Queen Curly Zebra Wood Whittler?

[Kalsu]

I am fairly new to the traditional side of knives. I got into them last year or so and kind of drifted away. Now I am back with a vengeance. I have been carrying daily my GEC #73 trapper along with my George VECP. Today I ordered a GEC #43 Missouri .
Today I saw the Queen curly zebra wood series and immediately was drawn to the zebra wood whittler. I like the smaller size (since all my traditional's are on the larger size) and the wood is awesome looking. I really like the 1095 steel in my GEC knives but like D2 also.
So my question is how is Queen's quality with their current production knives? I know that they have been around for quite a while, but I have no experience with them. I love my GEC knives but I wouldn't mind expanding into other brands.

 

[zippofan]

The curly zebra wood is nice:

and if you mean the swell center whittler, it's a nice pattern:

These two were very good out of the box, as have been many other of my Queen's as well as their Schatt and Morgan's. Others weren't as good, but there's plenty of info here on Queen.

 

[Kalsu]

^ Thanks for the pictures and info. I have ready mixed reports about quality. Especially their old knives vs. their new knives. I guess I was looking for info on Queens quality in general and their Curly Zebra wood series specifically.
I do like your whittler. Is that birds eye maple?

 

[zippofan]

Yes, it is the birds eye maple, and I really like it a lot. I don't have a ton of experience with Queen, though I have to say that some of my Schatt and Morgan's are my favorites, like this gunstock:

But I haven't always had the best of luck and had to reprofile blades. Some have had great experiences, others not as much. I have to say that both the newer knives I pictured are good users though I don't carry the swing guard much as the whittler because it is a bit big for my front pockets.

 

[roseskunk]

I really want to like Queen. I was at the factory about a month ago, and looked at the current line-up in their company store. Certainly I like some of the designs, especially the Heritage Series, but when I looked at them up close, the quality was a disappointment. When I took a short drive to GEC, I was completely impressed with the quality of the knives and the how nice the people were. I ended up the day with three new GEC's and no Queen. I do have an older S&M which is a nice knife, though it's got to be at least 15 years old. I truly do hope they address the quality control issues, I want them to be a success!

 

[black mamba]

I like my 4 inch #9 stockman A LOT!

 

[Kalsu]

I really want to like Queen. I was at the factory about a month ago, and looked at the current line-up in their company store. Certainly I like some of the designs, especially the Heritage Series, but when I looked at them up close, the quality was a disappointment. When I took a short drive to GEC, I was completely impressed with the quality of the knives and the how nice the people were. I ended up the day with three new GEC's and no Queen. I do have an older S&M which is a nice knife, though it's got to be at least 15 years old. I truly do hope they address the quality control issues, I want them to be a success!

This is what I was concerned about. I have GEC knives and their quality is top notch. I am a little hesitant to spend the money on a Queen and be disappointed when I could spend the money on a GEC. Still the curly zebra wood intrigues me...