I have around 25 Queen knives from the past 10 years. Only 6 or 7 are what I would consider comparable to a GEC in terms of fit and finish. The ‘Factory Test’ knives have been excellent, one of them has some of the best stag I’ve seen on a production knife.
Issues range from horizontal blade play, slightly wavy blade grinds, small gaps in the liners/backspring, less than stellar walk, as if the tangs aren’t ground very well. One knife (a Trestle Pines) has what I would call a mushy half stop, in that it has a half stop that rotates several degrees in the half stop position.
I only have one that I would consider an absolute lemon.... huge gaps in the liners, a cam tang that feels like gravel... it literally looks like there’s still scale on it from heat treat. The blade was the most deplorable thing.... not only did it look like it could have been 1/2” longer, it has the waviest grind I’ve ever seen. As Rusty1 said about his, you could surf on it! Being a D2 steel blade, I’m not sure how one would hope to ever sharpen it without a grinding belt.
EDITED to add that when I say the blade is wavy, I’m not talking about the edge, I’m talking about the main blade grind. It’s as if the cutler crinked the last 1/2” tip of the blade and this is a single blade knife! I think I kept it just because it’s such a shining example of a terribly made knife.
All of them have fairly strong snap which is something I like in a knife. Shields are sometimes glued instead of pinned with no apparent rhyme or reason.
I don’t want to scare you away from from Queen because they have some really great, unique patterns. If you need perfect fit and finish, I would say stay away unless it’s a Factory Test knife.
I’ve read somewhere around here that the Heritage Series tends to be pretty rough with very thick blade grinds. The ACSB line have all been pretty good in my experience.
Personally, most of the fit and finish ‘issues’ aren’t that big of a deal to me.
YMMV.
