Queen Cutlery Company Closes

The same disease strikes both sides of the pond unfortunately it seems.:mad:
So far I have only two Queen stamped knives, a country cousin that arrived in an appalling condition (now one of my prefered since mended) and a gift from Will, the 2010 BF knife that 's perfect or nearly so.
All the other are "old" queen, S&M doctor and four black bone Winchester. All are perfectly to my taste, fit and finish and all.
Let's hope they will find a new start at the company, it would be too bad to let all that craftmanship fade away, besides personnal difficulty to find a new job. :(
 
The elder Daniels (I am sorry to say I don't know his first name) always impressed me as a kind, generous and thoughtful man - At the Knife Days Show, used to be held twice a year in Wilmington, OH, right off I-71, until a year or two ago, Mr. Daniels would be passing out Queen pocketknives to kids for a penny. I'd stand off to the side and watch as a dad would bring in his kids, they would line up and trade their pennys for a nice pocket knife. Often but not always the dad would buy a knife, and Mr. Daniels emphasized he wasn't trying to oblige anyone into buying, but that this was his way of giving back.

If he didn't have customers to attend to I'd ask him questions about this or that, and would always find a knife to buy. I wish him and the company the best and hope Queen can find a way forward.
 
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Queen was trying to compete with GEC which was a bad idea. We know queen can work with modernish steels so maybe they should pick 5 or so patterns they make well and make them with modern materials, they can be the modern traditional brand. knifeswapper knifeswapper doesn't seem to have any issues selling the ones he commissioned, Benchmade is in that game now so there seems to be room in that niche. Let GEC have the high end traditional market, and let Case continue to be Case.
 
There is a lot more backstory that led up to this. Queen's financial troubles were not entirely related to their knife sales. I spoke to Ryan Daniels a few different times last year at knife shows, and there was stuff happening for over a year.
 
Rookie82 said:
There is a lot more backstory that led up to this. Queen's financial troubles were not entirely related to their knife sales. I spoke to Ryan Daniels a few different times last year at knife shows, and there was stuff happening for over a year.
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Similar to the situation at Camillus?
 
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Having a few "pre Daniels" Queen company produced knives, I purchased this "Daniels era" Queen/Schatt & Morgan knife to add to those others.
It was a limited run of 100, and was supposed to mark a new and revived era for the company (marking the date the company switched to the Daniels ownership).
Well, depending on what happens with Queen, this knife may now represent that "Dawn of a New Era" as being the last stage of the company's life. I had guessed it may be a struggle for them, (with American made traditional pocket knife companies dropping to almost extinction), but I would never have imagined that it may happen so soon. I really do hope they can squeeze by this situation and somehow move forward in better shape.

One of the pics I have up on my facebook as a cover photo...

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I just assumed GEC would fix things when they bought them, or why bother. Anyway, the big S&M toothpick I got a few years back was a real POS, so I'm not surprised at all to hear about this. The market usually takes care of shoddy output.
 
abcdef said:
I just assumed GEC would fix things when they bought them, or why bother. Anyway, the big S&M toothpick I got a few years back was a real POS, so I'm not surprised at all to hear about this. The market usually takes care of shoddy output.
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As far as I know GEC did not buy Queen and as far as I know Bill Howard has had no relationship with Queen since he left around 2006 to start GEC.
I am sorry to see Queen close and hope they can reorganize and start producing quality knife again.
 
GermanyChris said:
Queen was trying to compete with GEC which was a bad idea. We know queen can work with modernish steels so maybe they should pick 5 or so patterns they make well and make them with modern materials, they can be the modern traditional brand.
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I wonder why nobody has pondered whether Queen working with these steels may have been part of the problem? Working with high rockwell steels on equipment that wasn't made for it, would result in a lot of defects and a lot of equipment maintenance. And they didn't produce huge lots of anything. I have talked to other makers using similar equipment, and their concern was always the eventual cost and volume issues. New equipment would resolve these issues, but most old style factories don't have a couple million to spare. Maybe the factories that are sticking to the steels the equipment was made for know something after all?

Rookie82 said:
There is a lot more backstory that led up to this. Queen's financial troubles were not entirely related to their knife sales. I spoke to Ryan Daniels a few different times last year at knife shows, and there was stuff happening for over a year.
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I agree there is a lot of backstory, that goes back nearly to the beginning of their purchase. But to get the full story one should probably also talk to suppliers, providers, and dealers. The problem probably looked a little different when viewed from different angles.

Regardless, I think the entire industry is hoping for a revival and successful story going forward.
 
Bartleby said:
Similar to the situation at Camillus?
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I'm not up to speed on the intricacies of why Camillus had to close shop. Perhaps the Daniels will talk about some of the other issues they had to deal with last year.

knifeswapper said:
I agree there is a lot of backstory, that goes back nearly to the beginning of their purchase. But to get the full story one should probably also talk to suppliers, providers, and dealers. The problem probably looked a little different when viewed from different angles.

Regardless, I think the entire industry is hoping for a revival and successful story going forward.
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I agree, and there are likely quite a few that know the more detailed information about how/why this happened. Especially their dealers and suppliers. And I don't think anyone is rooting against their return. Even those who always criticize Queen quality should be rooting for Queen to return new and improved.
 
I visited the factory last August during the GEC Rendezvous weekend. I feel for all the nice folks who were part of our visits to the many work stations on the tour.

They younger ones will hopefully land on their feet. The ones not quite close enough but nearing retirement will have a harder time. Maybe GEC will expand a bit and absorb some of the more skilled workers.

I hope they find other employment to support themselves and their families.

,,,Mike in Canada
 
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neal70 said:
knifeswapper knifeswapper -this is a call for more of your great patterns, still need to pick up a Plow:rolleyes:, in D2 please. Make others in whatever, but lord, someone, convince Bill Howard to do some D2! Pleeeease!
Thanks, Neal
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The problem with a small dealer doing new projects is that they all have to be successes. One turns out even lackluster and the money in the bank disappears. But I intend to keep trying things where I am relatively sure of their future success. I am quite fond of my upcoming EZ Open non-slipjoint slipjoint; but I am fighting my obvious disposition. I do hope more makers answer the call for premium steels in traditional knives.

Bill Howard has done D2 on bygone equipment. He knows more about it than most, and chooses not to work it for a reason.
 
I only have 1 Queen - a large frame toothpick. Superb knife. I have had 6 S&M's ... each of them was lousey for many different reasons & I never kept any of them (I'm talking not nearly as well made as a modern era mass produced Case). That Queen toothpick though is outstanding ... this is too bad for the knife community at large.

I have a theory that I don't think has been mentioned yet ... in the old days, all you had were traditional slip joints and everybody carried a pocket knife (even my grandfather who was a banker). Today, even if a young man has an interest in pocket knives (which is rare), it will likely be slanted toward tacticals/lock blades of all shapes and sizes - which are the "cool" knives. Quality traditionals (for the most part) appeal to us who are long in the tooth, with $$ to spend on collectible things, and unfortunately represent a dying breed. Plus the fact that I'm the only one out of maybe 25 guys in my office that even carries a pocket knife (the secretaries always come to me when they need a package opened). I think it's a bigger problem and much of the downfall of the knife industry is cultural ... even the few guys I work with who hunt, don't carry a pocket knife regularly. I really think the USA made quality traditional slipjoint market share is so limited, Case, Buck & GEC cover the bases ... the lesser known companies are destined to struggle today
 
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