose between the kits are these. I don't care for the Gatsby because the brass tube is part of the housing for the ink cartridge. Therefore if you trim the brass tube too much the ink cartridge will not retract all the way. The Sierra is a nice pen for the price but I really like the Wall St.2 Elegant. It's twice the price but a really nice kit. Also to be fair to the other suppliers these are the only ones I've delt with.
sbell111
Member
It should be noted that not all Gatsby's are the same. Some are as you describe while others are Sierra clones.
ed4copies
Local Chapter Manager
Berea has many resellers, each of whom is independent and can price as we choose. I think we are all very close, but one may be a few cents higher or lower on any one style kit.
ed4copies
Local Chapter Manager
The Wall Street II Elegant is the Berea Elegant Beauty (Prod #8502). If you buy more than a couple at a time, they CAN become price competitive.
But, if you buy small quantities, there is certainly an advantage to going to your local WoodCraft---especially if they have a well-trained staff, as the one in Milwaukee does!!
Notes ....
Gatsby is NOT the same as Sierra. Externally it looks the same but under the hood it is completely different. The Gatsby uses a finial twist transmission,hence assembly and the inner workings are very different.
Personally, I don't believe that any version of this kit under any name is a bit more or less sensitive to tube length than any other and they are all fairly sensitive.
As others have mentioned, this style is popular and is manufactured in several places both in Tailand and main land China. Where they are made probably has less impact on how well made they are than most people imagine. If I tell a manufacturer that lowest cost is the objective they will do things differently than if I tell them best fit, finish and plating
is the major objective not cost.
Gatsby is NOT the same as Sierra. Externally it looks the same but under the hood it is completely different. The Gatsby uses a finial twist transmission,hence assembly and the inner workings are very different.
Personally, I don't believe that any version of this kit under any name is a bit more or less sensitive to tube length than any other and they are all fairly sensitive.
As others have mentioned, this style is popular and is manufactured in several places both in Tailand and main land China. Where they are made probably has less impact on how well made they are than most people imagine. If I tell a manufacturer that lowest cost is the objective they will do things differently than if I tell them best fit, finish and plating
is the major objective not cost.
Steve. I don't know of any Gatsby that would qualify as a Sierra clone with the possible exception of the click version. As far as I know every twist Gatsby is finial operated and every twist Sierra is barrel
operated. In either case it makes no difference, if you shorten the tube you will run into problems in retracting all the way.
Dayacom, makes a number of versions of these under different names. They are Tiawanese and claim their manufacturers are also Taiwanese....
ed4copies
Local Chapter Manager
Just to be clear, the sierra is NOT real "tube-length sensitive". There is a good quarter inch behind the transmission that is "air space". So, you COULD trim off nearly that much and it would still function properly.
This is ONE of the main differences between finial twist and twist at the nib.
Smitty's statement is probably correct if you refer to ONLY the Gatsby---I am NOT that familiar with that kit.
This is ONE of the main differences between finial twist and twist at the nib.
Smitty's statement is probably correct if you refer to ONLY the Gatsby---I am NOT that familiar with that kit.
sbell111
Member
You are correct. I was thinking of one supplier who I though called their's a gatsby, but I was mistaken.
I have to apologize...I forgot how the transmission attaches on a Sierra.
76winger
Member
The Gastby wasn't always final twist:
To my recollection, when I started turning pens in 2008, the Gatsby was operated by twisting the lower section, just like the Sierra's and clones. Somewhere around a year or so later a batch I ordered was marked as Gatsby v2 and had a finial twist operation, which has remained through today as far as I know (I haven't ordered any in a year or so).
It is true that they've stayed the same. I started ordering them in 2010 and they were finial twist.