Just bought my first real traditional folder: Queen Country Cousin

A

amflud

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Jun 10, 2009
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I was looking to buy my first real traditional without spending much money and I was drawn to the Country Cousin. I like the size and D2 steel, so I placed an order for one with yellow delrin. I'll have it in hand in a few days.

Do any of you own one of these? If so, what are your thoughts on it?
 
I don't own a country cousin, but I do own a knife in D2 and all I can say is be prepared to spend some quality time sharpening it if you're not happy with the factory edge. D2 is some tough stuff.
 
I agree, D2 can be a bear if it requires a lot of work. It's great once I get it where I want it.
 
I don't have the country cousin, but it's on my want list...so I really look forward to hearing your first impressions :)
As for Queen's D2... I love it, great steel...but like the others said...
 
yep get ready to have to bust out some diamond stones, but when you get it sharp
DAMN they cut like the dickens.
 
Have one and love it. Nice firm snap on the blade, comfortable handle, great steel. Nice fit and finish as well.

I did reprofile on a wicked edge sharpener and it didn't take too long with the diamond stones.
 
I bought 4 of them a few years ago. I used a couple or three as 'training aids' in teaching myself how to sharpen D2. I already had a Queen #49 Cattle King stockman in D2, but didn't want to mess with that one, until I was sure I could do it. The relatively inexpensive Country Cousin was a perfect solution for a 'practice' subject. Great learning experience. ;)

A coarse or XC diamond hone is very helpful, if you decide to re-bevel your edge. The grind on these is pretty thick behind the edge, so that means a significant amount of metal needs to be removed, and it takes a while. I also used wet/dry sandpaper to convex one of mine, after setting a new bevel with a diamond hone. The SiC paper is a great way to finish the edges on these. For light maintenance, stropping with diamond compound (1 micron) works very well, and if stropping doesn't quite restore an edge, the wet/dry paper works great on top of the strop block, used exactly the same way. Choose a grit to match the edge finish you prefer (I usually use 1000+). As others have said, once a good bevel is on it, these are great and durable cutters. :thumbup:

As for other points about these knives, all 4 of mine have very stout backsprings. Very strong closing snap, so keep the fingertips clear when closing it (especially after it's been sharpened). No issues with blade play either, in mine. These are solid little working knives.
 
Thanks for the responses, guys.

Obsessed with Edges: Which edge do you prefer on these, convex or v-grind? I found a couple vids on these, non English speaking though. I noticed that they do seem to have a stout back spring. Thanks for the heads up.
 
amflud said:
Thanks for the responses, guys.

Obsessed with Edges: Which edge do you prefer on these, convex or v-grind? I found a couple vids on these, non English speaking though. I noticed that they do seem to have a stout back spring. Thanks for the heads up.
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Sort of a 'trick answer' to your question, so here goes. I like to initially re-bevel with a guided setup & diamond. I put a pretty acute V-bevel on to start (usually < 15 degrees per side). Then, once that's done, I use the sandpaper on my strop block to gradually convex that acute V-bevel. Mainly just smoothing & rounding out the shoulders, as the V-edge produced on the guided setup is a good one, so I don't want to alter the edge itself much. I've gotten into the habit of doing this with almost every knife I've re-bevelled, as convex really shines in slicing chores. In fact, just in the last day or so, I've given the same treatment to the spey blade on my Queen #49 Cattle King, mentioned earlier. The pic above is my Country Cousin after it received that treatment; I've since refined that result a bit, with more of the same.
 
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My brother has one and when he first received it (like most other Queens) had an incredibly obtuse edge and required some pretty good reprofiling Wich I performed effortlessly with my Work Sharp knife and tool sharpener and took the edge down to a cool 20 degrees. Overall I really like the little knife and feel that there is just something cool about a D2 soddie also I'm quite fond of the brighter than usual texture of the yellow Delrin.
 
Obsessed with Edges said:
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What a great pic, thank you! And thanks for the sharpening info.

whetrock: I was drawn to the coloring of the yellow delrin. I was about to buy the black one until I saw a pic of the yellow one and changed my mind at the very last second. It'll be easier for me to spot if I misplace it.
 
Great choice. More useful tip than the Case Sod Buster. I have one and put a nice edge on it with my Edge Pro the day it arrived. The D2 steel does hold an edge for a long time and not too bad to touch up once you get a good edge.
 
Nothing new to add, but to say that I re-profiled three blades on a Pardue/Queen canoe/gunboat.

Holy crap, if it did not take some time, even with my belt sander. It took longer to re-profile one blade on that knife, than to re-profile a 12 inch blade on a serious thick chopper!
 
I agree with both tomsch and Obsessed with Edges.

I have both a Queen Country Cousin and a Case Sod Buster. The tip on the Queen is pointer. I hadn't realized how much I use the tip of a knife until I tried carrying a Sod Buster and found myself without one. The Queen's is quite useful.

Xtra-Coarse DMT stone. Highly recommended if you are going to going to put a good edge on Queen D2 without making a career out of it. Queen is not known for delivering knives with sharp edges out of the box.

I very much like the Country Cousin. Once sharpened, the Queen D2 is excellent. I like the broad comfortable handle. It really lends itself to comfortable cutting.

A good choice. Congrats!
 
Have one and love it. I didn't have trouble sharpening it, and it actually came fairly sharp. This no doubt is Karma for the other Queen knives I had that wouldn't spread butter...

Don't be afraid of the D2 or make it into some hard to sharpen monster. I use a guided system and work through the grits on every knife I reprofile, and this one was no exception. With an extra coarse and going through the stones carefully, I had the CC reprofiled and sharpened in about a half hour. My Kershaw JYDII in D2 was about the same amount of time. I actually started buying Queen knives because of D2, and it is a great cutting steel that holds its edge very well. When I saw the price of the CC about 2 years ago, I couldn't say no. Love that knife so much I might buy another one just to have it.

As mentioned above, I also like the blade profile of the CC sodbuster more than the CASE. I had a buddy that used the CASE sodbuster jr. as a hunting knife, and the heavier belly made a better skinner than the shape of the CC. I used it, bought one and traded it off. But the Queen CC is here to stay as the blade shape is a classic utility profile that does just about everything.

You will love the knife.

Robert
 
I just pulled the knife out of the package. I haven't had a chance to use it but so far I'm very pleased. Now I just need to work on sharpening it.

Thanks everyone!
 
amflud said:
I just pulled the knife out of the package. I haven't had a chance to use it but so far I'm very pleased. Now I just need to work on sharpening it.

Thanks everyone!
Click to expand...

I´m looking forward seeing the results of resharping the blade / edge. Please post the results here :)

Kind regards
 
amflud said:
I just pulled the knife out of the package. I haven't had a chance to use it but so far I'm very pleased. Now I just need to work on sharpening it.

Thanks everyone!
Click to expand...

Humppa said:
I´m looking forward seeing the results of resharping the blade / edge. Please post the results here :)

Kind regards
Click to expand...

+1
Ditto on that. Keep us posted, and don't be shy about posting pics. Looking forward to hearing how you like the finished result. :)
 
I haven't decided which route I'm going to take with regards to sharpening. Maybe I'll use this as an excuse to finally buy a sharpmaker. Do they make coarse diamond rods for it? I have no idea.
 
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