# Gatsby vs Sierra vs Wall St II vs...



## vakmere (May 28, 2014)

Gatsby vs Sierra vs Wall St II 

In my eye these look identical save a ring or two. They take the same bushings and drill bit size. Are these indeed the same pen kits under different names?


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## OKLAHOMAN (May 28, 2014)

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.


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## ed4copies (May 28, 2014)

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.


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## vakmere (May 28, 2014)

ed4copies said:


> 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.


 

Thank you, I also see the pricing is slightly different for those kits depending who you get them from.


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## Kenny Durrant (May 28, 2014)

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.


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## sbell111 (May 28, 2014)

Kenny Durrant said:


> 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.


It should be noted that not all Gatsby's are the same.  Some are as you describe while others are Sierra clones.


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## ed4copies (May 28, 2014)

vakmere said:


> ed4copies said:
> 
> 
> > 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.
> ...




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.


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## ed4copies (May 28, 2014)

Kenny Durrant said:


> 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.




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!!


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## Smitty37 (May 28, 2014)

*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.


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## Smitty37 (May 28, 2014)

sbell111 said:


> Kenny Durrant said:
> 
> 
> > 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.
> ...


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.


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## Smitty37 (May 28, 2014)

vakmere said:


> ed4copies said:
> 
> 
> > 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.
> ...


Dayacom, makes a number of versions of these under different names.  They are Tiawanese and claim their manufacturers are also Taiwanese....


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## ed4copies (May 28, 2014)

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.


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## sbell111 (May 28, 2014)

Smitty37 said:


> sbell111 said:
> 
> 
> > Kenny Durrant said:
> ...



You are correct.  I was thinking of one supplier who I though called their's a gatsby, but I was mistaken.


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## Smitty37 (May 28, 2014)

ed4copies said:


> 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.


I have to apologize...I forgot how the transmission attaches on a Sierra.


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## 76winger (May 29, 2014)

Smitty37 said:


> sbell111 said:
> 
> 
> > Kenny Durrant said:
> ...



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).


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## Smitty37 (May 29, 2014)

76winger said:


> Smitty37 said:
> 
> 
> > sbell111 said:
> ...


It is true that they've stayed the same.  I started ordering them in 2010 and they were finial twist.


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