Doctor's knives (and a Queen question...)

puukkoman

puukkoman

Joined
Sep 30, 2004
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Hey, anybody else interested in doctor's knives? I'm liking the straight lines lately, and thinking of trying one out.
I looked at a Queen in birds-eye maple, however, and saw it listed as having 420HC blades. Is this really the case? Did they depart from their normal D2 for all the BEM patterns, or just some?
 
Dr. Knives not me. :D

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I'm pretty sure all the entire birdseye maple line is D2.
 
A friend gave me a Frost doctors knife, and I really like the little pattern. Not getting enough love in the tackle box (my old wood handled Mora does everything).

As for the Queen, I thought that only the Schatt and Morgans used 420HC. Some of the older Queens might use 420HC, but the BEM is a recent handle offering.
 
morrowj_98 said:
I'm pretty sure all the entire birdseye maple line is D2.
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I am pretty sure Jason is correct and that a vast majority of the Queen line is D2 while for the most part S&M are 420 HC and ATS-34 (File & Wire tested series).
I have seen some Queens of semi-recent manufacture in ATS-34 also. (Red bone knife second from the bottom on the right above.)

Most of the Dr patterns seem to be 420 HC, but they have made a few special runs in D2. I would bet the one in curly maple is 420.
 
Maybe this (420HC) is due to the "doctor" part where stainless is a benefit due to its "sanitary" qualities.

Ed
 
Whatever the reasoning behind it may be, everything I've read indicated the doctor's knife is only available in 420HC from Queen. Even if the rest of the series was D2, the doc's knife was listed as 420. Maybe they thought "Doctor's knife" meant "field scalpel" and didn't want to risk rust on the surgical instrument.
 
yablanowitz said:
Whatever the reasoning behind it may be, everything I've read indicated the doctor's knife is only available in 420HC from Queen. Even if the rest of the series was D2, the doc's knife was listed as 420. Maybe they thought "Doctor's knife" meant "field scalpel" and didn't want to risk rust on the surgical instrument.
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I just went and looked at mine and I stand corrected. The doctor's knives in both the birdseye and cocobolo are indeed 420HC. My bad. :D
 
Thank you for the bit of information. The sanitary conditions of stainless versus tool steel might very well be the reason. However, weren't many doctors knives produced with carbon steel blades in the early 20th century?
 
I always thought the Doctor pattern was really for chemists, apothecaries splitting pills or weighing out powder if it had a spatula.

As for the stainless use, I'm sure early knives would have been in carbon, bonesaws and surgical knives in hospitals were! One reason why Queen left 420 on this knife might be that it's a damn sight easier to sharpen than D2......
 
The top left is a close to the turn of the century Cattauraugus of course with carbon blades. Bottom right is a KeenCutter from around the early '40's also with carbon blades.
 
the most likely explanation for 420HC is because it takes nice mirror finish for the collector types who don't need a steel thats more suited to everyday use.
 
The pattern is slim, light and not particularly sturdy. It isn't really the kind of knife I reach for when I have a tough job to do. In my opinion, 420HC with a good heat treat is more than sufficient for the pattern. I think D2 would be more of a liability due to the sharpening effort than an asset due to edge holding ability on a knife like this.
 
The Queen Doctors with a spat or pen knife blade is definitely 420HC
They are not D2

I use it as an eating knife on picnics and the like

Queen Doctor in Amberbone (wonderfully pale) in 420HC
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I have seen some Queen SFOs advertised as D2, but if I was buying them I would verify this with the supplier
 
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I have a Queen Doctor knife in cocobolo. I am pretty sure it is 420HC but it sure feels "stubborn" like D2 while sharpening.
 
the early doctors actually had to mix chemicals at the patients home. they crushed different compounds to make needed drugs since rural areas had no pharmacies. nice bunch bastid.i always thought these pattern knives were harder to come by since not nearly as many were produced.
dennis
 
The butt of the knife served as a pestle. The blade split pills, cut bandages, picked splinters, did emergency surgery, and normal pocket knife tasks. The spatula counted pills, scooped powered medicines out of bottles, stirred medicines in water/wine/whatever, served as a tongue depressor.
 
I picked up a stag Buck Creek single blade doctors knife, recent make. Neat knife, not as good of a specimen of fit and finish as I would have liked. I am looking forward to carrying it as a "gent's knife". Anyone use one over an extended period of time? Looks like a nice little piece to ogle, but I want to carry all of my slippies.
 
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