Queen Cutlery quality

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CROWEMAG

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I have recently purchased several Queen made knives. A Queen branded canoe, a medium lock back with linen micarta scales, and a pint gunstock jack, S & M branded.

The lock back was the worst. Brand new knife, huge gaps along the brass pivot pin, the loosest, dullest blade I have ever encountered, and the blade was so un-centered it was touching the right side liner. I paid 75.00 for this knife and was sick to my stomach when I received it I wrote a letter to Queen. I was going to return the knife but seeing as how I liked the design and Queen's folks were so prompt and accommodating I decided to send it to them and allow them to make it right. We shall see.


The gunstock jack was a little over 100.00. Lots of blade wobble, gappy near the bolsters, dull blade. Also, upsetting. Probably sending this one back.

The canoe was the best out of the bunch. Still had very unimpressive qualities for a knife in this price range.


Anyone else have issues with Queen products?
 
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There were some problems at Queen a couple of years back. It seems that for the most part they've been squared away, with the exception of complaints about this year's scout knives. What year were these knives manufactured?
 
IMO, the price of their knives does not equate to the quality. GEC and CSC do a much better job quality wise. As a matter of fact, so does Case.
 
eschwebach said:
IMO, the price of their knives does not equate to the quality. GEC and CSC do a much better job quality wise. As a matter of fact, so does Case.
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I find the exact opposite to be true. I get a lot more bang for my buck with Queen than GEC. I don't own any CSCs. Case can be awesome, but it's not worth the time for me to dig through the ones that aren't up to snuff to find the ones that are. This is what I'd have to do at the brick and mortar stores, I have not ordered one online.

So, I've been buying more Queens lately than anything else. I'm saving about 20%-30% per knife versus GEC depending on the pattern, and I'm getting knives that are just as good from what I can tell. In fact, they're notably better in a couple of areas like blade steel and keeping their pins flush. YMMV.
 
Cory Hess said:
I find the exact opposite to be true. I get a lot more bang for my buck with Queen than GEC. I don't own any CSCs. Case can be awesome, but it's not worth the time for me to dig through the ones that aren't up to snuff to find the ones that are. This is what I'd have to do at the brick and mortar stores, I have not ordered one online.

So, I've been buying more Queens lately than anything else. I'm saving about 20%-30% per knife versus GEC depending on the pattern, and I'm getting knives that are just as good from what I can tell. In fact, they're notably better in a couple of areas like blade steel and keeping their pins flush. YMMV.
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I need to check and see what year my Queen's were made. I will say this, CSC has shown me amazing quality for the price! My buffalo horn swell center jack is one of my favorite blades.
 
I would agree. I think Queen makes some very interesting patterns that I really like, but I have been disappointed with the quality (significant blade play, raised springs, covers not fitting, rough opening, etc.). Over the last year I bought several of the premium S&M patterns ( winterbone barlows, Congress) and of the four I purchased, three had to go back to Queen or the dealer. At this point, I don't order any Queen or S&M knives on-line (same with Case). Given the price on their patterns is comparable to GEC, I don't want to risk making a purchase where I can't inspect before hand. I think GEC, Canal Street and Rough Rider have much more consistent quality, fit and finish, etc. I hope they can improve the consistency of their quality, since I think they make some great looking patterns with interesting steels. Of course if they did, I'd definitely go broke spending even more $ than I currently do!
 
I have to agree with Mr. Hess. The Queen knives I have recently bought have been great. Even the Scout knife I received was excellent. Only one has some minor issues that I can live with. All of my Wueen knives are of 2015 manufacture. I have some S&M's that are perfect. These are mostly '90's era knives.
Crowemag, I have a buffalo horn swell center also. Such a great knife that I bought one with stag handles and one with smooth bone handles.
 
bozack said:
I have to agree with Mr. Hess. The Queen knives I have recently bought have been great. Even the Scout knife I received was excellent. Only one has some minor issues that I can live with. All of my Wueen knives are of 2015 manufacture. I have some S&M's that are perfect. These are mostly '90's era knives.
Crowemag, I have a buffalo horn swell center also. Such a great knife that I bought one with stag handles and one with smooth bone handles.
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My Queen's must be older. I will need to verify!

Also, swell center jack by CSC in stag! WOW. I need that in my life.
 
I'm about half scared to buy any Queen knives unless I get them in The Exchange where the owner can speak for the quality. I also like what Knifeswapper is doing on collectorknives.net with his "A, B, C, D, E" grading system on current production Queen knives although I have not used that service yet. Seems like a good system because the buyer has some idea of the knife's condition before purchasing it. Brilliant idea if you ask me.

