Queen 2015

kootenay joe said:
Until the recent change of ownership Queen had a reputation for rather thick blade grinds and dull edges. Has this improved in the knives made after the change in ownership ? or still hit or miss ?
Are they still selling knives made during the former ownership ? If so, is there a way to tell which are the 'new ownership' knives ?
kj
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My humpback Whittler (last year stock) came with thick edges, a shallow nail nick, and extreme blade play side to side when opened. I've been told it hasn't been fixed yet because they are prepping production and have no repair department- so I hope these get out soon, so my knife can be made right!
 
I see they're making the Winterbottom bone(delrin) scaled knives again, I love the way the old real bone looked but the new delrin will have to do. :) Ryan and the rest of the Daniels family are doing a great job. Thumb up.
 
Quote from T.E, (above) "Ryan and the rest of the Daniels family are doing a great job. Thumb up."
I would really like to think the same but the knife and attempt to get it fixed as described by "Cuts like a Kris" says otherwise.
kj
 
Well, the walnut teardrop liner lock arrived today and it's going back. I ordered two, actually; one for me and one for a friend.

Both of them had flat spots where the blade hit the backspring. I might not worry too much about that, as it should go away with sharpening, but on one of them there was no kick on the tang. By that I mean the tang is actually level with the blade. I'm not sure just where the blade is resting, but it sits very low in the well. The liner lock on the other one looked like it had been adjusted using pliers after assembly and is all mangled up. There are also some cosmetic flaws that I could live with if it didn't have these mechanical issues. Overall, I'm very disappointed.
 
Send Ryan Daniels a email or pm him on Facebook, I've found him easy to talk to and more than willing to resolve any production/quality issues.
 
Extremely disappointing that Rachel.

The Teardop is an excellent pattern, the two I have in Bone are beautiful with astounding fit&finish, much loved knives. However. the one I have in BEM is rubbish: chipped blade, shield fell out and worst of all, the damn blade sits so low in the frame that it's a real job to get at the nail-nick to open it, plenty of blade-play too:mad: The recent Zebra Wood one also has its issues, most especially the wooden slabs have been left ugly flat and not radiused round the liners, very blocky especially on the mark-side. Both were bought from 'reputable' dealers....the bone ones came from a Forum sale and e-bay;)

I have Queen knives which are my favourites but I do hope they turn around the QC issue, it's all very well talking the talk on this but the proof ofthe pudding is in the eating. Sending stuff back is always annoying, evidence of failure and it leaves an impression.

The new catalogue has one or two knives that look very worthwhile, i just hope they are worthwhile in the metal.
 
I can see that other people are also having some issues with QC here of late. On one hand, I'm somewhat relieved to hear that I'm not the only one, on the other hand I'm somewhat disappointed because Queen/ Schatt & Morgan are the tang stamps I collect most. With GEC running a close second. Of course Bill Howard, the owner of GEC was the lead man at Queen, when I started collecting, and was the main influence in my interest in Queens modern slipjoints. Which I found out later.
All four of the File & Wire Series knives that I've bought since the change in ownership have had issues. Most of the issues have been in the mechanics of the knife with a couple of cosmetics to boot. In all the other F&W knives that I have, which go back to the late nineties I believe, I have never had even 1 issue. The F&W Series is suppose to be the "top of the line", premium steel, bone scales not available anywhere else, F & F perfect and with all that they come with a premium price. Which is OK by me, better knife better cash. But so far they haven't lived up to that old standard.
Now I have a couple latest Barlows on order and I'm really hoping that the quality is there. Because these knives carry pretty much the same price line as the F&W knives.
I keep trying to give Queen the benefit of the doubt and hoping their quality will come back up, but so far.....



Dave
 
I was disappointed in my rather expensive 2014 Queen production knife having had a "warped" blade:confused: otherwise, a great design. I really wanted to have a Queen knife in my collection.
 
I bought a Joe Kious stag hunter a while ago, it was atrocious. At over $250, it was easily one of the worst made knives I have seen in a long time. I called Queen, they really did not seem to care, so I sent it back to the dealer. I was disappointed to say the least.
 
I hate to hear sub par knives making it out of the factory. I have stayed away from Queen because of all the bad press and wanted to wait out the transition in ownership. I jumped in recently with the new Heavy Jack they released. I am very pleased with it and everything is great. No gaps, no wobble, great snap, very sharp.....I couldnt be happier with it. I hope they can straighten up the spotty qc and start holding back the duds till they are right the first time. This day and age a company cant expect to excel if they keep doing the same thing wrong over and over again. Heck close it down for a month or two. Retrain some people. Do whatever it takes but dont let sub par products get shipped.
 
r8shell said:
I just broke down and ordered a teardrop liner lock in walnut. I'll post when I get it.


I haven't liked any of the woods they have used since they discontinued cocobolo. The picture of the walnut was very dark and looked a lot like it. I hope I'm not disappointed if the color is very much lighter. Of course, as long as the rest of the knife is well made, I'll be happy.
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r8shell said:
Well, the walnut teardrop liner lock arrived today and it's going back. I ordered two, actually; one for me and one for a friend.

