Queen Cutlery Company Closes

I wonder if this will effect Tuna Valley brand knives as well? I don’t know where or who was producing them for the Daniels. Dag nab it!!!!!!!
Thanks, Neal
 
This is very sad news for me. I think they make a good knife and they're often as well made as GEC stuff. There has been QA/QC issues and it was my understanding that they were working through this as well as trying to restore the brand reputation for both Queen and S&M. I can't say this is particularly good news for GEC, maybe for Case perhaps.

If you check the GEC retailers, it seems that they generally have a pretty good supply of knives for sale. I think that reflects a general down turn in the traditional knife market.

I feel sure that the Tuna Valley knives were made by Queen. They were just supposed to be premium stuff. You certainly paid for them.
 
This is just as much a punch to the gut to me as the closing of Canal Street Cutlery. I was kind of late to the game, but every Queen in my collection is superb. I wouldn't trade any of them, but then again I have less than a dozen. Sad day. I hope they make it back.
 
Whenever a smaller town loses jobs it's never a good thing, so there's a huge impact that goes beyond the knife community. I have a nice S&M from 2006 and it's a fantastic knife, so I was looking forward to them trying to make a comeback in the quality department. I think their destiny was in their own hands and the correct measures for success were not taken. It's definitely a shame in a lot of ways....
 
I have a bunch of older ones, I used to receive them as Christmas gifts from my grandparents, the knives remind me of them.

I have some of the newer ones, a few of the whittlers. I really like their whittlers and their canoes.

This is reminiscent of what happened to Canal Street. Sad news, indeed...
 
Very sad overall. :( I mostly feel bad for those that worked in the factory as, from what I hear, that is a mighty small town. Queen were some of the first traditionals that I really got into. For the most part, I managed across them at decent prices ($20-$40) and while they sometimes had issues, they always worked. Really enjoyed the styles of the blades such as the swingguards and toothpicks. I feel like we are losing a lot of the old makers (i.e. Camillus, Schrade, etc..) with very few newer companies stepping in. :(
 
22-rimfire said:
This is very sad news for me. I think they make a good knife and they're often as well made as GEC stuff. There has been QA/QC issues and it was my understanding that they were working through this as well as trying to restore the brand reputation for both Queen and S&M. I can't say this is particularly good news for GEC, maybe for Case perhaps.

If you check the GEC retailers, it seems that they generally have a pretty good supply of knives for sale. I think that reflects a general down turn in the traditional knife market.
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production totals have been increased to provide more shelf stock. This is why new GEC offerings arent as frequent as previous years. There is a certain reseller that has been touting Queen productions because they have been producing more variety throughout the year, to try and fill the void in the market. For what it's worth, i frequent the various queen distributer websites excitedly to see what they are coming out with, but simply from looking at the photos you can see the production flaws. Alas, the consistently wavy grinds are hard for me to get past. BUT i want to point out that i never gave up hope in the brand. A few corrections to the end-product would pull me right back in.
 
I started getting into traditionals a few years ago once GEC was starting to take a stranglehold on the production traditional market. I heard horror stories of Queen having poor fit and finish, uneven grinds, etc... so I never even had the desire to try one of their knives so I guess I cannot really say I will miss them. However, I do not like it when any USA based knife maker goes under and I hope someone decides to take over their factory or start something new in their place.
 
JD Bear said:
Whenever a smaller town loses jobs it's never a good thing, so there's a huge impact that goes beyond the knife community.
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As someone who lives in a town about the size of Titusville, I can agree with this statement. We've had some similar big shut-downs over the years and it impacts plenty of things, from house prices to school systems. Hopefully the Queen employees find work quickly.

Someone earlier stated new labor availability could bolster GEC's output. May be a little too rose-colored to be true but that would be a win-win!
 
Unfortunately, the future doesn't bode well for Queen unless the Daniels can turn things around themselves. If they are sold, my guess is that future Queen knives will be made in China like Schrade.
 
I am sorry to hear this. I have a gunstock pattern Schatt & Mogan that I am quite fond of. I have to admit the fit and finish is not quite up to GEC but it is a well done knife. The stag covers are beautiful! There have been numerous threads about the quality of Queen knives so I guess this is no big surprise to some people but it still saddens me to hear this. They produced some nice stuff under the Schatt & Morgan line.
 
Hoping this wouldn't happen, but unfortunately it seemed and uphill struggle. Hope they can work it out.

Russell
 
Sad but not unexpected. I have three older Queen knives 2008-2012 era as best as I can determine. Not bad knives. One of the three is exceptional.
 
There is only so much market for these companies. And where there was another company, just down the road from them no less, that was making a vastly superior and more consistent product for pretty much the same price, and with vastly superior customer service, and with vastly superior marketing, this was bound to happen.

A shame because the short runs, creativity with patterns/configurations, and higher end steels, was all great stuff. And when you got a good one, it was great. Just didn't happen often over the last decade or so, and almost felt like a fluke when it did.

This could also mean the end of the Trestle Pines line I suppose, unless he can find someone else willing to carry forward the vision of using high-end modern steels on traditionals. We know thats not happening in the other Titusville factory (can't even get some 440c out of there anymore!).

Queen City, S&M, Robeson, Tuna Valley, all possibly stamped on knives for the last time.

I would say I am inspired to go buy a few up, but again the QC issues will stop me, unless I can handle them in person.
 
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Who isn't depressed by this? A knife company with real heritage, this is of course horrible for those who worked there. They lose not just their job-and that's bad enough - but some of their identity too.

I have some very prized Queen knives from the early years of this century in D2. However, I'm not actually surprised by the shutting down, most recent Queen knives have certainly lacked identity, aesthetics and crucially, quality. Yet prices have been on the ascent. A lot of noise was made back in 12 when Daniels took it over, but I can't say I saw any improvements, rather the opposite. Some really ugly bone, that often huge Keystone shield on nearly all patterns, crude looking etches, a weird mix of steels in what looked like and attempt to use up old parts coupled with some appalling QC.

Yes, they were excellent cutlers in the past, up until about 10 years ago, they also made very high contract knives but that all began to disintegrate. They probably badly needed investment in some newer,better and more reliable machinery. Right tools in the right hands etc.

In homage: QCCC Teardrop Jack in Ebony

IMG_2226.jpg~original
 
If the price was right, I wonder if GEC would be interested in buying just the name/trademarks, and adding a line of queen branded knives. We all know Mr. Howard has a history with the company, and it would keep them in Titusville.
 
Sad to see happen, but not surprised. I've read a lot of posts & threads here about heavy pulls, bad grinds, and just inconsistent quality control. I first saw news of this today on a Facebook post by BLADE magazine. The irony to me was that the knife pic they used was of the John Henry Express by Queen. I saw & handled them at a nearby knife show - interesting knife but nowhere near the quality for the high asking price.
 
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