Lateral Blade Play - How much is too much

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pinetree

Joined
Jun 24, 2005
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Well it arrived, my Queen Rootbeer Mountain Man. From the condition of the bubble wrap, it ahd been opened before. It is bigger than I expected. Nice handle, well polished blade, but lateral blade play:( . How much is too much?

I checked my other folders:
Buck Prince circa 1982 - no play
AG Russell Featherlite - no play
Boker Barlow - no play
Case Mini Trapper - no play
Many SAK's - no play
Cheap SAK knock off (gift from a 3yo) - no play
Sod Buster - some play, but not as much as a brand new $70 knife. This is a heavy use garden knife.

Why even ship 'em if they are going to be this bad? What a let down! I'm leery of Queen now. I already had my next two purchases lined up.

Will Queen fix it? If not, back to Cumberland it goes... Anybody have any luck replacing a MM with Cumberland before? Maybe a Copperhead would be safer bet.

This is the most expensive pocket knife I've bought. I expect more.

Sorry, I was just like a kid at Christmas -

tjg
 
Pinetree,Send it back,it's worth it....
I had a Root Beer MM once,sold it,'cause the Bladeplay bugged me,a stag,too.
It seems on this model that is common,But...I bought a Crimson Bone MM off a Forum member,that was sent bck for the bladeplay correction,and it was rock solid. After being there,I'd have the patience ,now,to send it back,and wait,IMO,it is worth it,if you like the knife.
-Vince
 
Ya know I have a Queen small stockman with bladeplay.
That's been stopping me from buying more.
I'd pay an extra $10-$20 for better QC.
Also, I'd pay if they put a better edge on it.
D2 takes a long time without a decent edge to start with.
 
I think that any S&M, Queen, MM, CS, slippies with any play are bad. This is a shame to hear about a new Queen. Yikes. I also agree about the blade edges. They should really step it up a notch and sharpen them well before sending them out. I thought Queen was supposed to be better than Case. Case knives come sharper.
 
I just received a mountain man in carved stag bone from Bill at Cumberland and it's great. Locks up tight. Great fit and finish. Even the edge was excellent (as were the last three from Queen I received).

I remember hearing about some issues with the MM's in the past but fortunately the one I received did not exhibit any issues.

I'd call or write Bill. I'm sure he'll make it right for you.
 
All I can say is, dont give up on Queen too quickly. I am probably way more picky than most people. I have owned probably 40 or more of the newer slipjoints in D2, and have never had one with blade play or with weak spring action. I have never owned a Mountain Man, though.

I have owned over 100 Schatt & Morgans and only two with flaws - one a handle crack and one a blade that hit the liner. These both were replaced by the dealer that they came from.
 
Of all my #3L patterns from Queen I have noticed a fairly consistant yet odd thing about bladeplay from owning multiple copies or at least handling several identical knives.

If the handles are carved Stag Bone, original or the new Amber, the knife locks up like a vault.

If the handles are wood, slight blade play.

Rootbeer, Crimson or Stag handled 1095's will have blade play.

For the life of me I cannot figure why this pattern I've noticed happens, but it has been somewhat consistant for me. The only thing I can think "might" be the cause is different employees doing the assembly on the different knives at the factory??????

Maybe totally off and it's just a fluke?????
 
Alot of my knives have a little blade play (not queens)-sometimes it is just needed so the knife will operate smoothly, I've heard about play in queens before. If I can feel it shift under the pressure from sharpening it on a stone, then it's too much.
 
I'll call Queen. If they can't fix it, I'll swap it for one of the new Amber Bone. The Last Conferdate is a SME on these. I really want a 1095 and though only 50 were made I bought it as a user.

tjg
 
The Last Confederate said:
If the handles are carved Stag Bone, original or the new Amber, the knife locks up like a vault.


Maybe totally off and it's just a fluke?????
Click to expand...

I have a brand new Amber Carved Stag Bone MM lockback that has to be sent back for blade play issues. The blade tip can be wiggled side to side about 1/4" with no problem. It also has some up and down blade play with an audible clicking sound. It's pretty disappointing that they would send something like that out the door. Now I have to go to the effort and expense of returning it for a replacement.
 
Bill at CKW will replace it for you. There's no one better when it comes to customer service. However, there's a possibility he doesn't have another one without the blade play, since it's so common in this model.

I bought a crimson bone Mtn Man a while back, knowing it would probably have a little play. Well it did, both lateral and front/rear. At first I thought I could live with it, but the fact is it bothers me and I never carry it.

I guess the answer to the question is, it's too much play if it bugs you.
 
pinetree said:
The Last Conferdate is a SME on these.
tjg
Click to expand...

I admit, I had to look that one up!

brewthunda, sorry to hear your ACSB has play, this just proves the old adage that every rule has it's exceptions.

Even though it's a hassle, call Queen and ask them to fix it. In my experience they will glady do so and you'll end up with a knife you will truly enjoy!
 
In addition to the CS BFC ring knife, I am carrying an equal end made around 1900 today. Well worn, but uncracked bone scales with heavy blade patina, and great action with 1/2 stops even if found on a new knife. This knife has seen honest use with traces of occasional abuse (big chip in edge of smaller blade.)

No blade play on this century old knife that has seen a lot of use. So I do not see a need to accept much, if any, on a new one.
 
My Mountain Man had severe blade play, I contacted them last year, and did not get a response. Contacted them again, got a quick response, and sent it off. That was about two weeks ago. Now to see what happens next.
 
My crimson bone Mountain Man that I bought from Cumberland Knives last year has been sitting in pieces in a box for the last several months.

When I first bought the knife, it had a huge amount of up-and-down (vertical) blade play. Opening and closing the blade was also very gritty. I thought I could live with those problems though, so I sharpened the knife and intended to use it. During my sharpness tests, I quickly discovered that the blade had a poor heat treat; the edge would chip and tear at 30 degrees inclusive just from cutting things like cardboard and sisal twine. So, I sent the knife in to Queen for repairs.

I got the knife back a couple of months later. Queen had replaced the blade and the backspring. It still had quite a bit of vertical play, but it wasn't as bad. The new blade was working well too, so I was happy... for awhile.

Unfortunately, the knife started to develop a lot of side-to-side (lateral) blade play after a little use. It got so bad that I could hold the opened blade with my fingers, pull it to the side, and pry the liners apart to the point where I was afraid it would break if I used more force.

I tried hammering on the ends of the pivot pin to tighten it a bit. I've had success doing that with several other folders, but it didn't work on the Mountain Man for some reason; the pivot just kept loosening up. Eventually, I ended up punching out the pin completely.

So, that's where it stands now. I'm going to have to replace the pivot pin and refinish the bolsters (I got frustrated and started banging on them), but I'm just so fed up with the knife that I don't want to mess with it any more.

My advice to anyone who buys a Mountain Man that's a lemon is to just return it right away for a refund. Mine turned out to be a real white elephant; it's a good-looking knife and a great design, but it's not worth the aggravation of trying to get it to work right.
 
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