Both of them had flat spots where the blade hit the backspring. I might not worry too much about that, as it should go away with sharpening, but on one of them there was no kick on the tang. By that I mean the tang is actually level with the blade. I'm not sure just where the blade is resting, but it sits very low in the well. The liner lock on the other one looked like it had been adjusted using pliers after assembly and is all mangled up. There are also some cosmetic flaws that I could live with if it didn't have these mechanical issues. Overall, I'm very disappointed.
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r8shell,

Sorry to hear that the quality of both knives is not what it should be. 0 for 2 is not a very good average. I hope that Queen can get the issues resolved to your satisfaction. I join the ranks of those who sincerely want to see Queen get their act together and start producing knives with more consistent quality. They could kick some serious butt in the knife community if they could pull that off and I would love to see it happen.

The Railsplitter that I posted a photo of on page 2 of this thread has natural walnut covers. A much lighter color than the stained walnut covers I've seen photos of on various websites. How would you describe the covers on your walnut Teardrops?
 
rockgolfer said:
I hate to hear sub par knives making it out of the factory. I have stayed away from Queen because of all the bad press and wanted to wait out the transition in ownership. I jumped in recently with the new Heavy Jack they released. I am very pleased with it and everything is great. No gaps, no wobble, great snap, very sharp.....I couldnt be happier with it. I hope they can straighten up the spotty qc and start holding back the duds till they are right the first time. This day and age a company cant expect to excel if they keep doing the same thing wrong over and over again. Heck close it down for a month or two. Retrain some people. Do whatever it takes but dont let sub par products get shipped.
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Excellent post Jeff.
 
Railsplitter said:
r8shell,

Sorry to hear that the quality of both knives is not what it should be. 0 for 2 is not a very good average. I hope that Queen can get the issues resolved to your satisfaction. I join the ranks of those who sincerely want to see Queen get their act together and start producing knives with more consistent quality. They could kick some serious butt in the knife community if they could pull that off and I would love to see it happen.

The Railsplitter that I posted a photo of on page 2 of this thread has natural walnut covers. A much lighter color than the stained walnut covers I've seen photos of on various websites. How would you describe the covers on your walnut Teardrops?
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The walnut on one was a very nice dark stained wood that looked like the pictures on the websites (it did have a chip in the wood at the pivot pin on one side.) The other one was also dark, but looked more like burlwood with swirly uneven grain. Very different looking, and my friend was convinced there was filler in there somewhere, but I think it may be the natural wood variation.

I'm not just disappointed for myself in getting two out of two subpar knives (it happens) but I honestly want Queen to do well. There is a market for a good, American-made knife somewhere in the price point halfway between a Rough Rider and a GEC.
 
r8shell said:
The walnut on one was a very nice dark stained wood that looked like the pictures on the websites (it did have a chip in the wood at the pivot pin on one side.) The other one was also dark, but looked more like burlwood with swirly uneven grain. Very different looking, and my friend was convinced there was filler in there somewhere, but I think it may be the natural wood variation.

I'm not just disappointed for myself in getting two out of two subpar knives (it happens) but I honestly want Queen to do well. There is a market for a good, American-made knife somewhere in the price point halfway between a Rough Rider and a GEC.
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OK, thanks for the description.
 
I've was very happy with my walnut Railsplitter, a nice dark color and both sides match perfectly. :)

walnut2_zps2c9466e1.jpg
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The larger Congress has my attention with the mammoth scales. I picked up a large S&M gunstock (stag) from KSF just prior to Christmas and I'm very pleased with it. I think the KSF folks inspect them for major problems first which is why I tend to think you get a higher end product from them overall. But of course, I could be dreaming too. ;)
 
Dean51 said:
I've was very happy with my walnut Railsplitter, a nice dark color and both sides match perfectly. :)

walnut2_zps2c9466e1.jpg
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Thanks for the photo, Dean51. It looks great! I'm beginning to wonder if I have the only unstained specimen.

Either way though, light or dark, these D2 Railsplitters are little beasts.
 
I haven't bought a Queen or S&M in years. But reading through this thread is unfortunate, given that a few years back all the talk was about how Queen was "getting their act together" and focusing on more consistent quality that had gone by the wayside previously. I guess the reasons why I decided not to buy any more of their knives are still the same factors. I would love to see Queen succeed as well, if ony for the health and diversity of the marketplace.
 
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Railsplitter said:
r8shell,

Sorry to hear that the quality of both knives is not what it should be. 0 for 2 is not a very good average. I hope that Queen can get the issues resolved to your satisfaction. I join the ranks of those who sincerely want to see Queen get their act together and start producing knives with more consistent quality. They could kick some serious butt in the knife community if they could pull that off and I would love to see it happen.

The Railsplitter that I posted a photo of on page 2 of this thread has natural walnut covers. A much lighter color than the stained walnut covers I've seen photos of on various websites. How would you describe the covers on your walnut Teardrops?
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I think we are on the same page Rick :thumbup: That light walnut Railsplitter sure is a looker!
 
rockgolfer said:
I think we are on the same page Rick :thumbup: That light walnut Railsplitter sure is a looker!
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Thanks Jeff. The light walnut really caught my eye when I saw it listed in the Exchange. I have a few of the Schatt & Morgan Railsplitters in 420HC and a couple of Northwoods versions in 1095 but this one is my first experience with a D2 version. I'm really liking the D2 steel and the Pen blade in place of a Spey blade is a positive change for me as well. All of my other 3 bladed Railsplitters have some degree of blade rub but this one has none. Possibly a result of adding a second brass liner to the pile side of the knife.

I have to say that on this particular pattern I can see that Queen put some thought and effort into making it a better knife. A good sign that they are moving in the right direction.
 
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