CROWEMAG, I saw your photo of your new Queen Canoe. Nice knife. I have one just like it and mine is top notch except for a small gap between backspring and liner. Virtually flawless otherwise. I suppose I got lucky on that one.
If you don't mind my asking, why do you state that your new Canoe is the Schatt & Morgan brand? Looks just like my purebred Queen Canoe.
 
Railsplitter said:
I'm about half scared to buy any Queen knives unless I get them in The Exchange where the owner can speak for the quality. I also like what Knifeswapper is doing on collectorknives.net with his "A, B, C, D, E" grading system on current production Queen knives although I have not used that service yet. Seems like a good system because the buyer has some idea of the knife's condition before purchasing it. Brilliant idea if you ask me.

CROWEMAG, I saw your photo of your new Queen Canoe. Nice knife. I have one just like it and mine is top notch except for a small gap between backspring and liner. Virtually flawless otherwise. I suppose I got lucky on that one.
If you don't mind my asking, why do you state that your new Canoe is the Schatt & Morgan brand? Looks just like my purebred Queen Canoe.
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That was an accident. Good catch. I will edit. It is in no S & M labeled. The Canoe is awesome, but like you said on yours, it has a few minor issues.
 
I was looking at buying one of the new queen scouts. Is the quality really off on them? I would have thought they would be alright, if they were built this year.
 
i have a schatt and Morgan 99 the limited run based off the Indian River jack they did for northwoods. Love this frame love the stainless steel. Almost a perfect knife, it has a hairline gap on one of the liners and they could have spent a little more time shaping the covers but other than those 2 minor things the knife is perfect. The action was a little gritty when I received it but a good flush and it's smooth as silk now. If I knew 90% of queens stuff came out like this one I would buy more without a second thought but these type of threads make it hard.
 
The most recently made Queen made knives I have acquired have been excellent, particularly the recent run of the Northwoods Indian River Jack. The EDCF 2014 forum knife was a moonglow scaled Queen #26 small stockman made in early 2014 and that batch had all sorts of issues. With some Queen made knives from previous years I have experienced occasional instances of poor edges, blade rub and wobble. Some of my favorite knives are Queen made but their quality control is not at the same level of GEC so I try to make sure to buy Queen made knives either in person, from a dealer than will handpick one (or allow returns) or from an individual who can accurately describe any defects.
 
I had one issue with a QC knife that was probably made prior to the current owners But... But the current owners were great and solved the issues.
All the QC knives I have subsequently bought (5 I think in the past year or so) have all been top notch quality and IMHO very good bang for my buck.
 
My Queen Scout knife convinced me to be very wary of Queen knives. Probably won't buy another.
 
I have three Queen knives - a 9ACSB stockman, a 2ACSB Serpentine Jack, and a 70 Country Cousin in green micarta.

The Stockman is beautiful and flawless. It is on a par with anything GEC puts out. All three blades were well profiled and usably sharp out of the box. No complaints there.

The 70 Country Cousin has a proud backspring when fully open. Other than that its a decent knife. Because their backsprings have crisp edges, it's more noticeable than it might otherwise be. If I knew how to fix it I would.

The 2ACSB Serpentine Jack is the only problematic one. Mainly the blade profile is too thick out towards the tip, and it wasn't very sharp when I got it. I have had a devil of a time getting it sharp even on DMT diamond stones. The pull is a little heavy for my tastes as well on such a small knife. It looks pretty but I was hoping for a better overall knife. Once I get it sharpened up I suppose it will be OK for use.
 
Ever since Bill Howard left there it hasn't been the same company. I was buying knives from Queen back in the early 2000s but wouldn't touch one today, with a ten foot pole!
 
CROWEMAG said:
I have recently purchased several Queen made knives. A Queen branded canoe, a medium lock back with linen micarta scales, and a pint gunstock jack, S & M branded.

The lock back was the worst. Brand new knife, huge gaps along the brass pivot pin, the loosest, dullest blade I have ever encountered, and the blade was so un-centered it was touching the right side liner. I paid 75.00 for this knife and was sick to my stomach when I received it I wrote a letter to Queen. I was going to return the knife but seeing as how I liked the design and Queen's folks were so prompt and accommodating I decided to send it to them and allow them to make it right. We shall see.


The gunstock jack was a little over 100.00. Lots of blade wobble, gappy near the bolsters, dull blade. Also, upsetting. Probably sending this one back.

The canoe was the best out of the bunch. Still had very unimpressive qualities for a knife in this price range.


Anyone else have issues with Queen products?
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So why not wait until you have sorted this issue with Queen rather than going viral with their name? If they were so accommodating - cant you at least let them try to sort it before going public?
How would you feel if you provided a service for someone and they werent happy - contacted you and before you could rectify the problem - they went viral?
 
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