Broken backspring Queen

I too have had a Queen backspring snap on me, secondary on a #9 stockman. So far, the other 300 or so Queen backsprings in my possesion are getting along okay, though.
 
I am not a big Queen fan (seems like when they got it right they *really* got it right, BUT they probably only really nailed 1 knife out of 20? Not high enough percentage for me to justify the search and the gamble...) BUT it seems hard to believe that their backsprings are all going to be ticking time bombs.

I’ve had two backsprings break on me. The first on my dad’s old Buck penknife, and the second on my first knife ever, an old Kingston military type camp knife. I used the dickens out of that knife as a kid and it was fine. Found it in a drawer in my moms house last year and sure enough, backspring was broken, evidently while it sat there untouched for 20 years. But it was fine for 30+ before that. Who knows when one might go? Nothing on this earth is imperishable, so I try to use and enjoy the knives I like :)

I wonder if double end knives are more susceptible to this than jacks.
 
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Even watch springs break... we are just the temporary custodians of these things.
 
The real drag here is that they cannot really be fixed as Queen is defunct, would be very costly to get an artisan to replace it so these are lost but beautiful knives, that's a tragedy in any knife connoisseur's book :(
 
It happened to me on several Queen knives. Always a surprise to find a new knife still in the box that the back spring broke just sitting there unused.
 
sitflyer said:
Queen made a LOT of knives over many years time. If this was a widespread problem it would have been represented by numerous threads here. My search only yielded a couple threads, and they weren't huge threads with many respondents, so, maybe just some bad luck here and there. In all my years I have only personally experienced one broken spring, and that was on a Buck early on in their in house slip joint days. They fixed that knife and I still have it.

I have a bunch of Queen made S&M knives and have no worries about them.

I agree about the serious flaw bit though, suddenly self destructing is about as bad as it gets...
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black mamba said:
I wouldn't stress it too much. I've had and continue to have many Queen/S&M knives, and never had a problem. The only broken spring I've had was on a very early RR congress. It can happen on any production knife, what with large batch heat treatments.
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I did mention that it could be a matter of confirmation bias. It certainly seems to me like this happens to Queen knives more often than other brands. If Queen backsprings are only 0.1% more likely to break, then most of them are just fine, yet it would still happen more often than one would like.
HEMI 49 said:
r8shell r8shell
The big auction site has tons of Queen/S&M parts...... You might find the springs you need.....
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Thanks. I'm not sure how much I want to invest in this knife, time & money wise, but I'll keep an eye out.
knowtracks said:
I'm thinkin this here threads title should be made into a movie! ;):D
Oh wait they kinda already did that.... :rolleyes:


Dave
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Yeah, I rejected a couple of different ways to phrase the thread title. :D
 
Well I might be showing my ignorance here, but this is the first time I've ever seen such a ghastly sight!
I'm very surprised the spring could just break just sitting around.
Unless there was some corrosion going on, typically things break once there's some kind of jolting event.

I'm sure Queen made a number of fantastic knives, but I've grown cold on them by the number of less-than-stellar examples I've seen.
I'm sorry for your loss, R8shell! A broken back spring is hard for me to stomach.
 
Easyrider said:
I think to treat yourself after you unfortunate experience with the back spring breaking on your Queen Stockman it to commission a custom stockman to replace the Queen.
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Spoken like a true pocketknife junkie! :thumbsup::cool:
I'm proud of you! :D

Dave
 
EngrSorenson said:
Well I might be showing my ignorance here, but this is the first time I've ever seen such a ghastly sight!
I'm very surprised the spring could just break just sitting around.
Unless there was some corrosion going on, typically things break once there's some kind of jolting event.

I'm sure Queen made a number of fantastic knives, but I've grown cold on them by the number of less-than-stellar examples I've seen.
I'm sorry for your loss, R8shell! A broken back spring is hard for me to stomach.
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It can happen, although it's never been explained to me in a way I can understand. I know the spring is under some tension at all times, but it's certainly not being pushed past its normal range of motion. With no visible rust, perhaps an internal flaw or crack? I still wonder what is the tipping point that causes it to go at that particular moment? Maybe sudden temperature change? We did have an unusually cold winter, but it never got below 50 degrees inside the house.

Easyrider said:
I think to treat yourself after you unfortunate experience with the back spring breaking on your Queen Stockman it to commission a custom stockman to replace the Queen.
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I don't think I can justify that expense. :eek: Not only do I have a spare of that exact knife, I decided to carry the Whittler for a while. The bright side is that I'm over the "it's too nice to use" feeling and I'm loving it.
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LastRodeo said:
That escalated quickly.
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It always does...:rolleyes::D
 
I have a Queen #9 ACSB, that the spring for the secondary blades broke at the center pin. I sent it in to Queen and it it came back with new spring so limp that the blades fall closed on their own, plus a not quite matching replacement cover on the backside. I was disappointed and tossed it in a drawer for a while, with intentions of sending it back in eventually, but the company died and there it is. My fault for missing the boat I guess. Queen had always been a favorite company of mine. I have 10 of their knives including the broken spring stockman. The Natural Carved Stag Bone 41L was the first really nice knife that I bought, and the Dan Burke Cattle Knife is still in the top few. One of the most flawless knives that I have ever bought is a #44 NCSB single blade folding hunter. I did get a S&M Mountain Man that was a disappointment, traded it off on a Case folding hunter.

It's been a horrible shame watching the old American cutlery firms die one by one. I can't pretend to know all of the reasons, just sad that it did.
 
Easyrider said:
I think to treat yourself after you unfortunate experience with the back spring breaking on your Queen Stockman it to commission a custom stockman to replace the Queen.
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This is exactly what should happen... The only way to fix a broken heart is to move on to bigger and better things.:p
 
EngrSorenson said:
Well I might be showing my ignorance here, but this is the first time I've ever seen such a ghastly sight!
I'm very surprised the spring could just break just sitting around.
Unless there was some corrosion going on, typically things break once there's some kind of jolting event...
Click to expand...

Things under tension can break. The broken ones I've seen there was no corrosion deep enogh to impact structural integrity. It can happen to any brand including customs. One maker opined they thought it could be a problem with the peening of the main pin.
 
It was a prevalent enough issue with the early Buck 700 series to have Buck first change the tempering of the springs and then totally redesign the series to three spring knives vs. two spring knives. So obviously it can be more common in a series (think of the US military issue demo knives - very common to find ones with broken back springs). The right idea is just use the knives and enjoy them while it lasts. OH
 
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